Echo Fox acquires Froggen, KFO, three Challengers — Kori likely to sub
The newest team in the North American League Championship Series (LCS) has finalized its roster for the 2016 season. And it includes one of Europe’s star players, along with three former LCS substitutes, an unproven talent from Korea, and one of League of Legends’ most famous names.
Echo Fox was founded by former Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics player Rick Fox, after acquiring Gravity Gaming’s spot in December for roughly $1 million. And now he’s put together a strong squad before the season kicks off in three weeks.
One of League of Legends’ greatest players of all time, former Counter Logic Gaming Europe and Elements mid laner Henrik “Froggen” Hansen, will serve as the starting mid laner for Echo Fox, sources close to the player and team tell the Daily Dot.
Hansen was in negotiations with many teams across North America, Europe, and even China, this offseason. He was very outspoken on his Twitch stream about wanting to move to North America to play after Elements disbanded due to management disputes.
According to sources close to the team, Echo Fox is likely to add former MeetYourMakers mid laner Marcin “Kori” Wolski (formerly known as SELFIE) as Hansen’s substitute. Wolski became known in the League community last year after one of esports’ biggest scandals, where his mother’s home and himself were threatened by MeetYourMakers manager Sebastian “Falli” Rotterdam following a contract dispute.
Joining Hansen are three players from across the North American League Challenger scene. Former Cloud9 Tempest starter and Cloud9 LCS team substitute jungler Anthony “Hard” Barkhovtsev, former Counter Logic Gaming Black AD carry Yuri “KEITH” Jew — who substituted for Team SoloMid and Team Liquid last season, and former Team Imagine starter and Team Dragon Knights substitute support Terry “Baby” Chuong.
Little is known about Echo Fox’s fifth player, but sources close to the team say he is a Korean top laner whose in-game name is “KFO.” He was rank 40 on the Korean Challenger ladder prior to leaving Korea last week to join the team in North America.
Speculation around KFO arose after Fox tweeted two days ago that he would need a Korean translator in the Los Angeles area, a tweet that has since been deleted. Yesterday, after a teaser of the roster was posted on Twitter (with Barkhovtsev, Hansen, and Jew clearly recognizable), Twitter and Reddit exploded with speculation about who is on the team.
Echo Fox’s coach is former Gravity Gaming coach and AD carry David “Cop” Roberson. They will also be retaining Gravity manager Jake “Ginko” Fyfe as their general manager.
Fox’s interest in esports began earlier last year. He attended the North American LCS Finals at Madison Square Garden with his son on Aug. 22 to 23. After the event he was very outspoken — during multiple appearances on traditional sports talk shows — about his love for League of Legends and esports in general.
Now Echo Fox will look to take on some of North America’s best teams. With strong rosters from Team SoloMid, Cloud9, NRG Esports, and Immortals, they will have some tough competition. But overall the team looks to be a competitor for the middle of the pack — alongside Team Liquid, Team Dignitas, and Renegades.
Update Jan. 6: Fox and his players took to Twitter last night to announce the team’s roster. All five starting members as reported in this report are confirmed, as well as Wolski officially joining as the team’s substitute mid laner.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr