After a fourth-place finish in the
Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC) 2025 Winter Season, British organization Verdant is making major changes, bringing in four new players. According to Sheep Esports sources, the team is set to sign toplaner Uğurcan "
Tayron" Doğan, jungler Kim "
Noodle" Kroon, midlaner Chres "
Sencux" Laursen, and ad carry Artjoms "
Shiganari" Pervušins. Support Guilherme "
Obstinatus" Cruz will be the only remaining piece of the last split's roster.
Verdant's offseason was reportedly challenging, especially after former toplaner Antero "PapiTeero" Baldaia and AD Carry Kevin "Mishi" Westerbacka
found new homes with BDS Academy. However, Verdant's finalized lineup still boasts a promising rookie and several accomplished veterans, making it a force to be reckoned with.
The new lineup of Verdant. Courtesy: LOLPros.GG
Bumps in the Road
The first player to be locked in was 25-year-old Shiganari, who is set to provide a solid foundation for the new squad. The Latvian AD Carry recently played in LFL Division 2 with IziDream, finishing in third place. Before that, he spent a year with AEGIS, earning a spot at the 2023 EMEA Masters, and most recently competed with NNO Prime, reaching the EMEA Masters Main Event in Summer 2024. Though Verdant moved quickly to sign him, sources indicate the team first trialed AD Carry Jesper "Jeskla" Strömberg and support Batuhan "Kibah" Kibar while Mishi explored his options with BDS.
Verdant faced challenges finalizing its remaining positions after a tough offseason. Former head coach Emre "Arkhe" Akpınarlı, who led the team last split, ultimately decided to leave Verdant and took the team’s now-former jungler, William "NoName" Jones, with him. This left Verdant needing to find a new jungler, with Magnus "MAXI" Kristensen—who had been the team's substitute jungler last split and, prior to that, had a tenure with Movistar KOI in the Superliga—being one of the options. Both MAXI and former Team Du Sud toplaner Enzo "SLT" Gonzalez were offered starting spots but eventually declined, with MAXI
opting to join Ramboot in the Superliga.
Following the departure of Ronaldo "Ronaldo" Betea—who moved to NORD Esports and will act as a substitute for the start of the season—Verdant then explored midlane options, including Pengcheng "Peng" Shen, though he ultimately signed under another NLC team, according to sources. The team also considered Oleksandr "Efias" Yankovich for the support role, but sources indicate Efias ultimately decided to take a split off.
New Blood Meets Hardened Veterans
In the end, the team settled on jungler Noodle, who previously won the Aurora Cup with Verdant and most recently competed with One More Esports in the Arabian League, finishing in third place. Verdant also secured midlaner Sencux, a former Worlds attendee and EU LCS finalist with Splyce in 2016, who most recently had mixed results in the Prime League and Arabian League. Finally, the team decided to retain Obstinatus, with whom they finished fourth during winter.
As its most intriguing prospect, Verdant has secured 18-year-old Turkish toplaner Tayron, who will get his first shot at playing in a first-division regional league after receiving interest from two Superliga teams, notably Ramboot Club. Last month, he peaked at 1107 LP in solo queue, showing proficiency on carry champions like Aatrox, Ambessa, and Jayce.
Header Photo Credit: Verdant
