LoL: "I told the coaches this will be their last chance" — Neo reflects on Team Vitality’s Spring Split in the LEC

It was time for a reckoning at Team Vitality. After a turbulent period for the VCT squad on VALORANT and the failure to qualify for the Spring Split playoffs in the LEC, Fabien "Neo" Devide and Nicolas Maurer, co-founders of the Hive, took to a live stream on Monday to address the community’s concerns. The two men first spent time revisiting the decision to replace their support following the Winter Split. Vitality had chosen to part ways with Zdravets "Hylissang" Galabov, who had already been struggling in 2024, opting instead for a high-risk move: recruiting Yasin "Nisqy" Dinçer, a midlaner by trade, who had to learn an entirely new role.

Neo was quick to admit that, in his view, Vitality had “messed up” by giving Hylissang another shot at the beginning of 2024 rather than promoting Paul "Stend" Lardin, who had shown promising performances with Vitality.Bee the previous year. The club’s founder reiterated that the core philosophy behind their academy project was to serve as a launchpad to the LEC—an opportunity players like Kaan "Naak Nako" Okan and Mateusz "Czajek" Czajka had recently seized by joining the main roster at the end of the 2024 season. "We missed out on Stend because we messed up with Hylissang," he stressed. "It’s a shame that perhaps we were too fixated on him. The coaches (James "Mac" MacCormack and Patrick "Pad" Suckow-Breum) are human—they’re allowed to make mistakes."

As part of this overarching philosophy, "the plan, originally, was to bring Fleshy (Kadir Kemiksiz) up," explained Neo, referring to the academy’s new support. The issue, however, was that the club failed to secure a visa to bring the Turkish player to Berlin and had to resort to a backup plan. "The coaches opted for a creative solution, a bold gamble with Nisqy, who is mechanically gifted and a veteran..." But given the limited time the Belgian player had to adapt to his new role, Vitality entered the Split already a step behind their competitors. The result mirrored Winter’s outcome: a 7th-place finish once again.

Frustrated by the situation, Neo deplored the team’s inability to replicate their scrim-level performances on stage. "Man, in scrims we were actually insane," he remarked. "Now and then we saw glimpses of that scrim Vitality—against Movistar KOI, against SK Gaming—but in my opinion, we lacked a bit of killer instinct." The loss—especially the nature of it—against Team Heretics in Week 4 of the regular season left a lasting mark. The CEO revealed he had angrily called every member of the team following the defeat. While he acknowledged some improvement in the aftermath—particularly in the match against MKOI—Neo insisted: "We’re still lacking mid-game control: managing side lanes effectively, creating impact, executing macro..."

This latest disappointment had immediate consequences. The day after the tiebreaker loss to Heretics, which denied Vitality a playoff berth, Neo delivered a blunt message. "I told the coaches this will be their last chance," he declared. "That if there were no results in Summer, they’d be let go. [...] They’ve had two years to prove themselves. This isn’t discrediting them. They’re competitors, and they’re the first to be disappointed." Without necessarily aiming for a title, he believes that Vitality, with its current roster, should have been capable of securing a top-four finish—“a result that could’ve laid the groundwork for Summer.”

Neo went on to explain the reasoning behind such a stark ultimatum. "There are major shortcomings, and the coaches are chiefly responsible," the CEO stated. "The shock to the system needs to come from the coaching staff." However, Neo did not absolve the players either. "I don’t think Lyncas (Linas Nauncikas) performed at the expected level. I was also somewhat disappointed in the leadership—especially when the team needed to step up in clutch moments... We lacked direction, which is unfortunate." He summed up his expectations: "I expect more from Czajek (Mateusz Czajka), I expect much more from Lyncas, I expect more from Carzzy (Matyáš Orság), and I expect more from Nisqy."

One player, however, emerged relatively unscathed—and even earned praise from the Bees' leader: Naak Nako. "We’re really fortunate to have him; he’s our franchise player for the years to come," he stated. "He has exceptional talent—it’s also up to us to make sure we don’t waste it and to provide him with the resources he needs." The message for the Summer Split is therefore clear: “No regrets,” said Neo. "If this really is the final chapter for Mac and Pad with us, they need to go all-in on their convictions. They understand that we have to deliver, because what we’ve shown so far doesn’t live up to the investment we’ve made in them, nor to what Vitality ought to represent in League of Legends—something we’ve never quite achieved."

Would that involve moving Nisqy back to the midlane? "Nisqy mid, Nisqy support... those are internal discussions. I think the coaches would be wise to stick to their beliefs and go all out."