At the North American Live Championships, GankStars were selling t-shirts with “NA > EU” emblazoned across the front. If you were, however, to ask them today “Which is better, NA or EU?” the response would be a resounding “Both!” For the upcoming spring season, GankStars will be expanding into EU, joining Vertigo as one of the first competitive organisations to transcend multiple regions. Today, they are announcing a brand new team that they describe as “highly talented, strategic, ambitious, and innovative,” and once you see the roster you’ll be inclined to agree.

New Roster

GankStars new team, Cerberus, brings together some of Europe’s hottest talents:

Lane: TetnoJJ

TetnoJJ Jungle: L3on

L3on Roam: Emirking

Emirking Substitute: AeOn

TetnoJJ was known as being the key laner for SK Prometheus with solid play and an aptitude for mechanics-based heroes – such as Ringo and Vox – that could rival that of IraqiZorro. L3on was the only player in Season One to achieve the coveted skill tier, Vainglorious Gold, and was highly lauded as the player to watch by multiple outlets. Emirking is a bit of a diamond in the rough who’s received little exposure after competitive play with lesser known teams. He’s well-known in high tier play as a strong support and it’s fantastic to see him join such a promising team.

Here are some highlights of TetnoJJ and L3on from the winter season qualifiers:

Player Remarks

“I am really excited for this new opportunity and was very grateful when GS approached our team. I am certain that it will be a lot of fun to be a part of this self-building organization.” — TetnoJJ “I’m stoked to start with my new team and train with GankStars. I want to see what we can cook up if we combine NA & EU metas.” — L3oN “I think we have great potential in competitive Vainglory together. I have been a big GankStars fan from the beginning as well so I am pleased to represent, and I hope we can perform well.” — Emirking “It will be great to hopefully establish another household name in EU, given that we do a little work on synergy and drafting.” — AeOn

Adding to L3on’s quote, it’s worth noting that GankStars has an entire analyst team working for them. If this team were to dissect the best aspects of each meta – NA and EU – it could improve their teams on both sides of the Atlantic and possibly breed some interesting innovation for Vainglory.

Final Thoughts

GankStars are one of the oldest competitive Vainglory teams who have seen success on international and regional platforms with their two homegrown teams, Sirius and Vega. This new EU team, Cerberus, is going to be a hot contender in the upcoming qualifiers, giving older, more established teams a run for their money. With four teams vying for joint ninth after the winter qualifiers, there’s a lot of competition for being in the top eight and gaining admittance into the live championship. Cerberus will be a triple-headed threat that is sure to shake up the European competitive scene.

“Damn, it must feel good to be a GankStar.”