After a year with DIG, Danish Mid Laner moves to FLY
Mid Laner Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen has reached a verbal agreement with FlyQuest to join the team's League Championship Series (LCS) squad, according to Sheep Esports sources.
Per information disclosed to Sheep Esports, the team also strongly considered Emil "Larssen" Larsson and Tim "Nemesis" Lipovšek to fill in its mid lane position. Reports indicate that they also explored options in the EMEA Regional Leagues (ERLs), an unsurprising move considering the team previously fielded French mid laner toucouille in 2022.
Additionally, Jensen also had interest from one team in the LEC.
Full FLY LCS 2024 Roster
Top Lane: Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau
Jungle: Kacper "Inspired" Słoma
Mid Lane: Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen
Bot Lane: Fahad "Massu" Abdulmalek
Support: Alan "Busio" Cwalina
A Return to Form?
One of the most accomplished players in the LCS, Jensen currently boasts three LCS titles, 8 Worlds appearances, and the achievement of bringing North America to the MSI finals in 2019. Despite his past feats, Jensen's latest season hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows. Let go from Cloud9 at the end of 2022, the Danish mid laner struggled to gather interest from other LCS teams in 2023, eventually finding his way onto Dignitas.
While the team's roster appeared promising on paper, Jensen and his team would soon be faced with a reality check as they ended the first half of 2023 in 10th position. Despite minor improvements in summer, the team would eventually conclude its year in 5-6th place, only managing to beat TSM in the first round of the LCS Championship.
Having missed Worlds for the first time in his career, Jensen is now looking for something new and this FlyQuest offer could very well be the saving grace to the 28-year-old mid laner's career. The future of the team will largely depend on a potential return to form of the Danish mid laner, as he hopes to prove himself in the league which has seen him grow for the past nine years.
Locked and Loaded
With this move, FlyQuest has secured the final member to its core roster. With an interesting mix of old and new players, the team is now ready to enter the 2024 season with a bang. On paper, FLY's roster is looking like it could have a great impact on the LCS.
The team started its off-season through the important acquisition of jungler Kacper "Inspired" Słoma, who will be leading the team along with returning top laner Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau. With Jensen added to the mix, the team has formed a strong core of three veteran players who will be expected to lead the younger bot lane of FlyQuest.
While the roster may include strong and prevalent names, a lot of question marks still linger over the future of the team. Evidently, the three veterans, while impressive in their past records, all have something to prove:
- Bwipo will need to prove that he is able to step up once more and reach the same heights he had with Fnatic in the past...
- Inspired will have to bounce back from a lackluster 2023 season and temporary competitive hiatus...
- ... and the 28-year-old mid laner, Jensen, now needs to prove that he still has what it takes to compete among the best in the LCS and that his year with Dignitas was a fluke.
All in all, FlyQuest is shaping up to be an exciting roster for the upcoming competitive year and will remain one of the teams to watch as we enter 2024.