In anticipation of their debut season in the LFL, the club Ici Japon Corp has placed trust in an experienced coaching duo. According to sources from Sheep Esports, the club has reached a verbal agreement with Ilias "Enatron" Theodorou to take on the role of head coach, with Arda "Invokid" Basharan as his assistant.
Initially, IJC planned to appoint Adrien "GotoOne" Picard as head coach, but the former BDS coach joined Gentle Mates. The list of candidates also included Geekay Esports coach Edward "Edward" Abgaryan. As for the future of current coaches Adrien "Hellombre" Lompre and Alan "Karot" Trochel, the club has not yet made a decision.
Coaching History and Achievements
Enatron and Invokid previously worked together at Dignitas in 2023, where Invokid was a positional coach. However, their collaboration in North America did not yield the desired results: Dignitas finished the LCS Spring Split in 10th place and the Summer Split in 5th place. Before that, Enatron was the head coach of Misfits Gaming in the LEC in 2021. Despite a promising roster that included players like Ivan "Razork" Martin and Vincent "Vetheo" Berrié, the team finished in 7th place, leading to Enatron's departure.
Enatron's main successes were in the TCL (Turkey), where he led Royal Youth to the TCL Summer 2019 championship and took the team to the play-in stage of Worlds. It was then that future stars like İrfan "Armut" Tükek and Can "Closer" Çelik emerged. Enatron was also close to success in 2018 with Royal Bandits, where he coached well-known players like Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik and Felix "Abbedagge" Braun.
Preparation for the New LFL Season
After leaving Dignitas in early 2024, Enatron returned to the TCL to coach FUT Esports, but he could not repeat his past achievements and finished the Summer Split in 4th place. Invokid, on his part, had a challenging first season in the LFL in 2024 with Team du Sud, where he was a strategic coach. Despite successes in division 2, the team finished in 9th place in both parts of the split.
Ici Japon Corp hopes to avoid Team du Sud's fate, following them into the LFL after victories in both splits in the second division and successfully passing through the Up&Down stage.
READ MORE: Riot Games announces second wave of layoffs
The Importance of the Upcoming Season
The transition of the experienced coaching duo Enatron and Invokid to Ici Japon Corp opens new perspectives for the club in the LFL. The team aims not only to repeat the successes of the second division but also to establish themselves in the top league of France, relying on proven coaches with rich experience on the international stage.
Source: Sheep Esports
Comments