The disappointment in the ERLs, #5: FUT Esports

This year in the EMEA Circuit, many teams succeeded, but others were left disappointed by a performance well under the expectations. For our fifth and last episode of the series, we will move to the TCL with the 2024 Season of FUT Esports, a team that intended on keeping the momentum after a strong 2023 year, the first of FUT's history in League of Legends.

Last season, the TCL was demoted to an ERL by Riot Games, reducing the number of teams to 8 and causing an important downsize, which had consequences over the global strength of the league. This was the season FUT joined the TCL and League of Legends, with a 2nd and a 3rd place, which meant two EMEA Masters qualification, the organization could be satisfied of a strong start and set their eyes on an ambitious 2024 year.

Only one player would be kept from 2023 to 2024 : Soner "StarScreen" Kaya, veteran of the Turkish scene and triple title holder in the TCL.FUT's roster changes can be seen as both upgrades and downgrades on paper. For instance, Hakan "Ferret" Mert Çakmak was undeniably an upgrade over Berk "Mojito" Kocaman. ADC Belan "TakeSet" Ahour, who was initially set to join Supermassive but faced residency issues, also seemed to be at least a sidegrade to Muhammed Hasan "Kaori" Şentürk. However, the additions of Onur Can "Bolulu" Demirol, who struggled with Immortals, and Batuhan "kibah" Gazier Kibar have raised questions about whether they can lead the team to a title.

The rest of the TCL was as active in the transfer market as FUT, and with the exception of a Galakticos that was one league below the rest, the 7 other rosters were on paper able to reach for a good placement if not the title. Meanwhile, teams like Beşiktaş Esports and Papara SuperMassive assembled stacked rosters that were made to go for the EMEA Masters title.

FUT's Winter Split (in TCL, the two halfs of the season are Winter and Summer) was far from bad, neither was it closer to being excellent. With a 7-7 finish in the regular season, FUT were right in the middle of the TCL in 5th place. They however were able to win their two games against SUP and tie BSK (the two first in the regular season) in the round robin, which meant that the potential of the roster was there. But alongside these convincing wins, some major blunders coexisted, including a stomp by Boostgate in week 5 who revealed that while FUT's best level was a threat, FUT's minimum level was far from enough so far.

This variance can be mostly explained through individual inconsistencies, Ferret was as able to put on masterclasses in the jungle as looking lost on the map. FUT's gameplan was also restricting. Besides some Ezreal picks, Takeset and Kibah were the main focus of FUT's early activity. However, StarScreen's champion pool and playstyle were not the most suited to play weakside. If he was to be punished for his overstepping mistakes, it would be a weakness FUT had sometimes trouble dealing with.

Heading into the playoffs, FUT was an unpredictable team, and their sole best-of-five series against Dark Passage highlighted their inconsistency. The series ended in a close 2-3 loss, with each game won by the blueside, largely due to Umut "Umut" Atlı's standout performances on Ahri. Berkant "Luana" Kayhan managed to severely disrupt StarScreen's play in the top lane, while Tunahan "Kireas" Kevioğlu held his own against Ferret in the jungle. Despite FUT's straightforward mid-to-bot strategy working twice, Dark Passage's bot lane resisted the pressure in three of the five games.

Dark Passage wasn’t a significantly superior team, but they capitalized on FUT's reliance on their strongest points, like their potent mid-to-bot plays. DP's ability to counter FUT's top-level play, particularly shown in Game 4, and expose their weaker fundamentals, allowed them to edge out the series, resulting in FUT finishing their Winter Split in 5th-6th place.

Following these disappointing results, and perhaps with a lack of trust in the team's ability to improve, FUT's roster saw 3 players change between Winter and Summer. Shin "HiRit" Tae-min replaced StarScreen in the toplane, with FUT hoping he could confirm his last promising split with DP in 2023, and allow the team to play more firmly through topside. Sergen "Scorth" Eke, the ADC of NASR Turkey (7th of the Winter split) took the place of a departing Takeset while Kibah saw Park "Lospa" Joon-hyeong, former Gen.G Academy player, take his place.

These changes brought a lot of uncertainty for FUT's Summer Split. HiRit, despite his potential, had a very inconsistent previous split, and there were doubts about his motivation to compete at the highest level in the EMEA. Scorth also faced skepticism after an underwhelming performance in the last split, although much of that was attributed to being part of a dysfunctional NASR roster. The addition of Lospa, who had been teamless since late 2023 and had not particularly stood out during his time with Gen.G Academy—an academy team that isn’t top-tier in the LCK—added further questions about whether these moves would pay off for FUT.

FUT's Summer split was slightly less good than Winter's on paper with a 6-8 record, the looks of the games were however not as promising, since FUT were basically winning against weaker teams like GAL and NASR, struggling to get a win over other average teams. They were far from being able to reach the level of the best teams of the league (except one game against SUP).

Scorth was able to have a strong showing this split when he was put on picks that could take over the lane, Hirit also had his moment of brightness, but the team lacked a sense of the map and an identity. Ferret's level would therefore see a drop alongside Lospa's failure to establish himself among the top supports. FUT never truly established itself as a cohesive team in the TCL but instead functioned more as a collection of talented players who could excel with a favorable draft and an early lead. However, this reliance on individual brilliance wasn't enough to secure top placements in a Turkish league dominated by well-structured teams like MISA and BGT. The lack of synergy and a consistent game plan ultimately prevented FUT from breaking into the upper echelon of the competition.

Stars however aligned in the playoffs, where FUT arrived with a very good preparation against MISA and pretty much had everything going for them. Bolulu and Scorth were able to hard carry the games and Ferret even was allowed to get a stomp Nidalee game for him. The momentum initiated with such a win that seemed to go out from nowhere allowed FUT to once again play a tense BO5 against DP. But they lost 2-3, again. The match was more of a midlane 1v1 than anything else. Whichever midlaner could outplay his opponent and roam on the map would give his team the win, while the four other roles usually neutralized each other. Lospa also collected a lot of isolated deaths, showcasing a macro synchronization that was far from established by FUT.

Still, a 4th place is better than a 5th, despite an overall season below Winter, FUT managed to step up when it mattered. With a qualification in the EMEA Masters LCQ, the Turkish structure had the chance to have a spotlight during the season. After two easy BO3 wins over Zennit and Refuse, FUT were however drawn against BK ROG, and lost very harshly against a team that simply outclassed in every way, FUT's good momentum wasn't enough to overcome a BK ROG team that was on its best shape of the year.