Team Vitality samler Steelback op

Den franske AD Carry Pierre "Steelback" Medjaldi, der sidste split spillede for Roccat, er nu blevet en del af den franske organisation Vitality. Dette oplyer den franske organisation i dag på deres hjemmeside.

Steelback havde sin debut i LCS i januar 2015, hvor han blev samlet op af den populære europæiske esports-organisation Fnatic. Selvom at holdets resultater var gode, fik den franske AD Carry rig kritik for hans passive spillestil i løbet af denne periode, og allerede i maj 2015 blev han udskiftet af den svenske Martin "Rekkles" Larsson på holdets starting roster. Steelback havde i månederne efter ikke mange nævneværdige præstationer eller jobtilbud fra andre LCS hold.

Først i november 2015 kom Steelback for alvor på banen igen som startende AD Carry for holdet Unicorns of Love. Her var det tydeligt, at Steelback passede godt ind med resten af holdet. Han havde brugt tiden siden Fnatic på markant at forbedre hans individuelle niveau. Unicorns of Love havde dog andre problemer, der hæmmede holdet for noteværdig succes, og i maj 2015 skiftede franskmanden til Roccat. Roccat havde dog et endnu værre split end Unicorns of Love, og de nåede ikke playoffs, der var essentielle for deres chance for at kvalificere sig til Worlds 2016. Gennem hele 2016 sæsonen stod det dog klart, at Steelback ikke var kerneproblemet på hverken Unicorns of Love eller Roccat og allerede kort tid efter, at han forlod Roccat (september 2016), samlede Vitality ham op.

På Vitality's hjemmeside havde organisationens ejer følgende at sige vedrørende den nye opsamling af Steelback:

"Steeelback showed great interest in our project and we're really happy to be working with him from now on. Even if the 2016 season isn't over yet, we're already working on 2017 season and we really want to have the best chance of success. After the Summer Split failure, we're more than ever driven by the desire of attending World Championship next year. Pierre shares our vision and objectives and we're sure that he will do everything he can to help the team achieve that performance. I would also like to warmly thanks Police who's been very professional despite having to deal with though conditions. His involvement to adapt to the team and learn english has been exemplary and I wish him the best for the future."

Den fransk AD Carry Steelback udtalte selv følgende:

"I'm both happy and excited to join Team Vitality. Following a disappointing season, I want more than ever to be part of 2017 World Championship and I feel it's something that I might be able to do here. Also, even if it didn't really impacted my choice, it would be fantastic to offer to french supporters the first participation of an organization from our country in World Championship since creation of LCS."

Vitality kan ses i aktion igen i EU LCS 2017 Spring split. Holdet har på nuværende tidspunkt følgende roster: