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With the League of Legends free agency in full swing, MAD Lions have announced the departure of two of their players. Top laner İrfan “Armut” Berk Tükek and support Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser will no longer be a part of the team.
The franchise made the announcement on their official Twitter page using individual posts, stating that Turkish and German internationals will not be part of the 2023 roster. They appreciated Armut for dominating the top lane and leading them to title wins.
“Farewell, @armutlol.
Since 2020 İrfan has helped take us to Worlds, MSI, and win the LEC twice through his dominant Top Lane play,” the franchise read.
“Thank you for your incredible dedication and for always keeping us entertained!”
The franchise also bade farewell to Kaiser, who has been in charge of their bot lane. They thanked him for his three years of unmatchable service to the franchise.
“Farewell, @KaiserLoL.
Norman has supported us since 2019 across multiple strong LEC Playoffs, MSI and Worlds runs and has grown to become one of the strongest supports in Europe,” the announcement read.
“Thank you for your underpinning the MAD Lions Bot Lane for the past 3 years.”
Both players are now unrestricted free agents for the first time since making their league debut. In their time with MAD Lions, they both succeeded in becoming one of the players in the league in their various positions.
In their time with MAD Lions, Armut and Kaiser have recorded two LEC Championship titles. They also performed exceedingly at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational and made two appearances at the World Championship in 2021 and more recently, 2022. The roster was known as one of the most respected rosters in the league with their aggressive playing style and almost cynical on-stage personalities.
While they finished in third place at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, they failed to qualify for the 2022 tournament. They may have attained good success at the MSI, however, they have been an unfortunate bunch when it comes to the World Championship.
They last two appearances at the Worlds has been marred by the franchise featuring in the play-in stage of the tournament and failing to qualify for the group stage in both years. They hold the record as the only major region team to
The biggest disappointments of Armut and Kaiser’s time with MAD, however, happened during the most important events of their career so far. At the last two Worlds that they attended with MAD, they were thrown into the play-in stage of the tournament. And in both years, the team made history by failing to qualify for the group stage. They are the only major region team to fall in the play-in stage twice.
As a result, MAD Lions has gotten busy this offseason, with multiple reports linking the team to players like former X7 Esports top laner Chasy and former Team Vitality and homecoming AD carry, Carzzy. The org is also reportedly holding on to some important members, like superstar jungler Elyoya.
Armut, on the other hand, could be exploring a trip across the Atlantic for his next career adventure. Reports suggest that the energetic top laner is headed to North America to sign with Team Dignitas for the 2023 LCS Spring Split. Kaiser is reportedly headed to Vitality as the organization tries to regain trust within the LEC community after failing to meet expectations as the region’s newest “superteam” last year.
The global free agency period is now open, so expect more League roster news to stream in as the weeks fly by toward the new year.
