The dust of the LEC offseason trades has begun to settle and the first official roster announcements are coming through. Spanish organization Team Heretics, who purchased their LEC slot from Misfits Gaming, are promoting bot laner Jakob “Jackspektra” Kepple to their LEC lineup for the 2023 season.
Heretics made the announcement on Twitter, naming the Norwegian the team’s “franchise player.” Jackspektra later said on Twitter, “Incredibly happy to be able to announce that I will be playing in the LEC for Heretics next year. Glad to be surrounded by people who’ve believed in me and I’m really excited to push further beyond and show more of what I’m capable of.”
Jackspektra played for Heretics in the LVP SuperLiga, the Spanish regional competition, in 2022. Though the team came close to qualifying for the Spring Split playoffs, they ultimately came short one game and finished in eighth place. But Heretics came back with a vengeance. The squad finished second in the Summer Split’s Double Round Robin phase. Heretics brushed off their opposition in the subsequent playoffs and claimed the Spanish trophy.
The road to glory for Jackspektra and his teammates didn’t end there, though. Heretics comfortably emerged from the Group Stage at EU Masters’ Summer edition, only losing to Team BDS’ academy team. In the Knockout Stage, the Spanish champions beat Unicorns of Love and LDLC OL to once again face off against BDS, this time in the grand final. Heretics overcame its Group Stage demon and won the EU Masters title, giving themselves a perfect ramp to enter the LEC.
Jackspektra’s LEC teammates
Although Heretics hasn’t officially announced Jackspektra’s 2023 LEC teammates yet, the team appears to have its squad locked in. After various beats journalists reported on the roster shuffle, rumored Heretics head coach Peter Dun posted a Tweet hinting at the lineup. Dun shared a lineup of six Pokémon: Kleavor, Lanturn, Groudon, Eevee, Loudred, and Seel.
As Twitter users quickly figured out, these six Pokémon correspond with Heretics’ supposed LEC squad for 2023. Kleavor refers to League of Legends champion Draven, a champion Jackspektra is known to play well. Lanturn alludes to support champion Thresh, who carries a lantern around and is associated with former Misfits support Mertai “Mersa” Sari.
Groudon, the poster Pokémon of GameBoy Advance title Ruby, is a pretty on-the-nose reference to mid laner Lee “Ruby” Sol-min, who played for Unicorns of Love. Eevee is a corruption of DetonatioN FocusMe top laner Shunsuke “Evi” Murase. “Loudred” makes fun of jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski’s deafeningly energetic communication style.
Groudon, the poster Pokémon of GameBoy Advance title Ruby, is a pretty on-the-nose reference to mid laner Lee “Ruby” Sol-min, who played for Unicorns of Love. Eevee is a corruption of DetonatioN FocusMe top laner Shunsuke “Evi” Murase. “Loudred” makes fun of jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski’s deafeningly energetic communication style.
Lastly, and easiest of them all, Seel hints at former Rogue assistant coach Christopher “SeeEl” Lee, who is said to join Peter Dun in Heretics’ coaching department.
