Team Heretics co-owner Arnau Vidal shared his thoughts on his organization climbing the ladder of European League of Legends, as well as its plans after being accepted into the LEC in an interview with Dexerto’s Meg Kay.
On July 27, Heretics announced it had acquired Misfits Gaming’s LEC slot and become the newest member of the European league heading into 2023, a journey that was months in the making.
“These specific negotiations only began a few months ago, so It’s all been pretty fast,” Vidal said. “That’s been one of the main challenges too – we’ve had to do a lot of things against the clock, and it’s been really intense.”
The LEC went from a relegation format to a franchised format starting with the 2019 season, where 10 LEC teams were granted permanent spots regardless of placements. Since then, only Schalke 04 and Misfits Gaming have exited the league, making the process of getting into the LEC even tougher.
Vidal told Dexerto he plans to continue staying true to the organization’s Spanish roots, despite plans to move the team to Berlin, where the LEC is located, because it is something he is passionate about maintaining.
“We’re really connected to the Spanish community, and that’s something we’re committed to maintaining because we truly believe that a Spanish organization can be one of the biggest organizations in the world,” Vidal said.
As a new member of the LEC, Heretics will be entering the LEC with a clean slate. While it will still maintain its LVP SL slot, which will become the Academy team in 2023, the organization is realistic about expectations heading into its rookie year in the LEC. Still, Vidal wants to build something that “makes people dream.”
“We’ve always had this kind of cool, fun, fresh identity,” Vidal said. “We know that we can’t compete with some orgs in the league right now in terms of budget, but what we can do and what we want to do is to build a team that makes people dream, and makes them passionate.”
Heretics is currently competing in the LVP SL 2022 Summer Playoffs, where its team recently took down LVP SL number one seed, Giants, 3-0 to move directly into the Grand Final. The LVP SL 2022 Summer grand final will take place on Aug. 20, when Heretics will play against one of Giants, KOI, and BISONS ECLUB for the championship title.
Meanwhile, the LEC 2022 Summer Split is heading into its final week of the regular season as teams are competing for six spots in the LEC 2022 Summer Split playoffs. Currently, only MAD Lions have secured their spot in the playoffs.
