G2 Esports Joins Forces With NORD for New Academy Project

European esports organization G2 Esports has announced a new partnership with NORD Esports to launch a new League of Legends team, G2 NORD, which is set to compete in the official DACH EMEA Regional League (ERL), Prime League.

G2 brings back the Academy roster with G2 Nord

The new roster will be led by President and League of Legends streamer Niklot “Tolkin” Stüber, who will be establishing G2 NORD as one of the top teams in the ERL ecosystem while developing high-potential players. According to a release, the players will gain access to elite coaching, sports performance resources, a clear path to pro, and will be supported by partner LVM Versicherung.

The G2 NORD roster has also been unveiled, with former LEC player Mark ‘Markoon‘ van Woensel leading a lineup of young players. In the top lane, the organization picked up Francesco ‘Shelfmade‘ Cardia, who has been one of the hottest prospects in his role in EMEA and was previously in contention to join Fnatic for 2026. The mid lane will be filled by Alex ‘Toasty‘ Chea, marking another North American player to move to Europe.

In the bot lane, G2 NORD went for ADC player Khalil ‘Rin‘ Sahraoui and Timo ‘Tockimo‘ Bock. Rin was previously the ADC of EMEA Summer finalist Los Heretics in 2025, while Tockimo played for E WIE EINFACH and has a long-standing experience in the Prime League, climbing through the divisions over the past years. The head coach will be Nicolas Perez, who returns to NORD after his stint on GIANTX.

Win Worlds 😴
Win EMEA Masters 🔥

Welcome G2 NORD to the @G2League family pic.twitter.com/qL0ycrOiMA

— G2 Esports (@G2esports) January 6, 2026

G2 doubles down on long-term talent development

As one of the most successful organizations when it comes to League of Legends in EMEA, G2 hasn’t had an academy team for quite some time. Previously, the team had a partnership with G2 Arctic in the Spanish ERL, but the partnership with Arctic Gaming came to an end in 2022.

With many other LEC partner teams counting on their academy rosters to develop new talents and bring them to the tier-one scene, G2 is now following through with the hopes of creating a new generation of players. In the past years, the organization found itself having to pick up players from other academy rosters, such as G2’s current jungler Rudy ‘SkewMond‘ Semaan, who played for Team BDS’ (now rebranded to Shifters) Academy team.

“From the very beginning, G2 has always had the ambition to build a truly global organization, one that captures hearts and minds of fans all over the world,” said Alban Dechelotte, CEO of G2 Esports. “That journey has allowed us to grow beyond anything we imagined, but along the way, we may not always have given enough love to some of our closest fans, especially in Germany. With initiatives like Kings League Germany and now G2 NORD, we want to change that in a meaningful way. This project is about reconnecting, listening, and building something that German fans can truly call their own. We want to give them more G2 to cheer for, and to create moments and stories they can be proud of. Our hope is that through G2 NORD, even more fans in Germany will feel fully part of the G2ARMY. Los geht’s!”

G2 NORD 2026 roster

• Top: Francesco “Shelfmade” Cardia
• Jungle: Mark “Markoon” van Woensel
• Mid: Alex “Toasty” Chea
• AD Carry: Khalil “Rin” Sahraoui
• Support: Timo “Tockimo” Bock
• Head Coach: Nicolas Perez