Tim Reichert, the former CEO of Excel Esports, and José Díaz, the former CEO of Giants Gaming, will jointly helm the organization as co-CEOs.

This announcement was made on Twitch.tv, where the leaders emphasized their commitment to competing in various leagues, maintaining existing partnerships, exploring new esports, and expanding globally.

The merger marks the end of the familiar Excel Esports and Giants Gaming logos, making way for the newly minted GIANTX branding.

The organization is set to participate in high-profile leagues, including the League of Legends EMEA Championship, VALORANT Champions Tour Series, Game Changers, Spanish LVP, FC24, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

GIANTX aims to cater to a diverse fan base by creating bilingual content, targeting the vast Spanish-speaking audience, and positioning themselves as the team for the Spanish region to rally behind.

The organization retains their workforce, with headquarters in London and Malaga and a performance centre in Berlin.

The combined resources will be utilized to explore new opportunities and venture into additional competitive gaming titles.

The leadership duo, Reichert and Díaz, expressed confidence in GIANTX becoming a major player in the esports universe.

The organization’s global vision spans from London to Malaga, with Berlin serving as a central sports hub for major competitions.

The merged entity will continue partnerships with both organizations, emphasizing the creation of a unified vision to broaden the global audience and optimize competitive strategies.

In terms of competitive rosters, the organization will compete in VCT EMEA 2024, LEC 2024, and the Spanish LVP and Game Changers, combining the strengths of Giants and Excel.

The League of Legends roster for LEC 2024 includes Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu, Lee “Peach” Min-gyu, Patrik “Patrik” Jír?, Adam “Jackies” Je?ábek, and Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun, aiming for success in the upcoming season.

As the esports community anticipates the impact of this merger, GIANTX enters the scene with aspirations to leave a lasting mark on the competitive gaming landscape.

A legacy in Southern Europe

A challenger from The North

Unite to disrupt the equilibrium

Together we stand as GIANTX pic.twitter.com/GRpWUZF0la

— GIANTX (@GIANTXENG) December 14, 2023

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MAD LIONS vs EXCEL ESPORTS LoL BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

MAD Lions and Excel Esports are set to clash in the opening round of the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) 2023 Season Finals this Saturday. It’ll mark their second meeting since June and the first since the LEC 2023 Summer Groups, where Excel Esports won 2-0.

It is no surprised to see Excel priced as favourites with most LoL betting sites. Even though the teams had two weeks to prepare for this match, and we also got a huge patch (13.15), this likely won’t change the balance of power.

Ignoring the first two splits, Excel Esports have looked like one of the best teams in the region. They had their ups and downs during the regular season and weren’t dominant in the LEC 2023 Summer Groups. But in the playoffs, Excel stepped up, playing two good games against G2 Esports and humiliating Fnatic.

In contrast, MAD Lions barely made it into the LEC 2023 Summer Groups and were then swept by Fnatic and Excel Esports. The Lions were quite good in the first two splits, but in LEC 2023 Summer, their form has dropped significantly.

The gap between Excel Esports and MAD Lions is much more significant than the offered LoL betting odds suggest. Even though they are known to be a resilient team in best-of series, this version of MAD Lions doesn’t look nearly as scary as they did in winter or spring.

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G2 began their LEC Summer campaign as the favourite with most esports betting sites.

After finishing the regular season with an 8-1 record, G2 went into the playoffs as overwhelming favourites to clinch the title.

During the playoffs, G2 only faced one team, as they went up against Excel Esports in the upper-bracket final – defeating them 3-2 – before clashing with them once again in the grand final.

G2 dominated every aspect of the decider, with Martin “Yike” Sundelin recording an unbelievable stat line of 15 kills, one death and 45 assists for the series, while he compiled a massive 60 KDA.

Unsurprisingly, Yike earned the LEC Summer Finals MVP award after his dominant performance, adding to the two LEC titles he had already won since joining G2 in December of last year.

G2 mid-laner Rasmus “Caps” Winther won his ninth LEC trophy, which puts him ahead of his ex-teammate Luka “Perkz” Perkovic for most titles won in Europe’s top LoL competition.

Even though G2 won both the LEC Winter and Summer splits, they are yet to qualify for the 2023 LoL World Championship.

Unlike other top regional leagues, where teams earn qualification through their summer performances, G2 will have to finish in the top three at the LEC Season Finals to book their spot at Worlds in South Korea.

