Excel Esports

Last updated

Excel Esports
Excel Esports logo (2021).png
Short nameEXCEL, XL
Divisions League of Legends
Fortnite Battle Royale
Valorant
FoundedDecember 2014 (2014-12)
Based in London, United Kingdom
CEOTim Reichert
Partners JD Sports, EE Limited, HSBC Bank, Sony Inzone, PCSPECIALIST.
Motto"The Power of Better" [1]
Website xl.gg OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Excel Esports (previously stylized as exceL Esports) was a British esports organisation. Its main League of Legends division was one of ten teams competing in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), the top level of professional League of Legends in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. [2] [3]

Contents

On 14 December 2023, Excel Esports and Giants Gaming announced a merger, forming GiantX. [4]

League of Legends

History

Logo of Excel Esports from 2019 to 2020 Excel esports logo.svg
Logo of Excel Esports from 2019 to 2020

2018

Riot Games announced on 20 November 2018 that Excel Esports would be one of ten franchise partners participating in the newly rebranded League of Legends European Championship (LEC). [5] On 3 January 2019, Excel Esports announced that it would house a training facility in Twickenham Stadium. [6] [7]

2019

For the 2019 LEC Spring Split, Excel signed top laner Ki "Expect" Dae-han, [8] jungler Marc "Caedrel" Lamont, [9] mid laner Fabian "Exile" Schubert, bot laner Jesper "Jeskla" Stromberg, [10] and support Raymond "kaSing" Tsang. [11] In addition to the team's main roster, five other players were also signed as substitutes who would alternate games with players on the main roster. [12] However, the only substitutes who played on-stage in the LEC were mid laner Joran "Special" Scheffer [13] and support Patryk "Mystiques" Piórkowski. [14]

On 28 May 2019, Son "Mickey" Young-min officially joined Excel as starting mid laner. [15] However, he did not play until the second week of the 2019 LEC Summer Split due to visa issues. [16] On 20 June 2019, it was announced that Jeskla and Mystiques would replace Hjarnan and kaSing in the bot lane, and that the latter two would play for Excel UK. [17]

2022

In November 2022, it was announced Excel had acquired the Stuttgart-based esports e-learning platform, Hitcap. [18]

Valorant

History

Excel Esports announced on 8 March 2021 that they would be entering the competitive Valorant scene with their signing of Ignition Series Champion David "Davidp" Prins, who would be the team's captain. [19]

Game Changers

In 2022, EE in partnership with EXCEL ESPORTS entered the VALORANT Champions Tour: Game Changers EMEA, a women-only esports team.

World of Warcraft

History

In August 2018, Excel Esports acquired the WoW roster of Kjell's Angels, which consisted of Rory "Cirra" Singer, Rasmus "Divinefield" Andersen, Hakon "Dorullkjell" Walberg, Lari "Ashine" Strandberg and Kristoffer "Herudra" Jensen. The team participated in the Mythic Dungeon Invitational under the name Excel's Angels. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fnatic</span> Professional esports organisation based in the United Kingdom

Fnatic is a professional esports organisation headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Founded on 23 July 2004, it has players from around the world competing in several games, including Apex Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, FIFA, Heroes of the Storm, League of Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, and Valorant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team SoloMid</span> Professional esports organization based in the United States

Team SoloMid, commonly referred as abbreviated name TSM, is a professional esports organization based in the United States. It was founded in September 2009 by Andy "Reginald" Dinh. TSM currently fields players in Apex Legends, Dota 2, Fortnite, Super Smash Bros., Valorant, and Counter-Strike 2. The organization also briefly owned an Overwatch team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cloud9</span> American esports organization

Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional League of Legends team by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013 and was incorporated into Cloud9 Esports, Inc. on September 6, 2016. Cloud9 has received US$78 million in total raised equity via venture capital funding and was ranked the world's fifth-most valuable esports organization in mid-2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G2 Esports</span> European professional esports organisation

G2 Esports is a European esports organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with players competing in League of Legends, Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, Hearthstone, Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite, and iRacing. The organization was founded in Spain on 24 February 2014 as Gamers2 by former League of Legends pro Carlos "ocelote" Rodríguez Santiago and investor Jens Hilgers. The organization rebranded as G2 Esports on 15 October 2015.

