LØS Enatron: "Our goal was to prove that we weren't just another team filling a spot at the tournament"

It was the new face of the Esports World Cup. Last week, Brazilian team competed in the first international tournament in the organization’s history. At the helm of the project is a duo that has become inseparable on the League of Legends scene in recent years: Ilias "Enatron" Theodorou and Arda "Invokid" Başaran. As the roster’s Head Coach, the former boasts an extensive résumé. Enatron first made a name for himself and achieved his first successes in the TCL, even qualifying for the 2019 Worlds at a time when Turkey was still considered a Tier 1 region. The coach then travelled between the LEC (Misfits Gaming) and the LCS (Dignitas) before moving to the ERL level in 2025, where he joined Ici Japon Corp.

2026 represented a new beginning and a new destination: Brazil. While the duo initially joined the project expecting to coach a Tier 2 team, LØS ultimately secured a spot in the CBLOL during the offseason. The ambitions changed, the project adapted, but the philosophy remained the same. And it paid off, with the team earning qualification for the EWC. Although LØS were eliminated in the Group Stage after defeats against Hanwha Life Esports and JD Gaming, the Brazilians managed to claim the scalp of LYON in a surprising upset. Enatron reflects on the team’s tournament run and shares his thoughts on the region he now calls home.

Ilias "Enatron" Theodorou: “Being back at an international tournament is an amazing feeling because you're no longer measuring yourself against your own region—you're challenging yourself against the best teams in the world. You get to face the teams we've spent so much time studying and learning from. Instead of just analyzing them, we actually get to play against them and learn firsthand. I think that's one of the most valuable experiences you can have as a coach. Beyond that, it's fascinating to see how these teams approach competition: how they prepare, how they think about the meta, how they compete. For me, if I want to keep improving as a coach, I need international events even more than regional ones. Winning a regional title isn't the end goal; it's what motivates me to qualify for another international event and challenge myself again. For me, international tournaments are the greatest challenge anyone in esports can face.

Enatron: It was a great feeling because at MSI, the CBLOL champion, FURIA, lost 3-0 to them. For us, it was also a test to see whether we could perform at a higher level than FURIA, on top of the CBLOL versus LCS rivalry that exists. Everyone, from the players to the staff, was extremely motivated to give everything we had and prove that we weren't just here to participate, we were here to make an impact. And it felt even better that it was against LYON.

Enatron: HLE was an experience. I think we choked a little. Sometimes, when you're facing players with those names, it naturally makes you more nervous. But playing against them and seeing how well they understand the game makes the rest of the competition feel different. You think, "Okay, nothing compares to the players we faced from HLE." That's the level we need to get as close to as possible, and at the same time it makes the rest of the competition feel more manageable. Against JDG, of course, we lost. They're a very good and disciplined team. But there were moments where we were able to play our own game, and despite the loss, we showed a much better version of ourselves compared to the HLE series. That proves the whole process, from our Korean bootcamp to this tournament, has helped us grow as a team.

Enatron: Definitely. We were placed in a very difficult group. We had the MSI champions, the third-place team from MSI, and JDG, a team that deserves enormous respect, not just from us, but from every top team in the world. Back in Brazil, we had actually been studying JDG's style of play, and then suddenly we found ourselves in the same group and had to face them. Coming into the tournament, our goal was simply to pick up some wins in such a difficult group. Once we beat LYON, I already felt we had achieved something meaningful. The way we won that series reinforced something important: our identity works. When you experience that, you naturally start thinking, "Maybe we can push even further." After the match against JDG, we were a little sad — not disappointed, just sad — because we felt we didn't fully show our potential. At the same time, we were facing an exceptionally strong team, so we can leave with our heads held high and say that we fought. Most power rankings had us ranked 16th. We never believed we were the 16th-best team. Our goal was to prove that we weren't just another team filling a spot at the tournament. I think that's the biggest victory we take away from this event as a group.

Enatron: The Korean bootcamp helped our group a lot. We were scrimming LPL and LCK teams every day, and we were happy that we were able to match them in practice while learning from them and keeping our mechanical level high. Then we came to the EWC, where you're facing the very best teams in the world. We wanted to challenge ourselves and see how far our team identity could take us. If it wasn't enough, we wanted to understand what we needed to improve to become even better. For this group, it's all part of a character development process, and it has been a great experience for everyone.

Enatron: After leaving the LCS, where I spent two and a half years with Dignitas, I wanted to come back to Europe and build a project together with Invokid. We had already worked together at Dignitas, although he was more of a remote coach. We first tried to do that with Ici Japon Corp in the LFL. During the middle of the year, our vision for the project started to differ from the organization's vision. So, during the offseason, we looked for a project that would truly trust us to build something from scratch. Among all the options we explored, LOS felt like the project that believed in us the most. It was an opportunity to prove that our coaching philosophy, as a duo, could build championship-level teams. With Ici Japon, once we had full support for our project, we reached the EMEA Masters finals in our first year. Now, at LOS, thanks to the same level of trust and support, we've reached the EWC and achieved the results we've had. For us, it's never really about the region. It's about the project and the trust that management has in our coaching philosophy.

