“We heard EWC would have qualifiers and didn’t want to sit around doing nothing all year,” Ex-Los Ratones members unveil Witchcraft

The Los Ratones are back—well, sort of. After disbanding following their elimination from the LEC Versus in February, four players and the team’s former coaching staff have reunited to carry on the squad’s legacy. Bound to no organization—and without toplaner Simon “Baus” Hofverberg or influencer and coach Marc Robert “Caedrel” Lamont—Witchcraft has emerged on Wednesday as the spiritual successor to the Rats. While many fans are celebrating the return of the roster, others remain more cautious about the announcement.

No matter what one may think of , the team’s impact on English-speaking audiences over the past year has been undeniable. The squad revived, for many fans, the feeling of pre-franchising esports teams—community-driven projects built around personalities rather than organizations. Because of this, few truly believed the project would vanish completely after the roster parted ways, even if some changes were expected.

“Caedrel made other plans before we decided to do this. He probably just wants to chill and play Pokémon—let him live his life. He’ll be watching and supporting us, and that’s what matters,” explained the team’s midlaner, .

Witchcraft will now carry on the legacy of the now-defunct organization, albeit without two of its most iconic figures. In their place, joins the lineup as the new toplaner—a change that has sparked some backlash among fans due to controversial comments the Belgian player made last year about women in esports, for which he later apologized.

“It’s not going to be like Los Ratones—we’re just doing it for fun, with way less staff. We’re not an organization,” Nemesis added. Speaking on his own stream, coach Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi echoed that sentiment: “Obviously, it’s not going to be as serious as the LEC run—this is something we’re doing mainly for fun and for our own enjoyment.”

When asked who actually owned the project, Nemesis replied simply: “Nobody—everybody.” then jokingly chimed in: “Nemesis. Nemesis is daddy.”

Compared to the previous project, the new team is meant to be a little more than a group of players who enjoy competing together, with far less emphasis on branding or structure. Instead, Witchcraft aims to embrace a grassroots approach centered around streaming scrims and matches, which helped Los Ratones stand out in the past.

The late announcement of the team comes as no surprise to anyone who has recently followed—or tried to follow—the EMEA Masters and ERL circuit. The competition has faced criticism in recent weeks for its lack of communication, with official information only reaching teams less than two weeks before the start of the tournament. Nevertheless, the EMEA Masters are evolving in 2026, with one major new development: the opportunity for participating teams to compete in a qualifier for the Esports World Cup alongside LEC organizations.

“We heard the EWC was going to have qualifiers and didn’t want to sit around doing nothing all year […] We decided to disband LR before the EWC news came out. We had to put this whole team together in literally two days, so it was very rushed,” Nemesis said.

With $2,000,000 in prize money and a chance to compete against top teams from around the world in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the roster quickly moved to reform, seeing the opportunity as too significant to pass up—despite criticism from parts of the esports community over the Saudi government’s involvement and accusations of sportswashing—a criticism that has not stopped teams from every major league from competing in the tournament over the past two years.

“We all want to keep playing together, and we’re really eager to jump into the next thing. The EMEA Masters spot was available, so we took it,” explained YamatoCannon. Like Karmine Corp Blue, representing the LFL, Witchcraft will now move on as the NLC’s fourth seed, having retained the majority of Los Ratones’ roster that competed in the LEC Versus.

Currently, it remains uncertain whether the team will compete in the NLC during the Spring and Summer seasons. The league is facing multiple managerial and financial issues. Several talents have publicly denounced a lack of payment, and teams have issued a unified letter against management. Chief Product Officer Mathias Horn resigned, and emergency tournament operators Inygon pulled out after the NLC’s license owners failed to pay them for their assistance.

Though hardly Witchcraft’s fault, their announcement has further disrupted the NLC. Two teams competing in the playoffs—who were previously assured spots at the EMEA Masters—now must fight for their place the very next day, after one of four slots was instead awarded to Witchcraft.