Great Britain has managed to assemble a League of Legends roster to defend Albion’s colors at the Esports Nations Cup, a tournament that will pit countries against each other from November 21 to 29 in Saudi Arabia. James “Mac” MacCormack, current Head of Coaching Development for Team Vitality, will lead the following lineup:
According to sources close to Sheep Esports, the team will be composed of:
- Toplane: Jordan "Shikari" Pointon
- Jungle: Aslan "White" Panglose
- Midlane: BZ_EUW, Ronan "Chemera" Stewart
- AD Carry: Matthew Luke "Deadly" Smith
- Support: Raymond "Kasing" Tsang
- Coaching staff: James "Mac" MacCormack, James "Torok" Thomsen, Adam "Eragon" Harney, Jonathan "just jon" Ellis
Through the qualifiers
Totalling just 250 points, Great Britain will not be among the Top 16 teams based on ENC’s ranking. With no active Tier 1 players, GB will have to compete through the Europe West Qualifiers later this month in order to qualify for the main event.
Alphari won’t play
Initially supposed to play for the roster, Alphari won’t compete with the team as he is currently an Assistant Coach for
. As the team is aiming to qualify for MSI, there is a high chance that Alphari will be in Korea and not available to compete for the qualifiers in Europe. Because of this risk, the two-time Worlds participant will not compete. He is currently Diamond 2 in SoloQ.
For the qualifiers, the starting role will instead be occupied by Shikari. Like Alphari, he has been away from professional competition for nearly two years and currently sits at 450 LP in Master tier.
White will play for GB
In the jungle, Great Britain will be represented by Franco-British player White. Currently competing for UOL Sexy Edition, he sits at 170 LP in Master tier. While he is best known for his time within the French ERL ecosystem and community, White is eligible to represent GB through his British passport.
The team's midlane position will be occupied by streamer and renowned Zed specialist BZ. He is currently the highest-ranked member of the roster, sitting above 1300 LP in Challenger after peaking at nearly 2200 LP last month. Great Britain had initially hoped to field Marc “Caedrel” Lamont in the role, but the former professional player ultimately declined the invitation.
The Roster’s Biggest Strength
The botlane is also very experienced. At 26 years old, Deadly currently plays for Skillcamp and is now entering his third year competing in France. He is currently sitting in Master elo with over 900 LP. Finally, in support, GB could field one of the oldest players at the Esports Nations Cup. At 32 years old, Kasing is still competing in the NLC for Bulldog Esports and will represent Great Britain.
The two players had already shared a botlane back in 2020 at JDXL in the UKCL and NLC, where they reached the EMEA Masters quarterfinals in Spring, eventually losing to LDLC OL. The following Spring, this time alongside Henk “Advienne” Reijenga, Deadly reached the second EMEA Masters final of his career, falling to Karmine Corp.
EDIT: We have clarified that Alphari will not be playing for the team despite early consideration and have updated the team name, as it will compete under the Great Britain banner.