The rumors were out for a while, but now it’s confirmed: Ukrainian esports organisation Natus Vincere (NAVI) has officially acquired the slot from Rogue and will enter the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC).
NAVI enters the LEC and will compete in Summer 2025
According to the official announcement from Riot Games, Rogue’s current players, coaches, and analysts were fully transferred to NAVI.
The team will, however, have options to make changes to its lineup before the start of the LEC Summer Split, which is set to start on August 2.
“While most team changes are finalised after the season, this transition came together earlier due to several unique factors. NAVI is a well-established esports organisation, and we’re confident they have the infrastructure and experience needed to be ready for Summer Split competition,” explained Riot Games in their blog post.
Even though the financial value of the transaction was not disclosed, Riot Games added that Rogue was “entitled to all proceeds from the sale of its LEC slot”.
Additionally, Riot Games explained that the slot change came prior to the summer split because ‘the timing aligned for all parties involved and allowed NAVI the sufficient preparation time for competition resuming.’
NAVI comes back to the League of Legends scene
This is not the first time the Ukrainian esports organisation has entered the LoL scene. Prior to the LEC franchising, NAVI fielded rosters in the regional leagues before disbanding in 2017.
They are the second addition to the LEC in recent years, following the acquisition of Astralis’ LEC slot from Karmine Corp at the end of 2023.
“I’m thrilled that we’ve finally found our chance and used the opportunity to become a part of one of the best leagues in the world,” said Yevhen Zolotarov, CEO of NAVI on X. “I can assure everyone that we are here to compete and will do what’s needed to become a real contender.”
In an interview with Sheep Esports, the CEO explained that the main goal for the season is to gather as much information as possible for the upcoming offseason and plan properly for the 2026 campaign.
