Sources: Jankos set to join NORD Esports in NLC

Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski, considered the greatest European jungler of all time, is set to swap rosters. Per Sheep Esports sources, the Polish jungler reached a verbal agreement to join NORD Esports, will depart The Ruddy Sack after only one split with the team. Though Jankos has become competitively synonymous with the LEC over the last decade, this will be his second split in a row in the NLC.

In winter, Ruddy and Jankos were eliminated from the NLC shockingly early, finishing the split in 5th-6th place. Despite fielding players like Luka "Perkz" Perković and Adam "LIDER" lyasov alongside Jankos, the team saw mediocre results. On the other hand, NORD Esports, another team with former LEC players, reached the NLC Winter finals and finished in second place behind Los Ratones.

Sources have also shared with Sheep Esports that Ruddy's roster is expected to undergo multiple changes in light of their Winter Split results; with the uncertainty of a roster overhaul and higher competitive ambitions, Jankos decided to make the jump to NORD Esports.

It is currently unknown to Sheep Esports where former NORD Esports Jungler Lucas "Santorin" Tao Kilmer Larsen is headed.

Jankos needs no introduction. After a decade at the top of the LEC, he stated that he would not be playing in the number one European league in 2025. Instead, he focused more on co-streaming and joined Ruddy Sack, a project hoping to blend content and competition in the NLC spearheaded by prominent figures like Christian "IWillDominate" Rivera and Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi.

The project quickly fell apart. Despite a satisfying seeding phase, they collapsed rapidly in the playoffs and suffered a defeat to Bulldogs (1-2) in their first playoff match. They faced them again two games later in a best-of-five, which they lost with a score of 1-3, eliminating them from the competition. It was a disappointing end for a team of this caliber, built around players who had competed in the LEC.

On the other hand, NORD Esports had a very strong Winter Split. They, too, have a project that features many former players with LEC experience, such as Tamás "Vizicsacsi" Kiss and Erik "Treatz" Wessén — though the latter is set to make the jump to the LVP Superliga this split, as reported by Sheep Esports. Throughout Winter, NORD only dropped games to Los Ratones the eventual NLC champions; though they were routed 3-0 in the grand finals, NORD were clearly the second-best team in the region. With this change, the team aims to be yet more competitive, hoping to challenge Los Ratones for the title and push towards the EMEA Masters tournament.