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Swedish esports organisation Lundqvist Lightside turned heads when they announced their League of Legends team for the UK and Nordics NLC Winter 2025 season last week.
With more people in their coaching/staff team (eight) than there are in their player roster (five), we asked Lundqvist Lightside owner and esports director Jakob ‘Jakke’ Eriksson (aka Jakke13) for the thinking behind this large team, and how they’re approaching the NLC this season against some top talent in teams like Los Ratones.
Lightside’s staff team for the NLC roster includes manager Voland, analyst hannalyst, strategic coach xDrop, head coach Ted Guru, assistant coach Wish, draft coach Syklash, and positional coaches Pabu and Mysterias.
Their roster consists of WNTR, hybradge, Harbo, RustySniper and LéoLeCargo. (see more NLC Winter 2025 player rosters here).
How did the Lundqvist Lightside NLC coaching line-up grow to this size?
“It grew into that organically,” Lundqvist Lightside owner Jakke told Esports News UK.
“Before the new year, we were hit with budget cuts and I am a firm believer in doing Lightside in a sustainable way – both financially but also on the people side. That might mean that it’s hard to have one person to do many different tasks and ask too much of them. I push on that quite hard when talking to potential staff, and want to find a balance with them that fits well.
“For me, I also work full-time outside of esports and I do Lightside because I enjoy it and I know how stressful it can be to handle too much. Despite that, I want to have a strong staff because in my experience, I really see how much better the team performs.
“I generally like to have some people that work together to support the team, rather than just one person. Whenever we have had a strong staff line-up (in my subjective view), we perform above others’ expectations and I see the best from my players.”
Jakke, Lundqvist Lightside
“Now, in terms of what a strong staff [line-up] is, that can differ. But me and Ted Guru built up the team for 2025 and tried to identify what we want in our staff. He is focused on the process of the team and is good at having and overview. He focuses on creating a positive mindset focused on growth and improvement, and we want everyone to fit into that piece of the puzzle.
“I think his role is what we might do differently here, but he does it really well and I am super happy to have him in my team as it aligns well with us as an organisation.
“Beyond that, we want a manager and someone to focus on reviews and draft, as most other teams do. We just have a different person for those three categories. On top of that, we had good opportunities to have two positional coaches in Pabu and Mysterias, which serve a very specific purpose. And also for Wish to join as an assistant coach/positional coach, to support players a bit more generally, and a scout that has been with us a while, that will help prep for our officials. So we felt that it all made sense really.”
Does having eight different coaching staff really make a difference?
“Everyone has a defined role and I think that’s the most important,” Jakke continued.
“When you are just one person, you don’t really need that definition. But as soon as you have two to three coaches, you start needing to define what everyone should do and set a framework. Sure, when you have eight staff, it is even more important to set that definition per role. But I think the principle is the same fundamentally.
“We work on having a clear structure and schedule, and we do some staff meetings to make sure that we are aligned and keep working towards the same goal. We choose to include the positional coaches in that because it gives them the sense of direction for the team, and they can support the player in improving what the team needs.
“I think the difference in having eight staff members is dependent on the leadership too. I don’t enjoy micromanagement, I believe in people doing a good job in their framework. If I needed to be more hands on, it would not work. But we tried to find people that fit that description and I think it works well given that.
‘I don’t believe in having a lot of people just to have them. If you are in Lightside, you should have a clear role you work with. Otherwise, I would never opt into having [a certain] role [just for the sake of it]. This goes for esports and for the organisation as a whole. Overall, [having eight staff] naturally came to be that way due to several great people being available that could fit the vision of the team.’
Jakke, Lundqvist Lightside
“We got people that are eager to do their part and I think it makes sense with each role we have in the team.”
How do you respond to people who have criticised the size of the team or found it unusual?
“I can see why it seems odd. It is an usually big staff [team]. It’s fine to have some question marks and wanting to know more about the plan behind it. But I also don’t really see why it should be such a big deal either,” Jakke said.
“I think the announcement shows that we have a plan with each person too. I think as people start to understand our reasoning behind it, it makes more sense and does not seem so “weird”. I am very confident that we will not see any negatives on our side with our staff and team.
“I honestly find it a bit amusing to see people talk about it and speculate. I’m unused to the staff gathering attention instead of the team. In my almost 10 years of running Lightside, I never experienced that.
“So I’ve had some fun to see what people think about it. Hopefully we see some fun memes down the line!
“It is unusual in esports but I don’t see how it needs to be a bad thing. There are organisations, companies, or teams bigger than that in many places outside of esports. Overseeing 13 people instead of nine (if you include players) is really not that far-fetched.
“I hope to prove that we can run our esports operations in a good manner. But of course with the coming split, we will face tough competition. It will be tough no matter what our staff looks like.”
What do you think of your competition? There are some huge names in the NLC this season, on teams like The Ruddy Sack, Nord and Los Ratones.
“There are definitely some big names in the league this season which will make it much tougher for us,” Jakke answered. “NLC is probably the strongest it has been since 2022 and that makes me happy as an NLC fan. For Lightside, it will put us to the test and see how well we can perform.
“I would also say that we field a strong team with good players, and they are all eager to prove themselves against the likes of Los Ratones and Nord in our group. Beyond the top teams, it’s a very open grab for any team. And the top teams are not unbeatable. We have made upsets before. We can do it again.
“I’d say that we got the toughest group in the NLC Winter 2025 seeding stage and we will get tested right away. But I think once we get used to it and that we settle into it and develop during the split, we can show more of what we are capable of.
“As with any split, we have to focus on ourselves and not who the enemy team is. We just have to do our best and play towards our strengths. Now more than ever, it’s a great time for our team and individuals to prove themselves for a larger audience.”
Jakke, Lundqvist Lightside
“On paper, it should be harder for us to perform better than our previous record (5th place out of 8 teams in 2024), I think we can surprise many and perform better than expected.
“It’s hard to know what playoffs have in store for us, but I think we can make a good run there.”
While Lundqvist Lightside have got off to a tough 0-2 start in the NLC Winter season, they are hopeful for the future.
“I’m excited for 2025 and I hope that our performance and presence will attract more attention from people that are new to the NLC. We want to show you why we are a household name in here,” Jakke concluded.
Related article: “NLC games might even offer more excitement than some LEC games” – caster Solari previews the NLC Winter 2025 season
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.
