EXCEL Esports sign ex-G2 support Mikyx to replace Advienne after only two weeks of LEC play

After a turbulent offseason, support Mihael ‘Mikyx’ Mehle has found a new home with Excel Esports in their Spring 2022 LEC roster, replacing current support Henk ‘Advienne’ Reijenga. 

After two weeks in the LEC, Excel Esports have already announced a roster change in the LEC. They will be replacing current support Advienne with Mikyx, ex-G2 Esports. The move sent shockwaves through the European League community, and is one of the earliest roster changes we’ve seen from an LEC organization.

Leaving G2 Esports

Mikyx’s departure from G2 Esports was one of the most hotly debated topics of the LEC offseason. The circumstances surrounding his benching from the team became a matter of public debate after incendiary comments made on his personal Twitter, directed towards G2 CEO Carlos ‘Ocelote’ Rodriguez.

He was left teamless at the end of the offseason, despite supposed ‘interest’ from multiple LEC orgs according to tweets by Ocelote. As an MSI winner and Worlds finalist, Mikyx was one of the strongest players to be left without a starting spot for 2022.

Now, however, he has been officially released by G2, and it was announced on January 25 that his next destination would be Excel Esports. Excel are a notoriously middle-of-the-pack LEC organization, and are the only team in the league to have never made playoffs since their entry into the LEC in 2019.

Joining a struggling organization

Despite their poor reputation, Excel had a reasonably strong start in the 2022 spring split, going 2-3 in the opening two weeks. This scoreline puts them in joint sixth with SK Gaming.

Their current support, Advienne, took to Twitter to express his frustrations with the move, stating that he’d only been made aware of the decision on Sunday 23rd, two days before the announcement was made public. He says that the swap was made “without any open dialogue with my teammates or any heads up to me prior to the decision being made.”

Advienne joined Excel for the 2021 Summer split after having played for their academy roster in the NLC throughout the first half of the year. It’s unclear what his next move will be at this time, as Excel’s academy roster already has a starting support.

According to the video released by Excel to announce the move, Mikyx will bring a “winners mentality” which is what the team felt that they had lacked in previous iterations of the roster.