Misfits Gaming announced on Wednesday that support Mertai “Mersa” Sari will start for their LEC squad in week 1 of the LEC.
We love to see ERL players getting their shot on the big stage.
After a strong bootcamp with our squad, we’re excited to welcome @MersaLoL to our starting roster for Week 1. Welcome to the LEC! pic.twitter.com/8vDABZBKrz
— Misfits Esports (@misfitsesports) December 22, 2021
Mersa playing in the LEC came as a surprise to many as Dot Esports previously reported that Oskar “Vander” Bogdan would start for the LEC team while LEC Wooloo tweeted about Mersa joining Misfits team in the LFL. However this change was decided after a set of tests in October followed by a bootcamp in December.
“If we look at Misfits historically there was very little stability when it comes to rosters. We needed to change our thinking and we want the whole system to be more sustainable, and year to year we want to build upon the progress we can achieve. We did work hard in the offseason to determine which 5 will be the best for us,” said Adrian “Hatchý” Widera, Sports Director at Misfits Gaming.
He also added that the timing felt right: “There’s a lot of changes in the LEC and a lot of new players in botlane. It felt like a perfect moment to give a shot to Mersa who has been playing very well in all our games leading up to the season. We have a large staff and we believe we can make use of this potential and accelerate the growth of our players.”
Our competitive staff army for 2022 #MSFWIN @hatchyeuw – Sports Director
@MSFCarter – Head Coach@xanilol – Assistant Coach @HiivaLoL – Strategic Coach@Professor_Blake – Performance Coach@followdelord – LFL Coach @lolhajima_ – Analyst@ChaosDADLoL – Analyst pic.twitter.com/9tJ8eBQL77— Misfits Esports (@misfitsesports) December 22, 2021
Misfits have indeed hired a pretty big coaching staff, but it doesn’t stop here: “Traditionally, we have a strong academy that is a solid backup for our LEC team. We want to always have two coherent teams.”
Misfits Premier, the LFL and Academy team of Misfits Gaming, won the Summer Split 2021 Playoffs of the French European Regional League. While only Paweł “Woolite” Pruski will remain from that roster, Misfits have acquired very strong names for this new roster.
Kingslayers in 2021. And we will be kingslayers again.
Welcome et bienvenue to the LFL ! #MSFWIN
🐰 @Irrelevanttop
🐰 @TynXlol
🐰 @czajekklol
🐰 @WooliteLoL
🐰 @Vanderlol pic.twitter.com/HqTSKowNpy— Misfits Esports (@misfitsesports) December 22, 2021
At the start of 2021, Mersa played for ŠAIM SE SuppUp in the EBL, but teams and fans noticed him during his impressive performance at the EU Masters Spring 2021. While his team lost in quarterfinals with a score of 1-2 against Karmine Corp, it was very unexpected to see a team from a smaller region like the EBL make it past group stages in the tournament. This performance earned him a spot with GamersOrigin in the LFL for the Summer Split. While GamersOrigin only finished seventh place many saw his incredible potential.
Sources unrelated to Misfits Gaming told Upcomer in October that Mersa was one of the support players some top tier LEC organizations tried out, but in the end it’s Misfits that have signed him.
The youngest @LEC roster by average age. We can't wait to see these new pros shine!
🐰 @LoL_HiRit
🐰 @ShlatanLoL
🐰 @Vetheo_lol
🐰 @neon_euw
🐰 @MersaLoL #MSFWIN #MSFWIN #MSFWIN pic.twitter.com/VhbOxgWEbG— Misfits Esports (@misfitsesports) December 22, 2021
“Mersa earned his spot on the Rift and we can’t wait for his debut with the LEC team” said Hatchy.
Mersa will start in week 1 of the LEC with a fully announced roster of top laner Shin “HiRit” Tae-min, jungler Lucjan “Shlatan” Ahmad, mid laner Vincent “Vetheo” Berrié and bot laner Matúš “Neon” Jakubčík.
