The transfer market of the Ligue Française de LoL (LFL) is in full swing, and teams are gradually completing their ranks to prepare for 2024, which promises to be once more, very intense. Among these reinforcements are players little known to the French audience, who have spent the majority of their careers away from the hexagon, and whom French fans will discover throughout the upcoming season. Over the next few weeks, we will present you an overview of these new faces who will showcase the extent of their talents within the current best ERL in the circuit. Today, we present to you:
Josip "Jopa" Čančar, ADC, Vitality.Bee
Unlike Keduii, who explored various ERLs before joining the LFL, Jopa's
ascent was meteoric, matching his potential.
It was at the beginning of 2021 that the career of the young Croatian ADC truly began when he joined Split Raiders in the EBL, the Balkans league. At just 18 years old, he already impressed and caught the attention of MNM Gaming, a team in the UKLC, the second division of the NLC.
At MNM, Jopa met Mladen "Cl0x" Mitić, his support, with whom he would stay for a long time. The two quickly found synergy, and MNM dominated the UKLC season, finishing first in the regular season with an excellent record of 10 wins to 4 losses. However, the team fell short in the grand finals but secured a spot in the qualifying tournament for the NLC.
For this tournament, the entire team was changed except for Jopa and Cl0x. The two players then met William "Sn1lle" Andersson, their new jungler, but they had a rough start together. In the group stage, the team lost all 6 matches and had to start at the bottom of the bracket, with no room for error.
Jopa's team then accomplished the feat and made their way to the top of the bracket, defeating X7 3-0 in the decisive match for qualification. MNM was then qualified for the NLC, largely thanks to Jopa, who was playing in his first competitive year. However, MNM decided to change the team for the 2022 season and did not retain the Croatian ADC.
Still with Cl0x and Sn1lle, Jopa bounced back in NLC2, joining Nativz, which recruited Søren "Lunddorf" Lunddorf in the top lane and Mikkel "Rylle" Rylander Christiansen in the mid lane. This formidable team dominated NLC2 throughout 2022, finishing both regular seasons at 14-4 and winning the split finals each time with a clean 3-0.
Nativz logically qualified for the qualifying tournament for the NLC and faced MNM in a decisive match. Thanks to a strong performance by Jopa, the Croatian ADC eliminated his former team and qualified Nativz for the NLC, marking a second consecutive year with two different teams!
Again, Jopa and his teammates did not continue with Nativz. This time, they remained a five-member team and headed towards the EBL, joining Partizan Esport. There, the quintet continued to impress, winning the Spring Split and making an impressive run in the EMEA Masters Play-In, finishing first in their group with a 6-0 record before narrowly losing to Aegis in the Knockout stage.
It was during these Play-Ins that Jopa particularly impressed, delivering exceptional performances for his first time on the European stage. He was so good that he caught the eye of many European teams, and it was ultimately KOI and their academy that secured him.
Alongside Paul "Stend" Lardin, Jopa was one of the main sensations of the summer in SuperLiga, transforming a struggling team into one of the surprises of the season. The young Croatian notably contributed to a third of his team's damage throughout the season and eventually became the central element of KOI Academy's play, displaying an exceptional level on hyper-carries like Zeri, Jinx, or Sivir.
In 2024, Jopa will stay with Stend, with whom he immediately clicked upon joining KOI. The two join a Vitality.Bee team that turned heads during the transfer window, notably with the recruitment of former LEC star Oskar "Selfmade" Boderek, who is expected to lead an aggressive team.
As one of the rising stars of the European scene, Jopa will be eager to prove that his meteoric rise in the ERLs is not a fluke and is evidence of his immense talent.
