The purchase of Schalke 04's LEC spot by Team BDS for $31.54 million made headlines yesterday, making it the second-largest League of Legends eSports franchise transaction in Western history.
Alexandre Lopez, Team BDS' head of strategy, said that they
are happy to finally be able to compete in such a demanding and fascinating
competition. This was a huge step forward for BDS, and they aspire to be among
the finest League of Legends teams. He appreciated Riot Games and FC Schalke 04
for having their faith in BDS team, and further said that they want to continue
FC Schalke 04's efforts to establish eSports as a distinct discipline.
However, many eSports fans may not have heard of Team BDS
before today. Here's what we know so far about the LEC team that will compete
next year.
Team BDS is an esports organisation based in Geneva,
Switzerland, that fields teams in Fortnite, VALORANT, Rocket League, League of
Legends, FIFA, Rainbow Six Siege, and Trackmania. It was founded in 2018. Marc
“MarC By 8.” Domingo, Evan “M0nkey M00n” Rogez, and Alex “Extra” Paoli, the
Rocket League team's backbone, have won multiple events, including the RLCS
Season X Fall European Major in 2020 and the RLCS Season X Winter European
Major in 2021. In R6, BDS has had some success, finishing second to G2 in the
European League 2020 Finals in January 2021.
“BDS is a club that helps talents flourish, with the goal of
reaching the greatest levels of competition,” according to BDS' official
website. In the 2022 Spring Split, the Swiss team will make their LEC debut.
BDS is looking to hire some of Schalke 04's staff and is likely to develop a brand new LoL squad from the scratch. The team's current amateur roster includes:
- French - Hicham "Jaylink" Malki (AD carry)
- Portuguese - Francisco "Xico" Antunes (mid laner)
- Hungarian - Subicz "bluerzor" Dániel (jungler)
- Polish - Marcin "iBo" Lebuda (top laner)
- Polish - Robert "Erdote" Nowak (support)
