SK Gaming, Introducing The X-Men ft. OWN3R

LEC Versus kicks off on Saturday, January 17. Alongside the ten partner teams, the new kickoff tournament will see the two best-performing ERL teams, Los Ratones and Karmine Corp Blue, join the fun. With twelve teams competing for a single spot at the first international event of 2026, First Stand, the margin for error is minimal. And while SK Gaming were among the least visible teams last year, the organization has chosen a radically different approach for 2026, in an attempt to turn things around. HotSpawn sat down with SK Gaming head coach David “OWN3R” Rodriguez to discuss the offseason overhaul, the vision behind the roster, and the team’s ambitions.

The Foundation

Despite completely reshaping their roster for the new season, SK Gaming made one clear choice early in the offseason: keeping the one player who stood out during Summer. Jungler Skeanz was not only retained but also became the first player secured in the league for 2026 during this offseason.

We decided to commit on Skeanz mainly because of his personality and work ethic. He truly is a 10/10 as a teammate. He can be with players that have strong opinions and with players that don’t have any. He will adapt and take the role that is needed for the team. And his work ethic: he wakes up really early, start reviewing non stop, doing pathings 24/7 with different champions…

“From my perspective, he was also our most consistent player in Summer,” he added. “To be fair, with everything going on inside the team… The mental he had was very impressive. Right now, he probably isn’t the best jungler. But I’m pretty sure that if he keeps working at the same level, and now with the duo that he’s going to form with Mikyx, he’s going to be one of the best for sure.”

The Core

And yes—it is indeed Mikyx who stands as SK’s headline signing this offseason. Widely regarded as the greatest support in the history of the region, he joins a team often considered anchored in the lower half of the standings. It’s a small price to pay to finally execute a project he has been trying to bring to life for nearly two years. He first tried when he set it as a condition to join Karmine Corp at the end of 2024. Then at Fnatic, when trust with his solo laners seemed broken after Spring.

Now, in 2026, that vision becomes reality at SK Gaming, where Mikyx will play alongside LIDER and Wunder. A look back at a particularly eventful offseason for the German organization.

“The transfer window was pretty crazy for us. On botlane, we almost secured deals with 3xa and Lospa—we were one day away from closing them with contracts and everything. Then Fnatic came to us and offered Mikyx,” said OWN3R.

We started discussing with him, and I was already interested in LIDER. He actually scrimmed a bit with us in Summer, when Abbedagge was sick, and I really liked him. Even before talking with Mikyx, I had already spoken with LIDER, asking which type of players he would like to play with. Back then, he told me that he wouldn’t enjoy playing with any other support but Mikyx.

Get to know our new LEC Support and GM, @mikyx 🎪

What made him choose SK, how will Miky & friends succeed, why did he ghost Jopa – find out here 📺#LEC #SKWIN pic.twitter.com/A4TRP22lEM

— SK Gaming League of Legends (@SKGamingLeague) December 22, 2025

The Friendship

The vision behind this trio was not widely shared by the community, many of whom saw SK’s offseason primarily as a reunion of friends. From the outside, that skepticism is understandable: LIDER’s last competitive split ended with a 5th-6th place finish in the NLC with Ruddy Sack, while Wunder’s most recent LEC appearance with Team Heretics fell short of expectations. Moreover, the top laner has been absent from the LEC for a year, and the mid laner for two.

I understand that people think we are just a friend team. But to be fair, we were already interested in LIDER, so it was the perfect fit when Mikyx told us about his desire to play with him. I was also very lucky that LIDER’s favorite jungler was Skeanz as well. He always wanted to play with him, but he couldn’t in the past. Being honest, we were not initially interested in Wunder. But after talking with him, doing reviews, and going through all the interviews, I realized I had the exact same feeling as with LIDER: the fact that these guys don’t have a team in the LEC is crazy to me.

The head coach explained that both players are smart about the game and how they play their champions, even hinting at the fact that the team is “too crazy sometimes” and that they won’t have problems with Fearless Draft: “I think people are going to have a lot of fun watching our games,” he added.

The Key

OWN3R repeatedly emphasized how much focus has been placed on drafts and playstyle—areas where SK intend to differentiate themselves through creativity rather than conformity.

If teams let the LIDER champions open [such as Irelia] then it’s on them. But they will have more problems dealing with it than us. Since the first day, even when we were holding tryouts before the bootcamp, we were playing champions in midlane and toplane that people wouldn’t even imagine.