However, it is very likely that the Caps and his teammates will qualify for Worlds, as they are marked as $1.50 favourites with most bookmakers to take out the LEC Season Finals title in late August.

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?Team Heretic have managed just two wins over the first two weeks of the LEC 2023 Spring regular season, but that isn’t necessarily as bad as it sounds since they’re one of three other teams entering the final week with a 2-4 record. On the other hand, Astralis have won three games, and even though they lost their opening two fixtures last week, they rounded up their run with a huge victory against Team Vitality.

On paper, Astralis look only slightly better than Team Heretics, which might explain why esports betting sites have Astralis priced at $1.61 and Heretics at $2.20, but those numbers make no sense. Team Heretics might’ve won two games, but they’re arguably the worst team in the league.

Heretics have yet to show anything that would make us believe they can be competitive, and their complete lack of synergy makes it extremely hard to bet on them against any opponent. Astralis are by no means one of the leading LEC title contenders, but the head-to-head odds look way too generous.

?KOI lost against Astralis, MAD Lions, and Fnatic, but they also beat G2 Esports. Results like that don’t help with figuring out whether KOI are actually good, and as we enter the final week of the LEC 2023 Spring regular season, there’s still no clear answer.

Excel Esports have yet to find their footing, but things might change this week following a minor roster change, with mid laner Vincent “Vetheo” Berrié stepping down to make room for Felix “Abbedagge” Braun.

Abbedagge played his last professional LoL match at the end of 2022 with 100 Thieves, so it’s hard to judge how much of an impact he will have. But how things have been going for Excel and how weak their mid lane was, it can only go up.

Despite what the latest LoL esports betting odds suggest, this match has upset potential – not so much because Excel might do well, but because KOI are very inconsistent. At $2.67 with GG Bet, we’re ready to take a shot with Excel.

At the end of LEC 2023 Spring Week 2, Team Vitality lost against G2 Esports and Astralis, proving that the league is competitive and that Team Vitality aren’t untouchable. This is concerning from a betting perspective since it’s hard to justify betting on Vitality without fearing another upset.

Perhaps Team BDS winning here wouldn’t be that big of a shock since BDS are a very competitive team, and their 4-2 record confirms it. Team BDS’s only losses came against SK Gaming on the opening day of the regular season and G2 Esports in an extremely close match which could’ve easily gone the other way.

Team BDS, much like Astralis, are dangerous and will defeat anyone if given a chance. However, although still individually much weaker than Team Vitality, the Bees have yet to show their true power and are arguably not as synergised as BDS.

If Team Vitality play their game, Team BDS will struggle to win, but we haven’t seen enough from Vitality last week to back them at the offered odds. We’re taking Team BDS with a +6.5 kill advantage.

Fnatic are priced as $3.00 underdogs with the top League of Legends betting sites, which might make sense if we consider their showings throughout the season. But Fnatic won two games last week – against Team Heretics and KOI – and looked very good doing it.

We wouldn’t want to overreact to a couple of strong showings, but it’s easy to underestimate how much of a morale boost a two-game winning streak can have. Moreover, Fnatic had a solid draft in their recent wins, and if they can keep drafting like that, they might add a few more victories to their record.

MAD Lions still look like the better team, but they’ve not shown much this split (2-4). Also, we’re talking about a best-of-one game, making the offered LoL esports betting odds on Fnatic even tastier.

There’s no telling where Fnatic will go from this point or whether their 2-1 week was a fluke. Regardless, Fnatic should never be priced this high against MAD Lions. Value is with Martin “Rekkles” Larsson and his crew.

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The match between G2 Esports and Excel marked a significant milestone for G2 Esports, being the first time in 408 games that the team’s veteran jungler, Jankos, was not fielded in the active lineup of the team. Jankos and G2 parted ways during the off-season, ending a successful five-year run together.

To fill in Jankos’ position, G2 went with rookie player Martin “Yike” Sundelin, who made an immediate impact in the game with a striking 8/1/3 performance on Graves, as his replacement. Yike’s performance was impressive and showed that he has the potential to fill Jankos’ shoes.

Yike was named the MVP of the game, having recorded 8 kills, and 4 assists, while only allowing a frag. G2’s new-look roster proved to be a formidable force, and fans are excited to see how the team will fare in the coming weeks.

