When League of Legends fans were introduced to the LEC’s new format at the beginning of the year, many wondered how it would affect the competition as teams scrambled to stay afloat over only nine games of the regular season. But after almost an entire year, most people can agree that this new system has made the league so much more exciting to watch as a spectator.
During the opening week of the 2023 LEC Summer Split, Team Heretics’ new AD carry Victor “Flakked” Lirola made a splash in his return to the league, rising above the rest of his peers with a league-leading 31 kills over three games. The 22-year-old helped his team finish with a perfect first week, picking up wins against SK Gaming, Astralis, and Team Vitality.
The talented star even broke out three different picks, with matches on Draven, Lucian, and Zeri. He only died four times while also holding 52.5 percent of his team’s total kills and 84.7 percent kill participation, according to competitive League stats aggregate Oracle’s Elixir. Flakked was the most dominant marksman in the league this week, propelling Heretics to the organization’s best start in its short history while also earning himself Player of the Game honors for all three matches played.
This puts Flakked on pace to break the new LEC format kill record of 56 kills, set by Heretics’ previous AD carry Jakob “Jackspektra” Kepple during the 2023 Spring Split. Should the young star continue on this explosive path, he could end up with around 80 to 90 kills through nine games.
Related: Five highlights from the first week of LEC Summer Split
Flakked is making his return to the LEC stage after spending half of 2023 on Heretics’ Academy team in the LVP SuperLiga. It was a surprising turn of events for the promising prospect, especially after a breakout year with G2 Esports where he helped capture the 2022 LEC Spring championship, a top-four finish at that year’s Mid-Season Invitational, and a World Championship appearance.
Meanwhile, Heretics’ debut in the LEC has been filled with disappointment, with a recent ninth-place finish during the 2023 Spring Split. Despite the team’s veteran jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski having a strong season, Heretics couldn’t stay consistent enough to break into the group stage as they did in the Winter Split, only managing to take home three wins and missing the playoffs.
With such a powerful start to the summer, Heretics are poised and ready to make a deep run for the playoffs. If they can continue their aggressive and cohesive style of play through next week, Heretics could earn themselves some much-needed space between them and the bottom two spots in the standings.
You can catch Heretics in action when the 2023 LEC Summer Split returns on Saturday, June 24.
Published: Jun 20, 2023 02:43 pm