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UK esports organisation Verdant have secured a double win in League of Legends this month after winning both the NLC Aurora Cup and UKEL 4 Nations Autumn 2024.
Verdant’s victory over Venomcrest in NLC Aurora Cup 2024 final
They beat fellow UK org Venomcrest 3-1 in the Aurora Cup final on November 12th.
It was a back-to-back victory for Verdant, who also won the NLC Aurora Cup in 2023.
Verdan’t roster for the Aurora Cup was Pr1me (Türkiye), Noodle (Sweden), Roison (Poland), Neramin (Türkiye) and FGG (UK), with coach Fykling (Denmark).
Coach Fykling told NLC host Archarom after the win: “I feel relieved that we won. When your org won the last Cup, you don’t want to be that guy that breaks the streak! So I feel relieved and happy. It was really enjoyable working with all these players.”
Verdant founder Sam ‘Sami’ Cunningham told Esports News UK: “Going into 2024, our focus was very much on Counter-Strike, but it’s been an incredible Winter for us in League of Legends, fielding three teams and being able to take home the NLC Aurora Cup and the UKEL Division One title.
“It was a pretty tough Spring and Summer for us in the NLC but to retain our Aurora Cup title is the perfect way to end out the year. As always, it’s pretty much straight back into it all, as the offseason for 2025 is already well underway.”
You can watch the NLC Aurora Cup 2024 vod back on Twitch here.
Verdant beat Ruddy to claim 4 Nations Autumn 2024 title
It was another 3-1 victory for Verdant in a League of Legends final, this time in Division One of the UK and Ireland UKEL 4 Nations Autumn 2024.
Verdant beat fellow UK org Ruddy Esports on November 16th.
Their all-UK roster consisted of Refresh27, Tofu, Beartree, Fuyu and LittlePants (aka brian the lion) in the final.
The result gave Verdant back-to-back wins of 4 Nations splits across both Division One and Two.
Tofu told caster JReal after the win: “It was a nice set of games, a little bit stressful, especially in the third game, it went a bit sideways in that game but I think it was fine.
“It’s nice to come across against the likes of pawp and spark too, familiar faces [previously in the university scene]. And it’s nice to have a trophy. Overall the league has been fun, people have really put in the effort and in general this league promotes a nice environment.”
Verdant founder Sam ‘Sami’ Cunningham told Esports News UK: “The UKEL was the initial reason Verdant was set up, it was going to be our route into the ERL ecosystem back in 2021, however timing just wasn’t on our side with the change in TO and calibration tournament.
“When the UKEL came back we were keen to work within the national scene as it’s something we’d effectively skipped, sadly we weren’t given the chance. Later down the line when an opportunity arose, we took it, looking to prove a point.
“12 months later with a Division 2 title, Summer Showdown 2nd place and Division 1 title, I’m comfortable saying: point proven.”
The NLC could be shaken up in 2025, with the arrival of Caedrel’s all-star roster Los Ratones, who are eligible to play in either the NLC or EBL.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