NRG Esports is an American esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. It has rosters in League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, Valorant, Counter-Strike 2 and a number of streamers on the internet platform Twitch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">100 Thieves</span> American lifestyle brand and gaming organization

100 Thieves, LLC is an American lifestyle brand and gaming organization based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2017 by Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag. The organization competes in several video games, including Call of Duty, League of Legends and Valorant. They currently operate three franchise teams, in the League Championship Series (LCS), Valorant Americas League and Call of Duty League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schalke 04 Esports</span> Esports department of FC Schalke 04

Schalke 04 Esports is the esports department of football club FC Schalke 04. It has a FIFA division and a League of Legends division; the latter is a member of the Prime League, the European Regional League for League of Legends teams competing in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sentinels (esports)</span> American professional esports organization

Sentinels is an American esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. The organization was founded as the League of Legends team Phoenix1 and competed in the North American League of Legends Championship Series. In June 2018, Phoenix1 rebranded to Sentinels. The company currently fields teams in Valorant, Apex Legends, and Halo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team Vitality</span> French esports organisation

Team Vitality is a French esports organisation founded in August 2013 by Fabien Devide and Nicolas Maurer. It has several professional teams and content creators from across Europe and India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soaz (gamer)</span>

Paul Boyer, better known as sOAZ, is a French League of Legends coach for LDLC OL. Formerly a professional League of Legends player, he has played for against All authority (aAa), Fnatic, Origen, and Misfits Gaming of the LEC and Immortals of the LCS. While on aAa, sOAZ was a runner-up in the Season 1 World Championship. sOAZ is one of the most decorated players to play in the EU LCS, having won five split titles and six World Championship appearances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perkz</span>

Luka Perković, better known as Perkz, is a Croatian professional League of Legends player for Team Heretics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wunder (gamer)</span> Danish professional League of Legends player

Martin Nordahl Hansen, better known as Wunder, is a Danish professional League of Legends player. He began playing in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) with Splyce in 2016. After two seasons with the team, he signed with G2 Esports. In his four years with the team, he won four consecutive LEC titles, was a five-time LEC All-Pro, won the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, and was a finalist at the 2019 League of Legends World Championship. He was transferred to Fnatic prior to the start of the 2022 LEC season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Guardians</span> American esports organization

The Golden Guardians (GG) were an American esports organization owned by the Golden State Warriors. The organization was one of four that joined the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) in 2018 after the league began franchising, the others being 100 Thieves, Clutch Gaming and OpTic Gaming. On December 18, 2019, the Golden Guardians announced their expansion into the professional scenes of Apex Legends, Teamfight Tactics and World of Warcraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rogue (esports)</span> Professional esports organization

Rogue is a professional esports organization with teams competing across several different titles in Europe and the United States. It has two League of Legends teams based in Europe: a main team that participates in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), and an academy team that participates in the Ultraliga. Team Rogue was founded by Franklin Villarreal, Derek Nelson and Carson Knuth in 2016, and acquired by now parent and management company ReKTGlobal and its partners in 2018. ReKTGlobal also owns the Call of Duty League team, the London Royal Ravens. The organization is co-owned by prominent DJ Steve Aoki and YouTuber Vikram "Vikkstar123" Barn. Other Investors include Imagine Dragons, Rudy Gobert, Nicky Romero, Nick Gross and Landon Collins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talon Esports</span> Esports organisation based in Hong Kong

Talon Esports is a professional esports organisation based in Hong Kong with teams competing across the Asia Pacific. Its League of Legends team is partnered with PSG Esports and known as PSG Talon. PSG Talon competes in the Pacific Championship Series.

