Treatz swaps to jungle for SK Gaming as TynX steps down

SK Gaming will be making some last-minute changes to its LEC roster ahead of the summer split. 

It came as a surprise to everyone when SK Gaming recently announced that Kristian “TynX” Hansen will no longer be the starting jungler for the team. Instead, support player Erik “Treatz” Wessén will be role swapping to jungle temporarily during the 2021 LEC Summer Split. This leaves an open spot in the support position, where SK Gaming will be using head coach and former professional player Jesse “Jesiz” Le. 

While these changes won’t sound optimal to most, SK Gaming states that the decision was taken collectively from the team and every single member was on board. The changes will also mean that a whole new SK Gaming will be entering Summoner’s Rift when the LEC kicks off on June 11, with a lot of questions left to be answered.  

“Initially, we looked at more traditional jungle replacements,” SK Gaming general manager Joseph El Ouassi said. “But due to the timing and contractual nature, we couldn’t come to an agreement in time.”

TynX leaves SK Gaming after poor performance in LEC

The sudden departure of TynX happens after his debut split in the LEC. TynX came into the league as one of the most promising rookies, after a great year with LDLC OL in the French LFL league. Even though TynX is a mechanically gifted jungler, he didn’t live up to expectations throughout the split. This will now leave the young Dane without a team and a potential return to the European Regional Leagues for a while. 

TynX’s replacement will be Treatz, who has previously played with TSM, although never as a jungler. Treatz is known as a player with a lot of insight into different roles, which is likely why he will now be trying his luck in the jungle temporarily. After joining SK Gaming for the 2021 LEC season, he has been the shot-caller of the team and will continue to be so from the jungle position.   

“This is not a role swap that I intend to commit to long term,” Treatz said. “But as a support a lot of times you play to enable your team, not only in-game but also out of game.”

To replace Treatz in the support position will be Jezis, who has previously had a long career as a professional support player. The last time he played actively was as a substitute for SK Gaming Prime in the German Prime league last year. Jesiz has acted as the team’s head coach for the past year, but will now have to dust off his mouse and keyboard. 

The expectations for Jesiz coming in as the support won’t be high, but he will hopefully be able to apply some of his experience and help bot laner Jean “Jezu” Massol develop. The goal for SK Gaming is still to make it to the 2021 World Championship, even though it seems like a tough task now. 

SK Gaming will play its first game of the summer split on June 11.