G2 Esports also brought in a new AD carry, Steve “Hans Sama” Liv, a European veteran, and reintroduced Michael “Mikyx” Mehle, who had previously played for G2 between 2019 and 2021. Mikyx had joined Excel for the 2022 season, making this match a “revenge game” for him. Together, Mikyx and Hans Sama had a total scoreline of 4/6/15, and their Ashe/Heimerdinger bottom lane helped G2’s team composition with crowd control and sustained damage.

In the off-season, Excel Esports made significant changes to their roster, replacing four of the five starting players. The team brought in solo lane powerhouses Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu and Vincent “Vetheo” Berrié, and made a G2-centric swap at the support position with Rapha?l “Targamas” Crabbé. Despite the new roster being filled with one-time All-Pros and MVPs, they had a slow start and faced a 3,000 gold deficit at the 15-minute mark of the game.

The best-of-one fixture went in favor of the German franchise led by the 23-year old top laner Sergen “BrokenBlade” ?elik. G2 Esports’ win will build good momentum heading into their next fixture against top LOL team, Fnatic, who lost their first outing to Team Vitality. G2 are designated as favorites to win the matchup on GG.BET with odds pegged at $1.64 as opposed to Fnatic’s odds set at $2.2.

Excel, on the other hand, will take on Finetwork KOI in their second game of the LEC 2023 Winter Split. The Spanish team are the most preferred franchise to win the game with odds of $1.75 and Excel set at $2.03 on GG.BET.

Due to the new format of the LEC season, which features a single round-robin, G2 and Excel, both of which are expected to perform well in the playoffs, will not have the opportunity to face each other again until the post-season, at the earliest. This made the match even more intense and exciting for the fans as they eagerly await the two teams to meet again in the future for a rerun.

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In a statement shared on their official portal, Excel made the promotion of Reichert to the CEO position public.

“British competitive gaming culture brand, EXCEL ESPORTS, is pleased to announce Tim Reichert as the organisation’s new CEO,” the statement read.

“Taking on all business responsibilities and driving the organisation to new heights, Reichert will focus on delivering the organisation’s ambitions towards increased revenue, increased community growth and competitive success.”

Reichert takes over the role from CEO Wouter Sleijffers, who will be stepping down to take on a new role within the company. He will transition to the role of Strategic Advisor.

His promotion to the new role as the franchise’s CEO does not come as a surprise as Reichert is a highly regarded figure in the esports industry. Prior to his tenure at Excel Esports, he held the position of Head of Esports at Schalke 04 Esports and was a co-founder of SK Gaming. Before being appointed CEO, Reichert served as Excel Esports’ Chief Operating Officer and Esports Director.

As CEO, Reichert will be responsible for driving the franchise’s overall strategy and growth, as well as overseeing all business operations and generating growth in revenue, community, and team success. He will be working closely with Excel Esports’ leadership team to ensure the organization continues to innovate and stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive industry. According to Excel, the leadership transition signifies the franchise’s intention to expand globally.

Reichert spoke about his new role within the franchise and expressed his excitement as he looks forward to functioning in that capacity to further contribute to the franchise’s growth.

“I am thrilled to be appointed the new CEO of EXCEL ESPORTS. We are an incredibly ambitious team that constantly looks for new approaches and ways to improve, and improvement can only happen with change,” Reichert said.

“I am very happy to welcome Rose into the leadership team and to continue working with Wouter. EXCEL is developing into one of the strongest European competitive esports organisations and I am proud to continue paving this path with my colleagues.”

The appointment of Reichert as CEO is just one of the latest in a series of moves by Excel Esports to strengthen its leadership team and position itself as a leader in the esports industry. Excel also announced the appointment of Rosenbelle Ganan as the new Director of Operations and Legal Affairs.

“The leadership team also welcomes Rosenbelle Ganan as the new Director of Operations & Legal Affairs, who will be leading the company’s operational responsibilities across London and Germany,” Excel revealed.

Prior to her appointment as the Director of Operations and Legal Affairs, Ganan was previously the Head of Legal for EXCEL and has a background in both legal and esports, having previously worked for British American Tobacco and Fnatic. In her new role, she will be in charge of operations and will support the expansion of EXCEL into London, Germany, and other locations.

“I’m honoured to continue working alongside a supportive group of investors, in JRJ, and an experienced team of leaders, Tim, Wouter, Oskar and Mark, who steered EXCEL to new heights in 2022,” Ganan said.

