A new European squad has emerged from the depths, formed around four core players from LFTOWL, champions of Open Division Season 2 Western Europe. Decod, evokje, Veinless and NexX have joined forces with SharP and Tseini to form Squid12324. Additionally, mkL will be the team's head coach.
🦑@evokjeOW@SharPow @NexX1812 @DecodOW @Veineless @TseiniOW @mkLow
— Squid12324 (@Squid12324) December 29, 2017
We are also looking for a organization to represent for Contenders S2. DM's are open for business inquiries. Or contact at mikaelskjonhaug@gmail.com pic.twitter.com/Ss5nvh4RWa
Tseini most recently played with EnVision Esports in events such as the APAC Premier and Contenders Season One. He also has a rich history before his time with EnVision, previously competing with rosters such as Method, Luminosity and the Finnish World Cup squad in 2016. Tseini will play alongside former Can we end early? player, SharP, with the pair making up the team's new DPS line-up.
Decod, evokje, Veinless and NexX share history outside of their time together on LFTOWL. Decod, Veinless and NexX were previously members of Team Expert, whilst evokje and Veinless formerly played for Team Dignitas.
The squid squad are aiming to earn a spot in the first season of Contenders Europe 2018 through the Open Division and Contenders Trials, and are currently looking for an organisation to represent. The team will have to place in the top eight of the Open Division and the top five of Contenders Trials to claim one of the five vacant Contenders spots.
To shed some light on the new roster we got in touch with their head coach mkL, who has previously coached teams such as Luminosity Gaming and Talon Esports:
So how did Squid12324 come about, has this roster been in the works for a while?
mkL: So originally the team was named LFTOWL, under which we had some quite impressive results early on. However, it became apparent after some time that we weren't competing on the level that we were aiming for so we started holding tryouts. After a short amount of time we settled on our two new players and decided to retain the majority of our old roster. The main core has been playing together for a few months but this roster is as fresh as the announcement.
How do you think your team compares to the rest of the pack in Europe?
m: There are a few very good new tier two teams emerging in Europe but recent results look very positive, so you'll just have to wait and see how we perform.
On a lighter note, your team name appears to have caused some confusion. Mind filling us in on its meaning?
m: The name itself comes from the Twitch squid emotes, with the numbers in order of how you're meant to type the emotes to form the squid. Even though it was fun when Nate Nanzer gave us a shout out during Blizzcon, referencing our old name, we felt that with our new roster it was appropriate to revamp the name and brand.
The roster of Squid12324 is:
Discord