The disappointment in the ERLs #4: Solary

This year in the EMEA Circuit, many teams succeeded, but others were left disappointed by a performance well under the expectations. For our fourth episode, we will have a look at the 2024 Season of french veteran structure Solary, present in the LFL since the creation of the league. The "Team d'Amis" remained so far without any podium nor any EMEA Masters appearance.

Since 2019 at the very least, a common phrase can be heard all the time when talking about Solary : "We're here for the title", or in original version On joue le titre. What used to be a joke to make fun of Solary's bad first seasons in the LFL, Solary's rosters indeed were without a doubt not meant for any true title contention, being composed of streamers such as César "Wakz" Hugues, has become more than that.

In fact, the expression remained and is frequently used by Solary fans, haters, various casters and most of all, the organization itself, in fact, the series of VLOGs made around the LFL team are named "towards the title" - vers le titre. On the outside, such a phrase can sound extremely arrogant for a structure that hasn't earned a title since the 2019 Dreamhack Tours, an event with very little relevancy.

What used to be a funny running gag to diminish the stakes around a team that wasn't in the LFL to compete for its top spot, On joue le titre has transformed into a mantra for the french organization, a target they would relentlessly chase in spite of all odds, a target which thus far has stayed very far from Solary's grasp. Since 2021 however, Solary had ceased to field streamers in their team and started slowly building competitive rosters despite having a lower budget than most of their concurrents, reaching a relatively good 4th place in 2021 Summer split. 2023 marked the beginning of much stronger rosters on paper, but didn't bring Solary higher than their record with two 5th places in both splits.

For the first time since 2021, Solary 2024 wouldn't keep any player from their previous season ahead of the next one. Veteran Pierre "Steeelback" Medjaldi indeed took his leave to join Gameward alongside Pengcheng "Peng" Shen, their top-jungle would depart together in Zero Tenacity and lastly, Belan "TakeSet" Ahour moved to TCL. Many questions were surrounding Solary's next roster, but the ambitions were made very clear very quickly : the shift Solary had made in 2023 in terms of roster building would not be overturned. Therefore, Solary once agained welcomed big names in their team.

On October 22nd, Nicolas "Decay" Gawron's arrival was leaked by Sheep Esports, bringing a veteran that was on 3 straight solid years in the ERLs and showed everything a captain needed to show was the first of many exciting roster moves for Solary. Nihat "Innaxe" Aliev, Felix "Kryze" Hellström - who won the LFL in 2023 - Edgaras "Eckas" Strazdauskas in the jungle, and Mohamed "Myrtus" Rahli had follow in the leaks for next days alongside Ismaël "Cook" Lakel in the coaching staff. The last two names were less known of the public as they had no ERL1 experience, especially Myrtus, whose year in the LFL2, as promising as it was, was no guarantee that he would fit in the very competitive LFL environment.

On paper, Solary's roster in Spring 2024 was supposed to fight in the arena alongside other big names. Although the LFL was as stacked as usual with teams like BDSA or Gentlemates fielding rosters that could fit in the LEC on paper, Solary were expected to at least make it to top 6 and reach the playoffs, a stage they hadn't missed in 2023.

January 12th, Solary's announcement tweet says "Solary is here for the title, always has been, always will be", the assessment is loud and clear : Solary didn't make it to playoffs after a very harsh Spring Split that saw them go 8-10 and losing to Gentlemates in the head-to-head.

It didn't start that badly for Solary, after losing their first 3 matches of the regular season, they managed to beat Karmine Corp Blue in a convincing fashion, mixing very strong individual plays - especially from Decay - and a good team cohesion that allowed everyone to take part in the game. With a 2-0 week three and another strong win over BDSA, it seemed Solary were set on a good rhtyhm. But inconsistensies would show in the victories and be confirmed in a 0-2 week four : if Decay isn't able to truly dominate his opponent and have an enourmous impact on the map, no one at Solary was able to take the reins.

