MAD Lions allow its LEC players to explore options for 2024 season

Following another mixed LEC season that ended with an early exit from the 2023 World Championship, MAD Lions announced a massive overhaul to their League of Legends roster.

MAD Lions Senior Director of Team Operations Till Werdermann said on social media that the team has allowed its players and some of the staff members to hit the free agency market. Most of Mad Lions’ players have contracts that expire in 2024 or 2025, with the exception of jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades Batalla.

Although Jungler Elyoya’s contract is expiring next month, he reportedly doesn’t appear to be impacted by the latest developments. According to reports, Elyoya was in talks with G2 and FNC during the 2022 offseason, but those talks broke down because of the exorbitant buyout price.

Lots of rumors circulating right now, I wanted to add some insights from our side:
MAD is an organization that wants our people to succeed regardless of where they are or what team they play for.

Regarding the latest rumours, we are exploring our options. It’s only fair that we…

— Till Werdermann (@Feiron42) October 27, 2023

 

Now that the organization is restructuring its roster, Elyoya seems to be the cornerstone, around whom they intend to assemble a new lineup for the 2024 campaign. Elyoya has previously said that he would like to play with Movistar Riders Support Álvaro Fernández del Amo and AD Carry David “Supa” Martínez García. Fortunately, a possible alliance between MAD and Movistar Riders has also been suggested by reports from Sheep Esports, although no agreement has been made as of yet.

In 2018, Movistar Riders expressed interest in entering the LEC, however, they were unable to secure a spot. If you don’t know, Movistar Riders are the organization that launched the jungler Elyoya in the LEC; if they teamed up with MAD, that would be his return to his roots.

Mad Lions’ journey in 2023 LEC:

The team started their season with a second-place finish at the LEC Winter 2023 and carried the momentum to the LEC Spring split, where they defeated Team BDS to win the LEC title after two years. Despite a relatively successful year in the LEC, the Spanish organization looked shaky on the international stage, with their players often seeming not to be on the same page.

The team received a seeding in the Bracket – Stage at the Mid-Season Invitational because of their first-place performance in LEC Spring. However, they struggled and lost all of their matches during the event, finishing in a 7th-8th place finish. They narrowly made it into the LEC Summer Playoffs after finishing seventh in the regular season. The team made a brilliant comeback at the LEC Season Finals 2023, where they finished in third place finish to qualify for the 2023 Worlds. At Worlds, the MAD Lions got ousted during the Swiss stage with a disappointing 1:3 record and their only victory came against Team BDS.

Header: Michal Konkol/Riot Games