The offseason scythe cuts through MAD Lions’ LEC team once again. The organization announced the departure of top laner İrfan “Armut” Tükek and support Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser yesterday, and today bid farewell to bot laner William “UNF0RGIVEN” Nieminen.
MAD Lions shared the news via Twitter, as they had the other two roster changes as well. “William’s domination in the bot lane brought us an incredible run in Summer and took us to Worlds,” the announcement reads. “We’re incredibly proud of how he’s developed over the past year, and we’re looking forward to seeing what he does next!”
Bot laner of the LEC Summer Split
UNF0RGIVEN joined MAD Lions’ LEC team at the start of the year as a rookie. He drew attention to himself instantly by locking in Karthus in his first LEC game and wreaking havoc on Team Vitality. The rest of the Spring Split was more difficult for MAD Lions and UNF0RGIVEN, though. UNF0RGIVEN and Kaiser struggled to find synergy as a new bot lane duo and their top side teammates didn’t have much success either. The then-reigning LEC champions floundered and missed out on the Spring Split Playoffs.
But come Summer Split, MAD Lions was revitalized. The addition of Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer breathed new life into the team. MAD Lions quickly rose in the ranks and finished the Summer Split’s best-of-one phase in first place—enough to get them a ticket to Worlds 2022. UNF0RGIVEN received a spot on the LEC All-Pro team for his performance. It marked the peak of MAD Lions’ 2022 season, though. The team failed to win a best-of-five in the Summer Split playoffs stage. They did not get past the Play-In Stage at Worlds either.
UNF0RGIVEN has not announced yet which team he’ll be joining for the 2023 season.