By the end of week five, Solary was in 4-6, two loss below the top 5 but still in the run for the top 6. The first ten matches showed that Solary could count on their sololaners to carry some games time to time, with Decay and Kryze being able to take over games, but the team chemistry wasn't there. Solary's botlane was indeed very separated from the rest, if they couldn't win the laning phase, they would basically be useless with the exception of Innaxe's bright moments in teamfight. The team's rookie, Myrtus, wasn't able to find synergy with anyone, plus his individual issues, he truly was the 5th wheel of Solary.

Solary also had late game issues, first seen in the second game against Gentle Mates, they would shine very bright in the BDSA rematch. Despite having Kassadin and release-patch Smolder, Solary were outclassed on the macro by BDSA who dominated them from head to toe on the sidelanes. These late game issues revolved around critical decision making hesitations, which plagued Solary throughout the entire year. It was as if several contrary winds were fighting each other, and only via Decay could they sometimes find a common way to go.

Ahead of week 9, Solary were 8-8 and one win above the 7th place, and with all the stakes as high as possible, they fumbled. After suffering another late-game defeat against BK ROG Esports where Myrtus' isolation in the roster was more blatant than ever, Solary got smashed in 25 minutes by Vitality.Bee, and with Gentle Mates victory of Team GO, Solary were out of the Spring Split playoffs. The comparison with Gentle mates is deadly : both teams had high expectations, both teams played well below these expectations, depended on their midlaner to unite the 4 other players, but one team didn't choke in the end : Gentle Mates.

Take Spring Split, copy -> paste and you have Solary's Summer split. 8-10, non-qualification due to a head-to-head lost over Gameward, and similar team issues. Nethertheless, Solary made changes during the offseason, bringing back their former adc Takeset and changing the coaching staff with Aymerick "Hairost" Sergeant joining the team.

Solary's start was however better than in Spring, since they could secure 2 wins in the first week and avoid being put on a negative record early on. What has been very cruel in Summer is that Solary spent every day in the top 6... except the last. The gameplay struggles were also similar, with the Decay dependance not really disappearing and Myrtus' errances not ceasing. The late-game issues weren't gone aswell, with their first game against TDS that saw them lose despite winning every fight but the last. Takeset's addition would prove to be a good one, but not enough to solve the botlane problems Solary had. Takeset's ability to shotcall also did not make any difference in Solary's lack of decision making ability.

Once again, Solary had everything in their hands, having 3 consecutive matches where a victory would guarantee their qualification in the top 6 and thus in the EMEA Masters. Once again, they fumbled, after a strong and sweet revenge win over Gentle Mates. Solary's fear of not qualifying paralyzed them, against GW, as they played very disorganized and allow Matias "Matias" Manchin-Opheltes to 1v9 the game despite Decay and Takeset being on shape on their carries. The last week of the Summer Season was the same as Spring's, with a tight defeat in the first game - this time against KCB - and a complete crumble in the second game against team GO, in which Solary appeared to be so scared they struggled to right-click on the map.

The elimination in Summer was even bitter since it was by the hands of Gameward, the new home of their former players Peng and Steelback, who had their best year in 2024. Peng's case, alongside with Myrtus' experience in 2024 showcased a failure in talent development. Myrtus this year, Peng in 2023, Simon "Kio" Králik before, Solary fails in taking the best form of their players. The gameplay issues can also be linked with psychologic ones, as 2023, Solary had cohesion struggles alongside a global fear of winning games, the clutch factor was rarely in Solary's favour. The stakes seem to always take over Solary's ability to play their game.

The change of staff midseason is also not a good indicator of how the team is managed. Cook's choice forehand did came with questions, as he had a year with Atletec where he both had a roster dying on the inside in Spring and a good playoffs run in Summer. The fact that he was benched so quickly shows that SLY's trust in him was limited very early on. It was also not hidden that Solary intended to change Myrtus, but they couldn't find a suitable replacement. On the outside, these numerous issues alongside a gameplay that was so habited by the fear of losing either outline several work ethic issues from the player or an erratic management. But with how these issues have been repeated throughout the years - the management of Solary has indeed not changed for the last 5 years - a combination of both seems to be the most likely.