The 2020 LEC season was the second year of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), a professional esports league for the MOBA PC game League of Legends, following its rebranding in late 2018. The spring regular season began on 24 January and was originally scheduled to conclude on 21 March; however, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the season was temporarily suspended on 13 March. Four days later, it was announced that all remaining LEC matches for the spring regular season would be played online, beginning on 20 March.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAD Lions</span>

MAD Lions is a Spanish esports organisation owned by OverActive Media. Its main League of Legends team, which was rebranded from Splyce, competes in Europe's top-level league for the game, the LEC. Its secondary League of Legends team competes in Spain's SuperLiga, the top three teams of which qualify for the prestigious European Masters tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Licorice (gamer)</span> Canadian League of Legends player

Eric Ritchie, better known as Licorice, is a Canadian professional League of Legends player for Golden Guardians of the League Championship Series (LCS). Prior to competing in the LCS, Ritchie played for LCS Challenger teams, such as Cloud9 Challenger and Team eUnited. Ritchie signed with Cloud9 ahead of the 2018 NA LCS season; in his rookie season, he was won the league's Rookie of the Split award and reached the semifinals at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship. He made his second World Championship appearance in 2019, and in 2020, he won the LCS championship. After six splits with the team, ahead of the 2021 season, Ritchie was traded to FlyQuest. He was transferred to the Golden Guardians in the middle of the 2021 Summer split.

Gabriël Rau, better known as Bwipo, is a Belgian professional League of Legends player for Team Liquid of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). He has also played for Fnatic, where he was a member of the team that was the runner-up of the 2018 League of Legends World Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Sama</span> French League of Legends player

Steven Liv, better known as Hans Sama, is a French professional League of Legends player for G2 Esports. Liv has previously played for Team Liquid in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), as well as Rogue and Misfits in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC).

References

  1. ↑ Lunardi, Lara (12 November 2020). "League of Legends: EXCEL ESPORTS introduces The Power of Better into major brand update". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  2. ↑ "exceL Esports". eu.lolesports.com. LoL Esports. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  3. ↑ Ashton, Graham (8 January 2019). "EXCEL Rebrands Ahead of Debut LEC Season". The Esports Observer. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  4. ↑ "A New Era: EXCEL ESPORTS and Giants Gaming announce merger, forming GIANTX". A NEW CHAPTER BEGINS. 14 December 2023.
  5. ↑ Rietkerk, Remer; Pecchia, Joe (20 November 2018). "Take a closer look at the LEC". LoL Esports (Riot Games). Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  6. ↑ Abbas, Malcolm (3 January 2019). "ExceL Esports to house training facility in Twickenham Stadium". Dot Esports. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  7. ↑ Ringng, Oliver (4 January 2019). "exceL Esports announce League of Legends training facility at Twickenham Stadium". Esports Insider. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  8. ↑ Binkowski, Justin (7 December 2018). "Expect joins exceL Esports for the 2019 LEC season". Dot Esports. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  9. ↑ Rodriguez, Veronika (2 December 2018). "Caedrel Officially Joins ExceL Esports for 2019 LEC". DBLTAP. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  10. ↑ Chouadria, Adel (30 November 2018). "Jeskla joins exceL Esports for 2019 LEC season". Phase Dive. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  11. ↑ Li, Xing (28 November 2018). "Excel Esports signs Kasing as its first LEC player". Dot Esports. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  12. ↑ Newell, Adam (6 January 2019). "ExceL Esports rebrands heading into the 2019 LEC season". Dot Esports. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  13. ↑ Matuschak, Darius (12 February 2019). "Excel will sub in Academy Midlaner Special for Exile for Week 5 of LEC". The Shotcaller. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  14. ↑ "Kasing to play in UKLC for Excel this week as Mystiques gets LEC call-up". Esports News UK. 5 March 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  15. ↑ Esguerra, Tyler (28 May 2019). "Excel Esports signs Mickey as starting mid laner for 2019 Summer Split". Dot Esports. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  16. ↑ Esguerra, Tyler (13 June 2019). "Misfits move Kirei to starting LEC roster over Maxlore, Excel to start Mickey over Special". Dot Esports. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  17. ↑ Esguerra, Tyler (20 June 2019). "Misfits and Excel Esports make some changes to starting LEC lineups for week 3 of the Summer Split". Dot Esports. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  18. ↑ Šimić, Ivan (15 November 2022). "EXCEL ESPORTS acquires Hitcap assets". Esports Insider. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  19. ↑ Dzhelil, Barasch (8 March 2021). "EXCEL ESPORTS Expands into VALORANT Competitive With Signing of DavidP". Gamezo. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  20. ↑ Hollingsworth, David (23 October 2018). "exceL Esports, Icy Veins and Enthusiast Gaming announce WoW partnership". Esports Insider. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.