The French team had a terrible showing last year, but Team Vitality 2024 is a completely different beast than what we saw in 2023.
The 2024 LEC Winter Split will be on full force from January 13th, with the best EMEA squads preparing to face each other to first get into the Winter Playoffs, then to become the champions of this split.
Team Vitality was one of the teams that had the most chance of winning at least a season of last year’s LEC – but became one of the worst squads by the time the year ended. They swapped up their core, ready to take on new challenges. How will they fare?
Team Vitality in 2023
The second superteam iteration of Team Vitality consisting of Photon, Bo, Perkz, Neon and Kaiser was all everyone talked about before the 2023 LEC began. Bo was the most hyped player in the West, while Photon also received praise as “the player who could’ve been on T1 if Zeus never existed”. With Perkz headlining this team, Team Vitality was sure to take at least one of the four chances to win something in the LEC.
While they started out great, winning the Winter Season, they didn’t manage to get into the Playoffs as SK Gaming surprised them – and everyone else – by beating them 2-0. In Spring, they had a much more modest Regular Split, but qualified for the Playoffs, where they finished 3rd against Team Vitality after beating G2 Esports, which was not a bad showing. Upset clicked more with the team than Neon did, so it looked like Vitality could fulfil the prophecy of the superteam.
However, the Summer Season hit Vitality like a truck. They finished dead last with only one match one out of 9, and basically no memorable moments to speak of. Daglas was subbed in at the last minute to salvage what was left of Vitality, but sadly for the young Pole, there was nothing to be saved.
Still, Team Vitality is standing, and they have a whole new season to look forward to – with a better plan of attack thanks to their new players.
Team Vitality 2024 Roster
- Top: Kyeong „Photon” Gyu-tae
- Jungle: Kacper „Daglas” Dagiel
- Mid: Vincent „Vetheo” Berrié
- ADC: Matyás „Carzzy” Orság
- Support: Zdravets „Hylissang” Iliev Galabov
Last Man Standing
The only true member of last year’s Vitality that the org kept was Photon, the (would be) star toplaner. He was the most consistent part of last year’s lineup, and while his Renekton and Gwen was far from good, he played other meta picks comfortably, being the best Jax in the entire LEC. He definitely deserved a spot on the new team, as he can play strongside – something that not all LEC toplaners are comfortable or excellent at.
ONE WEEK LEFT #LEC
The botlane synergy is (almost) ready 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/g4K2hjmD7m
— Team Vitality 🐝 (@TeamVitality) January 7, 2024
It Wasn’t His Fault
While technically Daglas was also a part of the 2023 Team Vitality, he got there where the wreckage already caught fire. The 18-year-old player was the jungled for Vitality.Bee before he had to fill in for Bo who got burnt out. Even though he has a 0% winrate so far, his Maokai games were not half bad given the circumstances. Daglas shows promise, and he could be the next Yike – provided that the veterans can show him the way.
Superbotlane
Team Vitality signed the complete botlane of the MAD Lions: Carzzy, who is returning to the squad for the second time, and Hylissang, who is a first-time member of VIT. This botlane proved to be exceptionally good, even though the sentiment last year was that they will either go 20-0 or 0-20 in every match. They did the opposite and became a rock for MAD Lions, being the main reason for their Spring success and their international performance – which wasn’t good, but if there was something passable in it outside of that one Sylas match by Nisqy, it was the Hyli – Carzzy botlane.
Maybe He Can Stick the Landing This Time?
The last piece of the puzzle is Vetheo, who joins his third team in a year. He started out as the midlaner for Excel Esports last Winter, then joined Team Heretics after some mental health issues. He was the player who coined the “Kai’Sa counters AD LeBlanc” in the LEC, and played AP Kai’Sa successfully. While he had a subpar year compared to previous seasons, he is the perfect example of a gifted player who happens to be in a slum.
Team Vitality 2024 Predictions
Overall, Team Vitality’s roster looks great. They have some very talented players and a mix of personalities that could be the perfect match. Almost any lane can carry – even Daglas, who preferred the Bel’Veth and the Viego during his time in the LFL – and with Carzzy in the team, the vibes in the team should be top notch. With the addition of Pad, Carter and Mac in the coaching and managing team, Vitality truly looks great. For the first time in 2 years, I’m very hopeful in regards of Vitality, and don’t think they’ll crash and burn this time around!