LEC 2026 – Team Vitality: Built on Humanoid and Flesh (6/10)

Team Vitality are set to start their 2026 season with only one roster change, in the midlane. Mateusz “Czajek” Czajka is moved down to the academy team in the LFL and Marek “Humanoid” Brázda joins the main roster. There is also a major shake-up in the coaching staff, with Patrick “Pad” Suckow-Breum coming in as head coach and James “Mac” MacCormack taking on the role of Head of Coaching Development.

The rest of the roster remains unchanged, with Kaan "Naak Nako" Okan in the toplane, Linas "Lyncas" Nauncikas in the jungle, Matyáš "Carzzy" Orság as AD Carry, and Kadir "Fleshy" Kemiksiz as support. Sheep Esports was able to interview the CEO of the French organization, Fabien "Neo" Devide, to discuss Vitality’s offseason.

The team will thus have one of the most extensive coaching staffs in Europe, with Pad as Head Coach—a logical choice, as Neo explained: "I opted for an internal reorganization, relying on profiles whose DNA aligns with both Vitality’s and my own. From this perspective, Pad was the most coherent candidate."

He will be joined by Luka "Lukezy" Trumbić, Mauro "Garih" Garih Vidal, and Danusch "Arvindir" Fischer. As for the team’s playstyle, they will maintain the same approach: “teams that like to fight, embracing skirmishes and teamfights, in a style closer to the LPL than the LCK.”

Significant changes, then, after a year in which Pad played a more secondary role: “Last year, Mac handled both player management and the overall draft vision, with help from Kaas (Christophe van Oudheusden). Pad felt the team had the potential to go further.”

The midlane was the only position where Vitality made a change. Explaining the decision to demote Czajek, Neo stated: “His style, very facilitative and focused on supporting the side lanes and jungle, didn’t align with the role needed to complement the other team members."

According to our sources, Vitality had three options: Vladimiros "Vladi" Kourtidis, Yoon "Poby" Sung-won, and Humanoid, with Vladi being their first choice. Neo stated: “Since Vladi was available on the market, it made sense for us to want to try him. He was a natural fit, given his strong synergy with Fleshy and Lyncas from the ERLs, as well as his good relationship with Naak and Carzzy.”

The team ultimately chose to sign Humanoid over Poby for “his strong macro understanding and more assertive personality.” They also valued his vocal presence, which will provide a strong voice in Vitality’s communications. The Czech midlaner will also be reunited with Carzzy and Pad, whom he previously worked with at MAD Lions.

For the jungle, according to our sources, Vitality had options like Théo "Sheo" Borile and Iván "Razork" Martín, players who showed high peaks of performance in the LEC in 2025. Regarding a potential change, Neo replied, “with Lyncas, we know what we have, and we also know what we would lose by changing.”

Vitality also believe that with a more aggressive, carry-oriented midlaner, “Lyncas will be able to express himself better in a more structured style of play that suits his strengths.” His synergy with Vladi was also an important factor during this offseason: “At one point, we were very focused on Vladi, who was the main domino, because it was a duo that worked well at the academy level (at Karmine Corp Blue).”

For the botlane, keeping Carzzy as ADC was the preferred option due to his experience: “With a support still in the development phase, Naak Nako with only one year in the LEC, and Lyncas with a year and a half of experience, that was already three players who aren’t yet fully finished products. Adding an ADC new to the LEC would have been too risky.”

The team therefore prioritized keeping the synergy that had worked at times during Summer 2025. They would have considered changing “with plug-and-play veterans capable of adding a macro or clutch dimension, or with generational talent—Jopa (Josip Čančar) is an extraordinary player, as we saw during the three years he spent with us in the academy.”

For the support role, Fleshy is also retained after a promising Summer Split: “Fleshy is rightly kept. Dekap (Waleed Mohammed Ismail) is in a development phase so he can be considered in the future.” According to Neo, the academy and main team will not be in competition: “Promotion and returning to the ERLs are painful processes.”

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

1. NAVI with Head Coach TheRock
2. SK Gaming with Head Coach OWN3R
3. Team Heretics with Head Coach Hidon
4. Movistar KOI with Head Coach Melzhet
5. Shifters with no one