Following a disappointing end to the competitive season, MAD Lions’ League of Legends division might be starting its sweeping team rebuild with some major changes to the coaching staff.
The former LEC champs have reportedly reached a verbal agreement with Movistar Riders’ Tomás “Melzhet” Campelos Fernández to spearhead the team in the upcoming year, according to esports journalist Alejandro Gomis.
He would be replacing James “Mac” MacCormack as the head coach for the team, marking the end of the 29-year-old’s tenure with the organization. This could also be the first of many dominoes to fall for MAD this offseason, after the team allowed all players and coaches to explore options for 2024.
Melzhet has been coaching in competitive League since 2019, starting with S2V Esports’ Academy roster in Spain. He eventually made his way onto G2 Esports’ Academy staff as head coach before joining Movistar Rides for the 2023 season. If this acquisition takes place, the 29-year-old will be making his LEC debut as a head coach with one of the more popular teams in the league.
Mac, on the other hand, has been heralded as one of the best coaches in Europe, especially during the three past years with MAD Lions. During this time, he has helped the organization capture three LEC championships, two MSI appearances, and four straight World Championship appearances. The team has constantly been a top contender with him at the helm, but this season was especially rough near the end.
MAD maintained relative consistency through the 2023 Winter and Spring Splits, but once the 2023 Summer Split rolled around, the roster struggled to get the ball rolling from the regular season onward. They stumbled to back-to-back seventh-place finishes in the summer and failed to break through for the Season Finals as well. As a result, they went right into Worlds with zero momentum and plenty of question marks around their play.
Worlds was a failure from start to finish for MAD as well, with the team only managing to win a single match at the tournament—and it was against a fellow LEC representative. In fact, that was the only win that the team could pick up across the two international events that they attended this year.