I’m very excited to be part of a team that is a rising star in esports and building a dynamic brand.”

After more than three years at the helm and nearly eight years as the CEO of two successful esports franchises, Sleijffers stated that it was the right time for him to hand over the reins. He also mentioned that Reichert is the right person to take Excel Esports further and that he looks forward to welcoming Ganan to her new position. Sleijffers expressed excitement for this new chapter and his desire to continue developing EXCEL’s future while still supporting the team under Tim’s leadership.

With Reichert at the helm alongside the leadership changes the franchise has undergone, Excel hopes to continue its growth and attain good success in the upcoming season and beyond.
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Abbedagge will be serving as a backup for the team’s French Mid laner Vincent “Vetheo” Berrié, who recently got signed to the team in December 2022.

According to the sources, the German player will still be available for teams to sign him as he is only serving as a substitute. However, his contract expiration with Excel Esports, as updated with GCD, is set to expire on April 30th of this year.

“Excel Esports have acquired Abbedagge as substitute player. The player will also be free to have offers from other teams,” League of Legends reporter Brieuc Seeger tweeted.

Abeedagge has spent the last couple of months playing for the North American team, 100 Thieves; hence, the player is now making a return to the League of Legends European Championship circuit to replicate his successful run in the previous season.

The 23-year-old German mid laner can be regarded as a League of Legends prodigy and veteran, having been in the scene since 2016. Abeedagge has signed with esports brands such as the Victorious Ace, Mysterious Monkeys, Royal Bandits, EURONICS Gaming, Schalke 04, MyMo.ESLM, and one of the most renowned esports teams, 100 Thieves, which he recently parted ways with after spending a period of one year and seven months with them.

The player’s recent matches with 100 Thieves include the 2022 League of Legends Championship Series Spring and Summer playoffs, where they came out in second place in both tournaments. And I’m the League of Legends World Championship Abeedagge, and 100 Thieves had a declining 11th–14th place finish.

Currently, Excel Esports’ European League of Legends roster consists of bot laner Patrik “Patrik” Jír? , Belgium support player Rapha?l “Targamas” Crabbé, and the two new junglers, Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu and Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir, who joined the team in December 2022.

While the player and Excel Esports are yet to make an official statement about the addition of the player, it is likely that in the coming days the team will publish a formal release disclosing the terms of the agreement they have with Abbedagge.

The LEC Winter Spilt is scheduled to kick off on January 21 of this year. The league will introduce its updated format for the 2023 season, which includes an additional split at the start of 2023 and a best-of-one round-robin format, which means each squad in the 10-team league will compete with each other once, with the top eight squads advancing to a double-elimination group stage.

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“The new roster which is packed with both exciting growing talent and established veteran players will see Excel accelerate its ambitious performance goals,” the franchise said in a statement on its official website.

“Joining Excel mainstay Patrick ‘Patrik’ Jiru is Andrei ‘Odoamne’ Pascu, Andrei ‘Xerxe’ Dragomir, Vincent ‘Vetheo’ Berrie, and Raphael ‘Targamas’ Crabbe. The newly established 2023 team will soon call a new HQ in Berlin, Germany their home as Excel bolsters its performance and media creation infrastructure.”

Excel’s new roster is comprised of players with experience in championship competition. Top laner Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu previously played for Rogue (later renamed KOI) and contributed to the team’s victory in the LEC Summer 2022 championship. With over 10 years of experience, Odoamne is also the most seasoned player on the roster, having participated in a total of 478 games throughout his career.

He will be reunited with his former teammate from Splyce (later renamed MAD Lions), Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir, who played for Astralis last season. Former Misfits Gaming mid laner and LEC Spring 2022 season MVP Vincent “Vetheo” Berrié has also joined the team, along with support Rapha?l “Targamas” Crabbé, who helped G2 Esports win the LEC Spring 2022 championship and achieve a top-four finish at the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).

The new additions will join Excel’s longtime bot laner, Patrik “Patrik” Jír?, who has been with the franchise since 2019. The team will be led by head coach Joey “YoungBuck” Steltenpool and his assistant, Sng “Nelson” Yi-Wei. The franchise also announced the recruitment of performance manager Luis Cardonetti and team manager Mert “Mert” Tanriverdi.

