Rogue are allegedly set to leave competitive League of Legends imminently.
According to reports from Sheep Esports, Ukrainian esports organisation Natus Vincere (NAVI) are acquiring Rogue’s spot in the LEC.
Allegedly, the new organisation are expected to announce the takeover as soon as the end of the current Spring Split (June 8th) and will then join ahead of the LEC Summer Split 2025.
How much NAVI have had to pay to join the LEC has not been confirmed. However, UK streamer and former LEC caster Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont believes it costs around €20m (17m) for an LEC spot and insisted that Los Ratones won’t pay that.
Rogue had some strong results during their six-year LEC stint, qualifying for three consecutive World Championships between 2020 and 2022 and winning the LEC Summer Playoffs in 2022.
They also developed a lot of young rookies into superstar players, including FlyQuest jungler Kacper ‘Inspired’ Słoma and current Rogue midlaner Emil ‘Larssen’ Larsson who has a rich history of competing in British esports tournaments.
However, in recent years Rogue have struggled.
A failed merger with Spanish organisation KOI ended after just a year in 2023. And in the most recent Spring Split, they finished dead last with a turbulent season epitomised by coach Kim ‘Trick’ Gang-yun having to sub in for a match following poor behaviour by Lee ‘Execute’ Jeong-hoon in soloqueue.
It’s unknown what this means for the esports division of Infinite Reality, the owners of Rogue’s parent company ReKT Global, who also own the Call of Duty League franchise team Carolina Royal Ravens which moved out of London in 2023.
What will NAVI bring to the LEC?
While the LEC has an abundance of French and Spanish teams, NAVI will bring in a dedicated fan base from Eastern Europe, especially after years of success in other titles.
NAVI compete in multiple titles including Valorant, DOTA 2, and Teamfight Tactics but are particularly known for their prowess in Counter-Strike. They won both the CS2 Esports World Cup tournament and Copenhagen Major last year.
NAVI also had a lot of success in CS:GO while sporting one of the game’s greatest ever players, Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyljev, who recently returned to competitive play with FaZe Clan.
This will be NAVI’s second stint in League of Legends. They previously competed in the LCL, the former Russian regional league, between 2016 and 2017 but failed to reach a final let alone win any titles.
It’s not yet known what approach NAVI will take in the LEC or what will happen to the current roster of Rogue players and staff, including British coach Simon ‘fredy122’ Payne.
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