Left reeling after parting ways with several players after the Winter split, The Ruddy Sack has moved quickly to secure its roster for the NLC's return, according to Sheep Esports sources: toplaner Gaëthan "Gaëthan" Baron, jungler Isak "NattyNatt" Elgh, midlaner Pengcheng "Peng" Shen, AD Carry Nataniel "Nata" Fikrisellasie Asrat and support Igor "marlon" Tomczyk.
Five faces from the ERLs
Though they've moved away from an openly content-facing cadre of players, Gaëthan is a notable French League of Legends streamer and content creator. In 2022, he made his ERL debut with MAD Lions Madrid, but saw back-to-back 9th place finishes — after a year away from Tier 2 play, however, he won the LPLOL Summer 2024 Split and qualified for his first EMEA Masters.
Jungler NattyNatt, set to make his return to Ruddy, parted ways with the organization last year after only one split. With NattyNatt, Ruddy placed second in the NLC Spring Playoffs, but was eliminated in the EMEA Masters Play-In, prompting a roster shuffle. Per Sheep Esports sources, NattyNatt was also considered as the second jungle option for Los Ratones last offseason before they ultimately signed Veljko "Velja" Čamdžić. Now, the two junglers will face off as rivals in the league.
Peng, a 21-year-old Chinese-Swedish midlaner, has made a name for himself in the LFL — he's played for Team Oplon, Solary, and GameWard since 2022, steadily improving his results. Interestingly, after failing to qualify for the LFL in 2021 with their Division 2 team, FC Nantes Esports, Peng and GX jungler Ismaïl "ISMA" Boualem won the NLC 2022 Spring Qualifier — though Peng immediately moved to the LFL and never actually played in the league. Now, he'll get that chance.
Nata is also making his return to Ruddy — like NattyNatt, he hasn't played professionally since leaving the team. Nata joined the team for the Summer 2024 split after NattyNatt was replaced by Umut "Kituruken" Ceylan; though both players are returning to the team, they've yet to play together.
Lastly, support player marlon is set to round out Ruddy's bot lane. Despite being just 21 years old, marlon is already a seasoned ERL veteran, having competed in France, Poland, and Spain in recent years. With his experience and skill, he is expected to outshine most supports in the NLC.
A failed project
With Caedrel's Los Ratones entering the space, the NLC's popularity was set to explode — in anticipation, several teams invested in building their brands and acquiring high-caliber players. Owned by content creator Jake "DonJake" Morley, Ruddy partnered with streamer Christian "IWDominate" Rivera and coach Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi to helm the team this year.
Ahead of the competitive season, Sheep Esports reported on the core of The Ruddy Sack's planned roster — the team planned to build around LEC veterans Lucas “Perkz” Perković, Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, Adam “LIDER” Ilyasov. After signing American Twitch streamer Humzh "Humzh" Aborati and Hustlin to round out the roster, fans had high expectations — with two of the greatest Western players of all time, the team was expected to joust with Los Ratones and NORD Esports at the top of the table.
Instead, after a dismal 5th-6th place finish, the roster began to corrode. Humzh, an American citizen, encountered Visa issues and was forced to depart the roster — without him, Jankos moved to NORD. Stepping away from Perkz and LIDER, Ruddy has pivoted to a more traditional ERL roster; instead of building to maximize content and community appeal, they've assembled a roster designed to develop younger players.
Sheep Esports reached out to The Ruddy Sack for comment regarding YamatoCannon and IWDominate's involvement in the new roster. In response, they stated, "Despite the poison they bring to this organization, the investors were unable to force them out."
EDIT: The organization has confirmed the news during the writing process of this article.