Yes, we made assassin player @LIDERlol pose as Twisted Fate. What are you gonna do about it? Cry? pic.twitter.com/x1FSARSbqc

— SK Gaming League of Legends (@SKGamingLeague) December 19, 2025

During the bootcamp, the team started cooking even more: “We can flex a lot of champions everywhere. I really believe that when you invent something, when you create stuff, and people are not ready for it, that usually gives you a big edge.”

As a coach, I really want players that are down to not just copy, but actually create innovation. One day we even had an issue with the draft for a specific champion, and one by one they all said: ‘Don’t worry, I can play it.’ I realized we can flex some champions into all five positions.

The Drive

For OWN3R, motivation has nothing to do with friendship or veteran status. It is mainly about accountability: “In the past, I had players that people thought had a lot of drive just because they were rookies. They thought: ‘This guy really wants to win, he’s giving everything.’ But then, when we actually lost, the player wouldn’t even speak [and would shut down].”

I can tell you that LIDER, Wunder—everyone on our team—whenever they have a problem in game, they speak up. They say: ‘I really have an issue with this. We either need to improve it this way or change something around it.’ And then we all work together to fix it. For me, that’s the real drive. They want to improve and get better in the future. There are other teams like G2—if they work well too, of course they have what it takes to win. In the end, it’s competition.

That said, the main focus is on the process and how to get better as a team: “It’s really about how you work to improve your team’s weaknesses… And that’s something I can tell you with 100% confidence: SK is not going to have problems in that area. LIDER and Wunder are really hungry to win and to prove people wrong. What matters most is the process we follow as a team.”

The head coach also admitted that he was initially a bit concerned about the possibility of his players not putting enough effort into solo queue. But those doubts vanished when he realized that, during the bootcamp, they were already joking about the lowest-ranked player and had a competition to see who could reach the highest spot on the ladder.

The Chosen One

SK won’t be just a team of veterans. They are bringing in Jopa, a rookie ADC who long used “LEC 2026” as his in-game tag in solo queue. He’s finally getting his chance, and with an experienced support by his side, he will have every opportunity to make the most of his first steps in the league.

Personality-wise, Jopa matched very well with the team. Not only that, but I was watching his POVs in Vitality Bee, and he wasn’t doing what I would want him to do in my team. I talked to him about it, Mikyx also spoke with him about some things he needed to work on. The next day, he did exactly what we asked him to improve. In just one day, we could already see the improvement, the work ethic, and how responsive he was to our feedback. His champion pool was also a big factor—he is very versatile.”

As a reminder, Jopa this year had Nilah as one of his four most picked champions, as well as two Seraphine games which he recorded an average KDA of 32. He also played four games of Senna in Summer, when the champion kind of disappeared from the radar. In short, he was already known to be a creative player and is comfortable embracing a more supportive AD carry identity when needed.

He was really the perfect fit in that sense. Also, yes he is a rookie, but I don’t treat him as a rookie. For me Jopa is the AD Carry for SK Gaming, he only has this role in the team. He does it good or bad, if it’s good, perfect. If not, he has to improve this and fix that. But I won’t ever say: ‘Oh since he his a rookie, you need to help him.’ No, here in my team everyone has a job and is treated equally.

The X-ecution

Mikyx and SK were very aligned in terms of roster vision. That vision is now on the verge of taking shape at LEC Versus, after a bootcamp that “went extremely well.” It’s now on SK—and only on them—to prove they were right. Everyone involved got what they were looking for: the trio that had long wanted to play together, Jopa finally getting his shot in the LEC, and Skeanz given the trust he had long been searching for.

Before the bootcamp, I couldn’t really answer the question about my ambition with this team. Now I can tell you: the bare minimum is Worlds. We also have the potential to win trophies and really compete. Not making top four in any split would be a complete disaster. Seeing scrims, how we play and how other teams play, I’m pretty confident that if we work well, we will win. And if we play badly, it will be on us. It’s not like other teams—the main factor is us, and that’s what I like the most about this roster.

Since I joined the LEC, this group of humans is the best I’ve ever had outside of the game. In-game, my roster with Nisqy, Rahel and Luon was very good as well. But I’m pretty sure that in a few months, we will already have that level.”

SK Gaming 2026’s roster:

• Toplane: Martin “Wunder“ Hansen
• Jungle: Duncan “Skeanz” Marquet
• Midlane: Adam “LIDER” Ilyasov
• ADC: Josip “Jopa” Čančar
• Support: Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle

Coaching staff:

• David “OWN3R” Rodriguez
• Simon “Baguette” Cordonnier
• Christopher “Duffman” Duff