LEC 2026 - Team Heretics: Tracing new paths through the Ice (3/10)

Team Heretics are launching a new project for the 2026 season, keeping two French players in the jungle and support roles who had already built very strong synergy in 2025, Théo "Sheo" Borile and Paul "Stend" Lardin. In addition, for the AD carry role, they are joined by a player Sheo has already played with before at Team BDS, Yoon "Ice" Sang-hoon.

For the solo lanes, two players will be making their LEC debuts. Sebastian "Tracyn" Wojtoń is promoted to the toplane and has even been extended until 2027, with high hopes placed in the Polish toplaner. In midlane, after a strong year in the LFL with Galions, Tolga "Serin" Ölmez makes his arrival in the LEC. This entire lineup will be led by head coach Jonas "Hidon" Vraa, who gave an interview to Sheep Esports to discuss Team Heretics’ offseason.

Fnatic’s coach in 2024, Hidon was not involved in any project in 2025 and did not plan to return at all, as, according to him, “the LEC is not exactly what you think it is from the outside. It did not really feel worth it for me.” For him, winning Worlds is the ultimate goal, and to achieve it he needs to be part of a project that gives him full authority, something he has found at Team Heretics.

In this project, he will be joined by Emre "Arkhe" Akpınarlı, with whom he already worked in 2023 at Ruddy Esports in the NLC. Arkhe will bring complementarity to the coaching staff, as Hidon is not very focused on drafting and instead wants to concentrate more on team culture, people management, and gameplay.

Another important point is the trust between Hidon and Arkhe: “I think it is very important to have a staff where backstabbing is not part of the vocabulary. We want to work together, to be one. He is a bit like a little brother to me, he covers my weaknesses, we really like working together and he has a very good work ethic.”

Tracyn’s arrival in the toplane was discussed alongside two other players, as Baek "Mihile" Sang-hwi and Kim "Zest" Dong-min were also considered. Speaking about the three of them, Hidon said: “it felt like we could choose between Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar: we were really happy with all three.” Throughout the interview, another key point that stood out was the importance Hidon places on a player’s personality, which ultimately played in Tracyn’s favor.

Coming in from the academy as a rookie, several questions arise regarding the trust placed in Tracyn and the time he will be given. Hidon stated that the intention is to keep the roster intact throughout the entire year, confident that the team will inevitably have a slow start: “For me, benching and fast turnovers will only hurt in the long run. The goal this year is to keep everyone together, but that can only happen if people put in the effort expected of them.”

The jungle offseason in the LEC this year was very particular, as no jungler moved. It’s not for lack of trying, as Team Heretics attempted to get Iván "Razork" Martín Díaz but ultimately stuck with Sheo, who had a strong 2025 season. Hidon still sees areas for improvement in him: “Sheo has improved immensely since we started working with him. He is becoming an insane planner, which is really important.”

Razork was indeed prioritized by several LEC teams, including Heretics and GIANTX. According to our sources, TH also had Can "Closer" Çelik as an option. Hidon addressed the communication issues Heretics had in 2025, which he identified through VOD reviews, and intends to improve them going forward, especially given how heavily the jungle role is involved, and the fact that he works closely with the French jungler on a positional level.

According to our sources, Hidon and TH considered several options for the midlane, including imports like Lee "Fisher" Jeong-tae, Song "SeTab" Kyeong-jin, and Yoon "Poby" Sung-won. The team had also targeted Vladimiros "Vladi" Kourtidis, but in the end they got Serin, a player they prioritized heavily, even increasing their initial offer after the Turkish midlaner initially declined.

The language barrier played a huge role in the decision, as Hidon places a strong emphasis on team culture: “I am not a big fan of bringing Korean players who do not speak English, because it is very hard to build a culture and you end up just hoping they will be really good individually, which is a big mistake.”

It was also very important for him to develop European talent if the opportunity arose, something he saw in Serin and considers a duty of European organizations. “It is also part of our responsibility as coaches and as a European organisation to build European talent: if you have something exciting and good, you should go for it,” he said.

In the ADC role, Ice is joining and will be reunited with Sheo, the two having already played together during BDS’s peak days. Hidon sees him as an aggressive profile, exactly what the team needed. According to Hidon: “Once we had Sheo, that ruled out certain ADCs, and we then went with the combination we chose.”

This combination he’s referring to is Ice pairing with Stend, who was retained after a promising first year in the LEC. Hidon finds his profile interesting, as he is “very receptive to feedback and coaching.” The team had also considered a wide list of supports, including Park "Lospa" Joon-hyeong, who ultimately joined Fnatic.

Despite struggles in scrims, Hidon remains confident in the team. “We are getting heavily challenged in scrims, but we are learning, and that is what matters most,” he adds, highlighting the focus on long‑term progress over immediate results.

For more roster changes, check out our Transfers Hub and Offseason Live Tracker.

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