SK will play without Blue for first week of 2021 LEC Summer

After a hectic mid-season break for SK Gaming, the team will be facing another obstacle ahead of the 2021 LEC Summer Split. 

In a recent announcement, SK said that it won’t be playing with mid laner Ersin “Blue” Gören for the first week of the summer split due to health issues. Only a few days ago, Blue was hospitalized due to chest pains and respiratory issues. SK reported that it’s nothing serious, but that it will impact the team for the first week. To replace Blue, SK Gaming will be promoting academy mid laner Mihail “twohoyrz” Petkov.  

Who is SK Gaming twohoyrz?

This will be the LEC debut for twohoyrz, who just recently got picked up by SK Gaming Prime in the German Prime League. The Bulgarian talent played for SAIM SE SuppUp during the most recent split, and the team managed to impress everyone at the European Masters Spring event. As a result, twohoyrz was expected to take a step up to play in one of the biggest regional leagues in Europe, but will instead skip all the way forward and get a chance in the LEC. 

While it’s only a temporary move, there is a chance that twohoyrz can go toe-to-toe with some of the best and earn more opportunities with SK. At the European Masters, he impressed on champions such as Lucian, Akali, and Syndra in showcasing a wide champion pool. 

The absence of Blue will be yet another hit to SK’s journey in the summer split. After finishing a solid sixth place in the spring split, SK was ready to improve in the summer and chase a spot at the world championship. All this was interrupted by sudden roster changes, resulting in jungler Kristian “TynX” Hansen stepping down from the starting roster. 

This left SK in a bind, ultimately naming support Erik “Treatz” Wessén as the starting jungler for the split. Taking over on the support position is head coach Jesse “Jesiz” Le. These roster changes will likely impact how SK will perform this split, and the absence of Blue could make it even worse. 

With all the changes to the roster, fans will likely be keeping a close eye on SK and how the team will play. SK could still surprise everyone and exceed expectations. Its first chance to do so will be against Astralis on June 11.