Natus Vincere enter the LEC for Summer 2025 by acquiring Rogue’s slot, marking their return to top-tier LoL after eight years away from the scene.
Natus Vincere enter the LEC for Summer 2025 by acquiring Rogue’s slot, marking their return to top-tier LoL after eight years away from the scene.
Natus Vincere have entered the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) by acquiring Rogue’s slot in EMEA’s premier LoL esports league.
The announcement follows weeks of rumours of Rogue selling their slot to the Ukrainian esports organisation, which will debut in the European LoL league in the LEC 2025 Summer.
As previously reported, the talks about the recently finalised deal started in November 2023.
At the time, Rogue’s parent company, Infinite Reality, held discussions with Team Falcons and Nigma Galaxy, but neither managed to secure the slot.
This is not the first time NAVI will field a LoL division.
The Ukrainian organisation made their first appearance in the LoL esports scene in 2012, but the team lasted for just six months, attending just one tournament – Champions Summer 2012.
NAVI made their return to the LoL scene in 2016 and competed in the League of Legends Continental League (LCL) for two years until the disbandment of the Russian regional league.
Now, eight years later, Natus Vincere will make a comeback with a new lineup, which will represent the brand in Europe’s highest tier of competitive LoL.
As a part of the deal between Rogue and Natus Vincere, NAVI will acquire all current Rogue players, coaches, and analysts; however, are likely to rebuild for the LEC 2025 Summer.
“Striving for the highest competitive results across all disciplines has always been integral to NAVI’s philosophy,” read the announcement.
“We will make every effort and utilise all of our experience and resources to perform at the Tier 1 level and leave our mark on the history of the League of Legends competitive scene.”
Rogue’s star mid laner Emil “Larssen” Larsson and top laner Adam “Adam” Maanane are expected to remain with the lineup.
Meanwhile, the future of their current teammates remains uncertain; however, by acquiring Rogue’s LEC slot, NAVI also inherited all contractual obligations to the former players.
By selling their slot to NAVI, Rogue exit the LoL esports scene with a mixed bag of results.
Despite their struggles over the last two seasons, never placing higher than ninth across the five splits, Rogue leave LEC as 2022 Summer champions and LoL World Championship quarterfinalists.