SOURCES TEAM BDS COMPLETED 2025 SUMMER SPLIT LEC ROSTER

Rooster and Boukada join BDS to replace Irrelevant and 113

Knowing when to make changes when things aren’t working is crucial in the League of Legends ecosystem, and dropping from third place in Summer 2024 to eighth in Spring 2025 is alarming for a team of BDS’s caliber. It’s no surprise, then, that the Swiss organization and their French head coach Yanis "Striker" Kella have made two roster moves. 20-year-old Korean toplaner Shin "Rooster" Yun-hwan joins from Hanwha Life Esports Challengers to replace Joel "Irrelevant" Miro Scharoll, while in the jungle, Mehdi "Boukada" Lahlou arrives from SK Gaming for a €200,000 buyout to take over from Doğukan "113" Balcı.

For the rest of the roster, BDS have opted for continuity. Ilias "nuc" Bizriken remains the team’s franchise player in the midlane, with Yoon "Ice" Sang-hoon continuing as AD Carry despite a string of underwhelming performances. Polat "Parus" Furkan Çiçek will also stay on as support, entering his third consecutive LEC split. As for the toplane, BDS considered several profiles—as reported by Sheep Esports, the team tried out Kim "Chasy" Dong-hyeon, and evaluated Baek "Mihile" Sang-hwi, Volodymyr "Maynter" Sorokin, and even the option of keeping Irrelevant. Rooster, who initially played midlane, transitioned quickly to top and notably teamed up with Lee "Hans SamD" Jae-hoon—now also in the LEC with NAVI—and Joo "Duro" Min-kyu, the reigning MSI and EWC champion with Gen.G.

A high-stakes €200,000 move

Jungler Mehdi "Boukada" Lahlou is about to play for his fourth team in under a year. He competed in LFL Summer 2024 with Team GO, before moving to Karmine Corp Blue at the start of 2025, where he won the LFL Flash-In and earned a promotion to the LEC with SK Gaming. That move came as part of a trade, with Karmine receiving Ismaïl "ISMA" Boualem—who, after strong EMEA Masters performances, was quickly promoted to the LEC with GIANTX.

Despite a difficult Spring Split and a ninth-place finish with SK, Boukada remained a sought-after option. BDS reportedly considered veterans like Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski and former BK ROG Esports jungler Enes "Rhilech" Uçan (Who ultimately joined NAVI for the 2026 season) alongside Boukada. After lengthy negotiations, the Swiss organization secured the deal with a €200,000 buyout.

A manageable group

BDS have been placed in a group where they are expected to qualify for playoffs. Alongside Fnatic, G2 Esports, SK Gaming, and Team Heretics, BDS should be able to hold their own against SK and TH, and if they live up to expectations and their standing, they could even cause trouble for the group’s top two: G2 and Fnatic. The schedule is also quite favorable, as they will kick off with a BO3 against SK on August 3 at 5 PM CET — widely seen as the group’s bottom team. They’ll then face Fnatic on the 10th, G2 on the 18th, and wrap up the group stage against Team Heretics on August 25.

BDS have also announced the contract extension of their Head Coach Striker through the end of 2026, showing strong confidence in him despite a challenging period for the team, which is also preparing for a rebrand. In the announcement interview, Striker said: “The most frustrating part was the lack of results on stage. We lost games that were in our hands, and that’s hard for a coach and the players — you never know if the game is going to be thrown or not, and that brings a lot of frustration.”