Enatron: The goal, both for me and for Invokid — we're a package — is always to become better, stronger, and keep challenging ourselves at the highest level possible. If Brazil allows us to compete at that level, then why not? Of course, as Europeans, we'd eventually like to come back and contribute to our home region. Ideally, we'd like to bring our coaching philosophy to a top European team and see how far we could go. Our recent results show that our philosophy works. Even coming from what many people consider a weaker region, we've been able to challenge top LCS teams. We're also scrimming LEC and LCS teams, and we're performing very well. I genuinely believe this philosophy works, not just in Brazil, but internationally.

Enatron: We're a coaching duo that works in a way that's quite similar to the Asian model. As head coach, I'm responsible for everything outside the game: motivation, structure, scheduling, and making sure the team environment runs smoothly. Invokid is the strategic brain. He focuses on the in-game side and has the freedom to make his magic happen on the Rift. It sounds simple on paper, but in reality it's a weekly, and even monthly, process. So far it's been working, and we've been doing it together for two years now. The results speak for themselves. I think what's missing in many teams is that coaches sometimes stop paying attention to the human side once they've "made it." We don't. We put as much emphasis on the players' personalities, egos, and relationships as we do on strategic depth. Many organizations try to recreate this dynamic by hiring lots of different people with different personalities. But because Invokid and I share the same philosophy and mindset, everything clicks instantly, and the teams see results very quickly.

Enatron: Brazil has a lot of talent, but it's still largely unexplored. Over the last two or three years, there has been much more attention given to coaching. For example, the coaches at FURIA have done a phenomenal job developing local talent. I think our work at LOS is helping as well. We're trying to contribute to the ecosystem, not only by developing our own players, but also by helping individual Brazilian players improve so that more talent can emerge in the future. Of course, Europe has a much larger talent pool because it draws from many different countries and cultures. Brazil is more homogeneous, which makes it easier to build teams culturally, but historically it hasn't had the same level of structure or direction as Europe or North America. I think that's changing now. Organizations like LOS and FURIA are currently one step ahead when it comes to team structure and coaching philosophy.

Enatron: I'm the type of person who really loves discovering new cultures and meeting new people. I'm not afraid to press the reset button, whether it's with a new roster or a completely different lifestyle. For me, it's always a personal challenge. When I was in the LEC, I didn't hesitate to move to the LCS because I wanted to experience that region as well and see what I could bring with my coaching style. Then, after coming back, Invokid and I wanted to build our own projects in Europe. Once we became confident in ourselves, it was simply about finding an organization that believed in our ideas and could help make them a reality. At that point, it didn't really matter where we were, as long as we were together and had the trust to build something our way. That's the mindset I had when I went to Brazil. I wanted to apply what I truly believe works, find people who shared that vision, and build a group—a brotherhood of players—where everyone believes in the same goal and works toward it together.

Enatron: Absolutely. When we first joined this project, we signed a two-year deal because the original plan was to take the team from Division 2 to Division 1. We wanted to invest in the region from the very beginning. Even during our tryouts, we made a point of giving every player detailed feedback. Usually, players are simply told, "You're not selected," and that's it. We wanted to do things differently. We explained exactly why they weren't selected and what they needed to improve so that, if we saw them again in future tryouts, they'd be in a much better place as players. Even today, if someone reaches out to us, we don't close the door. We're always willing to help. So yes, both Invokid and I genuinely want to make the Brazilian scene stronger and more competitive. Of course, we want our own team to lead by example. We want to qualify for international tournaments and show that Brazil isn't a weak region. Hopefully, that inspires other Brazilian players to keep improving. If they want to reach out to us, we'll gladly help them. If not, we at least hope they'll be motivated to challenge what the top teams are doing in Brazil.

Enatron: If we're excluding my own players, then the first one is definitely from LOUD. He's been very impressive. I think he has the kind of mindset that creates champions. It's no secret what LOUD achieved during the first split of the Cup, and I think he was one of the catalysts behind that. I really enjoy working with players who have that mentality, and on top of that, he's very talented. The second player would be , the support for Fluxo W7M. He's young, talented, and has a lot of potential. It's only his first year, and I think he had a very solid season with Fluxo. Of course, he still needs more experience and more guidance, but over time I think he can become one of the biggest names in the Brazilian scene. The third one isn't technically Brazilian, but I'd say , the jungler for RED Canids. He's Venezuelan, and he's an incredibly talented mechanical player. He has very raw instincts when it comes to the game, and I really like players with that kind of natural feel because they can be molded into something special. Since he already has the mechanics, it's mostly about giving him the right direction and helping him make the most of those skills. Without that guidance, there's always the risk that he becomes another mechanical prodigy who never fully reaches his potential. That's why I think he's someone people should keep a very close eye on for the future.”