Roster Analysis: Vitality aims for domestic dominance and more

After one trip to Worlds in 2018 and middling to disappointing results afterwards, Team Vitality gambles with a roster that may finally give them the success they have always wanted. Team Vitality in recent history has been one to show promise early, and then falter towards the end.

Their best results were in 2018 when they placed fourth in spring, and then third in summer. They then made it to Worlds as the European second seed, where they got knocked out in the group stage. They showed some promise by taking a game of then tournament favorites Royal Never Give Up, but were not able to stick the landing. In 2019, they only changed their jungler, but they had very middling results. Their 2020 was rather unfortunate due to some COVID-19 and visa restrictions.

Star-studded roster

2021 was more of a mixed bag. After a disastrous spring where they placed 10th, some changes were made. They let go of Head Coach Hadrien “Duke” Forestier, and instead made Louis-Victor “Mephisto” Legendre lead the roster. They also signed Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek following his departure from Fnatic, and rising star Adam “LIDER” Ilyasov. After an up and down regular season, they made it into the playoffs, but they were knocked out by a surging Fnatic in the first round.

For 2022 though, it seems that this organization has gone all-out. They signed superstar top laner Barney “Alphari” Morris who was just at the 2021 World Championship with Team Liquid, Matyas “Carzzy” Orsag who just won the past two splits with the MAD Lions, and Luka “Perkz” Perkovic, who was previously on Cloud9, and is regarded to be one of the best Western players of all time.

On paper, this team could perhaps win a domestic championship, and in the right meta, could make it far in an international tournament. Alphari and Perkz are some of the strongest laners in the West, and they could definitely stand up to their Eastern counterparts; Selfmade has proven himself to be an excellent carry jungler; and Carzzy has shown that when he is in his best form, he can go toe-to-toe with the best in the world.

A promising line-up

In this team, the only real question mark is Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis, who shows some promise, but has never really played with an elite roster before. Despite this, people should be hopeful about his potential as he has played with Carzzy before– this means that they have synergy, and know how to communicate with each other as a bottom lane duo.

However, there are also clear questions that the fans will want answered– how exactly would Selfmade and this team perform if the jungle meta did not favor carry-oriented champions? Since his LEC debut we have only ever seen him on carry champions, and his champion pool has been suspect for a few splits now. Is Perkz even back to his peak form as a mid laner?

While they did win the spring season, and while Perkz has had stellar games in North America, we have not really seen a more consistent top-level performance from him. If he can channel a level similar to what he had in 2020 spring, he will for sure be one of the best in the region. Most importantly, which carry will this team play towards? With several resource-intensive players, someone will surely have to adjust.

None of those could be answered at the moment, so for now we may have to do as the team says– watch them. Follow them.