Sources: Thayger set to join Natus Vincere in the LEC

He did his time in ERL and now takes his chances in the LEC. According to sources close to Sheep Esports, Francisco "Thayger" Mazo has reached a verbal agreement with Natus Vincere and will make his debut in the EMEA League of Legends elite. Barça eSports and NAVI have reportedly reached an agreement due to the facilities provided by the Spanish club, lowering Thayger's exit clause and facilitating his promotion to the LEC for around 20,000 euros.

Thayger's contract runs through the end of the 2025 season, although the jungler — who will be the third Spanish player in his role to compete in the LEC Summer 2025 alongside Javier “Elyoya” Prades and Iván “Razork” Martín — is expected to stay only for a single split, in line with the club’s initial recruitment plan.

Sources indicate that several other junglers were considered: Enes "Rhilech" Uçan (BK ROG Esports) and Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski (NORD Esports). NAVI also submitted an offer to Team Heretics for their academy jungler, Kacper "Daglas" Dagiel, proposing €55,000 plus an additional amount for each split played with NAVI in 2026 — an offer that was ultimately withdrawn before any response was received.

Finding a successor to Kim "Malrang" Geun-seong has proven a difficult task for NAVI in their inaugural LEC season. While Thayger may not have been the club’s initial priority, the jungler has consistently delivered over the past two seasons in the Superliga. In his second split in Spain’s national league, Thayger reached the Spring 2024 finals with Guasones — a level of performance he maintained moving forward. After joining Barça eSports in the summer, he once again reached the final. In the Spring Split, he suffered his third consecutive defeat in a Superliga final.

Three finals, three losses — all at the hands of the same opponent: Los Heretics. But the narrative shifted this spring. Barça managed to eliminate LH in the playoffs and captured its first title by defeating GIANTX Pride in the grand final. Riding that momentum into the EMEA Masters, Thayger and Barça were seen as a team to watch — though not among the favorites. In the group stage, they managed to beat Los Ratones — a notable achievement, considering the team led by Marc “Caedrel” Lamont has lost only three official matches all season.

In the playoffs, Barça became the bane of French teams, eliminating both Gentle Mates and Karmine Corp — the most decorated team in the competition’s history, with four titles. However, when they met Los Ratones again in the grand final, the Catalan side proved outmatched and suffered a swift 0–3 defeat. Despite missing out on another title, Thayger left a strong impression, particularly through his proficiency on carry-oriented junglers such as Viego and Naafiri. Since the start of the season, he has been less effective on some of the meta’s staple picks, including Xin Zhao (20% win rate across ten games) and Wukong (33.3% win rate over nine games).

With Thayger’s arrival, NAVI is close to finalizing the roster that will represent them in their LEC debut. The club previously chose to retain two players from Rogue: Adam “Adam” Maanane and Emil “Larssen” Larsson. However, the Ukrainian organization decided it needed new blood in the bot lane, parting ways with Patrik “Patrik” Jiru and bringing in another rising star from the ERLs, Lee “Hans SamD” Jae-hoon. The objective remains clear: to surpass Rogue’s results, which finished tenth in both splits earlier this year.

Top: Adam “Adam” Maanane
Jungle: Francisco "Thayger" Mazo Sánchez
Mid: Emil "Larssen" Larsson
ADC: Lee "Hans SamD" Jae-hoon
Support: TBD