Gentle Mates triumphed over Galions this Wednesday during the LFL Spring Split, and their midlaner broke a historic record in the process. Jérémy "Eika" Valdenaire surpassed the symbolic milestone of 1,000 kills in the LFL. He is the first player to ever reach this number, making him the most lethal midlaner—and player—in the history of the French league.

Career retrospective

Soon to be 29 years old, Eika is one of the longest-standing veterans of the ERL scene, and especially of the LFL. His career truly began with Gamers2 (now G2 Esports) in the EUCS during Spring 2015—the Challenger league just below the EU LCS. He also competed in that league in 2016 with two different teams, though without major success. In 2017, he shifted his focus to the French circuit and joined the organization that would define his career: Team LDLC.

With LDLC, he won every major title of his career. From 2017 to 2018, he dominated both French and European amateur tournaments, claiming 12 titles, including DreamHack Tours 2017 and Lyon e-Sport 11 and 12. During this era, he played alongside Duncan "Skeanz" Marquet, Juš "Crownie" Marušič, Marc "Caedrel" Lamont (then still a jungler), and most notably Markos "Comp" Stamkopoulos.

This core became the first LDLC roster when the LFL was founded in 2019, with Charly "Djoko" Guillard and Pierre "Steeelback" Medjaldi joining as well. They dominated the league and won both of its first splits. Off the back of that success, Eika took a shot at the LCS in 2020 with Immortals. But that year ended up being just a brief detour—he didn’t find the success he had hoped for and returned to France in 2021 to rejoin LDLC and live the greatest year of his career.

The 2021 LDLC roster is still regarded as one of the strongest in ERL history. With his veteran leadership, Eika helped guide a new wave of top-tier talent: Onurcan "Ragner" Aslan in the toplane, Martin "Yike" Sundelin coming off a standout year in LFL2, and the now-renowned botlane duo of Thomas "Exakick" Foucou and Mads "Doss" Schwartz. Together, they won back-to-back LFL championships in one of the league’s most competitive periods, which included powerhouses like Karmine Corp. Their only shortcoming came in the EU Masters: a finals loss to KC in Spring 2022, and a semifinal defeat by Team Heretics in Summer.

After that year, the roster disbanded and nearly everyone moved on to the LEC, while Eika stayed in the LFL. In 2023, he joined AEGIS for their debut year and helped them qualify for their first (and only) EMEA Masters appearance during the Spring Split. Without major results there, he joined Gentle Mates in 2024, also for their inaugural season in the LFL. Though his year was rocky—he was benched mid-season—he returned to the starting lineup in 2025, reuniting with his former AD Carry Comp. Even though the Winter Split of 2025 was difficult, it didn’t stop him from becoming the first player in LFL history to reach 1,000 kills—a testament to his unmatched longevity and consistency.