Jankos considers retiring from porfessional play

Veteran jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski is thinking about quitting competitive play after a sad conclusion to Team Heretics’ run at the 2023 Summer Split.

Jankos and Heretics were eliminated from the Playoffs after losing to Fnatic with a score of 1-3 in the lower bracket. Team Heretics’ 2023 campaign was effectively over with this loss, and they will now be spectating Worlds 2023 during their off-season. Jankos discussed what lies ahead for his career as a professional League of Legends player shortly following the series in a post-game interview.

While he was quite complimentary of his teammates and their growth over the season, he wasn’t as upbeat about his own professional future. After such a long and successful career, the 28-year-old LEC star acknowledges the prospect of stepping away from competitive play.

“I don’t know how much I have left. I’m not sure if I’m going to be competing next year or not.” Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski

Heretics’ sad exit from LEC playoffs leaves Jankos’ future up in the air

Jankos, affectionately known as “The First Blood King,” is one of the most successful and recognized players in the history of League of Legends. For almost a decade, he has been a prominent figure in European Esport, winning many titles and establishing his name as the most dominating jungler in the scene. Jankos was a key part of G2 for five years, helping them achieve the most domestic first-place finishes in Europe with a unique understanding of the role and mechanics.

Jankos briefly considered retiring after leaving G2 the previous year, but this was quickly discarded when Team Heretics acquired his services for the 2023 season. The former G2 star failed to replicate the same success with Heretics as the team looked shaky in their debut season, finishing in ninth spot with a disappointing 3-6 record.

Despite playing for one of the league’s weakest teams, Janko’s stats from the LEC Spring Split demonstrated that he is still among the best European jungler even in 2023. After three weeks of the LEC Summer Split, Jankos was leading all LEC junglers in kills per game, damage, damage per minute, gold difference, first-blood participation, and solo kills for weeks.

As the 28-year-old jungler continued to put on impressive performances, Heretics’ performance improved significantly at the LEC Summer Split. Jankos finished second among junglers in the Group Stage in terms of the Kill/Death/Assist ratio, with 6.2. Despite his best efforts, Heretics’ season was disappointingly cut short when Fnatic pulled off a brilliant 2-1 triumph in the playoffs. With this defeat, Jankos’ 2023 season came to an end, requiring him to reevaluate whether he should play in the LEC again in 2024.

Header: Michal Konkol/Riot Games