According to Sheep Esports, Gentle Mates have reached a verbal agreement with two Greek players for the upcoming LFL season: ADC Markos “Comp” Stamkopoulos and top laner Panagiotis “Empyros” Tantis.
These players bring different experiences to the team. Comp is a renowned star of the European scene, while Empyros is just beginning to establish himself at a high level. This signing is expected to give a new boost to Gentle Mates, who are looking to improve their results after a disappointing previous season.
Comp's Return: From LDLC to Rogue and Back
Comp began his career with Team LDLC in 2018, even before the creation of the LFL, and helped the team win the first two splits of the league in 2019. In 2020, he moved to Team Vitality to try his hand in the LEC, but this phase proved challenging. In 2021, he did not play in the summer split but made an impressive comeback in 2022 when he joined Rogue.
With Rogue, Comp became one of the best ADCs in Europe. The team reached the finals of the LEC Spring Split and won the championship title in summer 2022. Rogue's successful season culminated in a quarterfinal appearance at Worlds, where they were the only western team at this stage of the tournament.
Rogue's Decline and Search for New Motivation
But in 2023, Comp's results declined. This was partly due to his jungler, Kim “Malrang” Geun-seong, and his inconsistent play. Rogue started the season in third place in the Winter Split but then dropped to sixth in Spring and eighth in Summer. Despite this, the organization retained Comp for 2024, bringing in a new support, Théo “Zoelys” Le Scorned. However, the experiment failed: Rogue finished the year at the bottom, 9th place in Winter and Spring, and 10th in Summer.
Faced with such a crisis, the team was on the brink of change, and Comp decided to return to the LFL. He will reunite with former LDLC managers Léo “Lounet” Maurice and Anthony Rabby, who are now leading Gentle Mates. According to Sheep Esports, an alternative for the ADC role could have been Khalil "Rin" Sahraoui, but the preference was given to Comp.
Empyros: Journey Through European Leagues to LFL
Panagiotis “Empyros” Tantis, previously known as JaxPlank, began his career in Greece, playing for Pyrsos Esports, Gamespace MCE, Anorthosis Esports, and WLGaming. He then moved to the northern NLC league, joining Riddle Esports in Summer 2022. Later, he changed his nickname and played for Dsyre in PG Nationals. In 2024, the team, renamed LIT, finally won the spring title after Empyros reached the league finals twice but lost to Macko Esports.
A New Chance for Gentle Mates
Gentle Mates began their LFL participation with an ambitious roster, but the results were disappointing. The team finished the Spring Split in third place, but it was seen more as luck than consistency. In the Summer Split, their performance declined, with an eighth-place finish striking a blow to the club's ambitions.
One of the founders of Gentle Mates, Corentin “Gotaga” Houssein, did not hide his disappointment and even hinted that the organization might leave the League of Legends scene. However, with the signing of Comp and Empyros, the team is betting on a new course and hopes to change its fortunes in the next season.
Source: Sheep Esports
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