Mateusz “Tasz” Borkowski, the former head coach of the Vitality Bee academy team, will be promoted to the same position for the main Vitality roster and will replace Adrien “Duke” Forestier for the 2021 LEC Summer Split, according to sources close to Dot Esports.
Things didn’t go well for Vitality this past split. The French team entered the 2021 League of Legends season after facing many problems in 2020, including visa issues with mid laner Aljoša “Milica” Kovandžić. And the organization bet on a relatively conservative roster that hasn’t ended up working out as expected. Vitality ended the 2021 LEC Spring Split in last place with a 5-13 record.
Vitality once again missed out on a playoff spot this spring, prompting the org to decide to make changes in the offseason period before the Summer Split. And the first move will affect the head coach position. Duke won’t be a part of the team in the upcoming split, sources tell Dot Esports. He’ll be replaced by Tasz, whom Vitality has decided to promote from its academy team.
Tasz has been coaching for various regional league teams in recent years. Among them, he joined Team Queso in the middle of last year’s Summer Split and managed to take the team from a disastrous season to the playoffs. After this and following a brief stint with AGO Rogue, he was signed by Vitality’s academy team in December.
Duke was offered Tasz’s former position of head coach of Vitality’s academy team but the French coach has declined the opportunity, according to sources. That means he’ll likely be inactive during the next split. The rest of Vitality’s staff, including assistant coach Mephisto, is expected to remain intact.
In terms of any potential mid lane changes, it seems like nothing is clear at this time. Milica’s departure isn’t confirmed yet, but Vitality is in the process of exploring other options, according to sources. That means it’s possible that this head coach swap might not be the only change that Vitality will undergo heading into the next LEC split.
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