Flakked penta not enough to save Team Heretics from LEC elimination

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 05/09/2025

Team Heretics will not be making a dark horse run to the League of Legends World Championships.

Their season is over as a 3-1 loss to Team Vitality has eliminated Heretics from the LEC Summer Split 2025 Playoffs.

Team Vitality dominated the LEC’s first Cross Play Decider to advance through the Lower Bracket.

Team Vitality will now face the loser between G2 Esports and Karmine Corp.

Meanwhile, Team Heretics join Natus Vincere and SK Gaming in having to wait for the 2026 season to start in January.

It will be a particularly long wait for jungler Thayger who was eliminated from the LEC after just three series.

At least, Heretic’s Victor ‘Flakked’ Lirola will go into the off-season with his head held high following a standout performance in Game 1.

Heretics had thrown away their early lead to the point that Vitality found themselves in their opponents’ base with a 9k gold lead.

However, Heretics held on, and Flakked managed to find a pentakill on Aphelios to earn his team a win.

Yet, Heretics never seemed to get going after that match as Vitality cruised through the next three games.

And nothing exemplified the gap between the two teams more than the fourth and final game.

Toplaner Kaan ‘Naak Nako’ Okan was having a great series and became an absolute menace as Dr Mundo.

His tankiness completely removed any threat posed by Carl ‘Carlsen’ Carlsen’s Jax, which Heretics had invested heavily in.

But the spotlight went to Vitality support Kadir ‘Fleshy’ Kemiksiz, who had an outstanding performance on Pyke.

It’s possible that Vitality are peaking at exactly the right time and could upset the balance in the LEC as Worlds approaches.

We know from their voice comms that the team is certainly confident.

Which LEC teams will qualify for LoL Worlds 2025?

Throughout the year, there has been a clear top four in the LEC consisting of G2 Esports, Movistar KOI, Karmine Corp, and Fnatic.

However, only three LEC teams will qualify for this year’s LoL World Championships.

And no previous performances matter; qualification is based solely on Summer Split performance.

In the Upper Bracket, LoL betting sites fancy G2 to defeat MKOI and Fnatic to beat KCorp, but both series are difficult to call.

Meanwhile, in the other Cross Play Decider, the loser between Team BDS and GIANTX will be eliminated, with the latter heavily favoured.

As mentioned previously, Vitality have shown glimpses of potential and good form in recent series.

So don’t be surprised if Vitality cause an upset against some of the ‘big four’ teams.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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