The final LEC roster announcements are rolling in. Team BDS has made sweeping changes to its player lineup and coaching staff for the 2023 LEC season. Only mid laner Ilias “nuc” Bizriken, who played under the tag “NUCLEARINT” in 2022, has survived the overhaul.

Familiar faces on both sides of the mid lane will support him. BDS Has chosen to promote three of its academy players to the main lineup ahead of the new year. Top laner Adam “Adam” Maanane returns to the starting position he had in the 2022 Spring Split. He’ll have a fellow Frenchman by his side: jungler Théo “Sheo” Borile makes his LEC debut in 2023.

Speaking of familiarity, BDS’ bot lane fits right with the theme. Juš “Crownie” Marušič re-enters the LEC after one year of playing in the LFL for BDS Academy. In the bot lane, he’ll be reunited with Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis, formerly the support player of Team Vitality. Crownie and Labrov played together for Vitality in the 2021 season.

Earlier today, BDS parted ways with its 2022 coaching staff and jungler Jakub “Cinkrof” Rokicki. Adrien “GotoOne” Picard is the team’s new head coach.

A disastrous LEC debut

BDS’ sweeping changes come after a horrible start to its LEC journey. The organization made its debut in 2022, purchasing the LEC slot from Schalke 04 Esports. But the project of owner and multi-billionaire Patrice Bailo de Spoelberch yielded poor results. In the 2022 Spring Split, BDS finished in ninth place with just four wins to its name.

Realizing changes had to be made, BDS bootcamped in South Korea with both its LEC and LFL team. The squad headed into the Summer Split with adjustments on both ends of the Rift: a new top laner and support player had to improve the team. But BDS continued to struggle. Even more so than in the Spring Split. In what was a tight race for the LEC playoffs between nine teams, BDS fell behind quickly, doomed to end in tenth place. The squad scraped together three wins, and concluded its first LEC year with an overall record of 7-29.

BDS’s new lineup makes its debut on Saturday, Jan. 21st, on the first day of the 2023 LEC Winter Split.