In a recent announcement from G2 the team announced that they would allow their star bot lane of Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen and Alfonso “Mithy” Aguirre Rodriguez to field offers from other teams. This sparked quite the discussion on if they would leave EU for money in North America. It’s no secret that with franchising heading to North America, just about every team will have money to spend on big name players. Ocelote states in the comments, “North American organizations have contacted us in order to purchase the rights to speak with some of our players. Some of these offers have been unreasonably high, to a point of them making no sense from a business standpoint in order to maintain a sustainable business.” If teams are offering ridiculous amounts just to talk to star players, one can only wonder what the salary offer will be like.

Two years ago we saw what would become known as the “Korean Exodus” as many Koreans bolted to China with promises of huge paydays. With some North American teams preaching communication is key, many might look to EU instead for talent. EU has been known to produce some great talent and their players might be easier to integrate into American culture.

If this “EUxodus” were to happen how would it affect both leagues? Can we expect EU to lose a lot of big names this off-season or will North America still look to the best region in Korea for imports?

Lack of NA Talent Development

In the past few seasons we’ve seen North American teams look to imports to fill the void left by the lack of North American talent. Is there really a lack of talent or are teams just not looking to develop it? Riot has tried to step in last year by implementing “Scouting Grounds” to help gain some recognition for up and coming talent. Franchising will also allow for teams to have “Academy” teams where they can have a competitive challenger squad made up of talent that may not be ready for LCS quite yet.

NA solo queue has become a meme for some as many LCS pros have stated the lack of quality of practice it provides compared to other regions. Pairing that with how much longer queue times are here, you may not be able to get as many solo queue games as you want.

North American teams have not been shy to import where they can. Three of the teams at Worlds this year from North America had a total of six imports among them if you include the Danish star Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg.

Could talent in EU Drop?

When Korea had the massive exodus, it wasn’t long before they just replaced the old talent with new players who developed into their own stars. This was to be expected as Korea has seemed to be the birth place of League of Legends stars and champions. Having claimed the last four World Championships, it’s no secret that they have found the way to develop the best players in the world.

While EU does have talent, it doesn’t compare to the infrastructure and development in Korea. Europe is bound to have less money without franchising coming until 2019 as well. If we do see players leave in chase of the bigger paycheck we could see a massive talent drop in EU for a bit if teams aren’t able to recover.

While some players have mentioned that they would rather represent their home region than take a bigger paycheck, that may not be the case for everyone. Not only does it hurt the competitive side, but also the viewership could dip if some fan favorites bolt.

It’s no guarantee that EUxodus is coming, but the Zven and Mithy announcement definitely hints at some big name imports that could possibly be heading to North America. Franchising definitely opens the pockets for many teams and it will be interesting to see where they look to in finding their talent.

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Cover photo by Riot Esports