Despite qualifying for the LEC Spring and Summer 2022 playoffs, Excel were unable to break into the top tier of competition, finishing in sixth place in both splits. In the upcoming season, they have set their sights on a top-three finish with the newly assembled roster.

Excel’s Chief Operating Officer, Tim Reichert, revealed the team’s target in an official statement.

“Whilst we are proud of how we performed this year, we believe that this new roster has what it takes to help fulfil our vision of being a top three ranking team in the 2023 season,” Reichert said.

“Players such as Vetheo and Odoamne represent such a diverse mix of talent, and we can’t wait to see how the team will perform when unified together under the Excel brand starting with the Winter Season early next year.”

The new roster will make its debut in the LEC Winter 2023 Split, which is scheduled to commence in January.

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This comes on the heels Michael “Mikyx” Mehle’s recent exit from the team.? ?Excel are among a growing list of teams undergoing a restructuring for the 2023 campaign, with yet more changes expected in the coming weeks.

?Excel Esports made the announcement of Nukeduck’s exit on their Twitter page using a farewell video. The clips portrayed his service to the team throughout his time there, both on the LEC stage and behind the scenes.?

?Reacting to the news about his exit, Nukeduck took to his Twitter page to thank the franchise for the opportunity afforded him. He stated that he enjoyed his time with Excel and wished the staff the very best.? ?

“Really enjoyed my time at XL,” Nukeduck wrote.? ?“Best of luck to XL and everyone that worked there!”? ?

Prior to joining Excel and replacing Pawe? “Czekolad” Szczepanik, who was only on the team for five months, Nukeduck was signed to Astralis in 2020. He spent a year with the franchise before being moved to the inactive lineup.

Most of the 26-year-old’s career has been spent with Team Vitality, where he played for two years.? ?After being released by Astralis in March 2021, he spent two months without a team before joining Excel.

Nukeduck endeared himself to the fans through content creation and became the face of the franchise. He had spent over a decade building his brand within the European esports scene.?

The Norwegian has competed in the regional circuit, the EU LCS, and the LEC with multiple teams. He featured on the LoL Worlds stage with Lemondogs in 2013, but has since found it difficult to return to the tournament despite representing Astralis, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Team Vitality.?

Nukeduck was crucial to Excel Esports’ qualification to their first LEC playoffs. He accomplished this earlier in the year at the Spring split and replicated it at the Summer split. The LoL veteran impressed at the 2022 Summer split, finishing with the second-highest KDA amongst all LEC mid laners.? ?

Excel are yet to name Nukeduck’s replacement as they look forward to the 2023 LEC season. The franchise might yet make more changes in a bid to strengthen the lineup.

?Nukeduck’s next destination is currently unclear, although he is expected to find a home in the coming weeks. As a veteran in the European LoL scene, he most likely will land a team in the LEC.

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Reports suggest that Targamas, currently of G2 Esports, has reached an agreement with Excel. The deal is said to include the exchange of Excel’s support Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle with G2.?

Another source suggests that Vetheo, from Misfits Gaming, has “reached a verbal agreement” with Excel. The move is said to hinge on Misfits’ absence in the 2023 LoL European Championship (LEC) season, having sold their spot to Team Heretics.?

?Having spent six years in competitive League of Legends, Targamas has moved around quite a bit, representing eight franchises in that period. He joined G2 Esports almost a year ago from a French esports franchise, Karmine Corp.?

?Véthéo, on the other hand, has been on the competitive scene for four years and has represented four franchises in the process. He started out with Tony Parker Adequat Academy, the academy outfit for the French organization LDLC OL. While he was on loan to Bastille Academy for a day, he was promoted to LDLC OL on January 2020 and spent almost a year with the franchise before joining Misfits Gaming in December 2020.?

Both players recorded good numbers in the LEC 2022 season. Targamas’ aggressive playstyle saw him post the highest KDA in the league as he secured his first-ever LEC split title. Although he did not make a big impact at the 2022 LoL World Championship, he is considered one of the major prospects for the upcoming season.?

?Véthéo was one of the youngest players in the LEC this season. The 19-year-old mid laner was outstanding for Misfits during the Spring Split, earning the Most Valuable Player award after recording the most kills in the league.? ?

Excel are said to be making several roster changes for the 2023 LEC season. In addition to Targamas and Véthéo, it is understood that the team will take delivery of veteran top laner and Rogue’s 2022 Summer champion Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu.?

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