From LA to Madrid, KOI breaks boundaries for LEC Winter 2025

MAD Lions is gone, rebranded Movistar KOI is here to satisfy the gigantic Ibai Llanos community. This is obviously for the good of everyone, as MAD will retain its economic status in the LEC and will simply see its audience and economy grow even more thanks to this name change. I’m a little sad, though, because the Madrid Lions had made their small way in the LEC, writing part of the league’s recent history and winning titles.

Apart from its branding, KOI hasn’t made many changes in the run-up to 2025. In such an eventful off-season, they nevertheless remain the organization that made the most noise with their one and only transfer: the arrival of NA genius Joseph “Jojopyun” Pyun. The king of the jungle is dead. Long live KOI!

The Spanish Success Story Continues

Last year, MAD Lions made a big impression from the get-go. They brought in four rookies into the LEC, and still reached Winter Split’s grand final. However, the team quickly got a humble check, finishing sixth at Spring, followed by eighth at Summer. These roller coasters didn’t prevent them from reaching Munich for the Season Finals, and securing a place on the podium to conclude the year regionally. Third place in the LEC’s closing event was even synonymous with qualification for the Worlds Play-Ins. After getting out from it without too much trouble, their lack of experience and obvious shortcomings on sololanes meant that they were unable to take a single game from an international team on the Main Stage.

Although it might seem like a big disappointment, it was definitely not all doom and gloom, far from it. The chemistry between experienced jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades and his botlane reached new heights during the competition – particularly with his support Álvaro Fernández “Alvaro” del Amo, the main architect of his team’s Play-Ins success. He and his ADC, David “Supa” Martínez, have been playing together since 2022. Their rise from G2 Arctic, through Movistar Riders to Worlds with MDK has been nothing short of inspiring.

Supa had arrogantly announced he was the best in his position in Europe, right from the start of 2024. Although he failed to prove it, he was far from ridiculous in his rookie year, and shows great promise for the future. In DMG/Min and DMG/Gold in particular, he did indeed record some excellent statistics this year: first in the category at both Winter and the Season Finals. What more can you ask of an ADC than to do as much damage as possible? To die as little as possible, and here, he was among the two in his role with the most deaths during these same splits. If he manages to maintain the same damage output, while preserving himself a little more, he’ll undoubtedly become a real deal in 2025.

First NA import to EMEA

Elyoya will finally be paired again with a world class potential midlaner. For this sreason alone, you can only be hyped about KOI for their first split. I’m weighing my words carefully when I say World Class, because I think that in terms of raw talent Jojo is special. That is a big reason why he was considered by an LCK team last year, it’s because he is simply built different than most western players.

If the staff are to be believed, the midlaner’s decision to join the Spanish org was prompted by discussions with his new jungler. With the two of them getting on well in-game, the bigger European fishes already have plenty to worry about. I also thought that Myrwn had some very good sparks during 2024, the only strength he lacked was his consistency, which among other things cost his team a few splits. He’s also a very creative player, capable of playing exotic picks such as Nidalee or carrys such as Varus or Corki, and I can’t wait to see him flex picks of this type in the draft with a player like Jojo.

Individually, KOI’s new midlaner is nothing like Bartłomiej “Fresskowy” Przewoźnik, his predecessor. Not only is he more talented in most individual aspects, he’s a player who shines brightest when given natural responsibilities. With Cloud9, he was the only player the team relied on when things went wrong, and their early game were mostly played through him in Summer. Of course, this didn’t work out well in the end, as the team didn’t live up to the expectations.

I believe that in a team with good foundations like KOI, it will be a blessing for them to have such a reliable midlaner. He won’t necessarily have to be the first option anymore, but simply someone you can trust to win the lane on a regular basis. I have every confidence in Tomás “Melzhet” Campelos to use him to his full potential, and I think that also means inserting him into the collective, not treating him as a standalone player. I believe his clutch factor will naturally come out in the best possible way if it’s not desperately needed.