Schalke 04 Esports will sign former Royal Bandits mid laner Felix "Abbedagge" Braun and former bbq Olivers support Lee "IgNar" Dong-geun and is close to finalizing an agreement with Splyce top laner Andrei "Odoamne" Pascu, sources close to the team told ESPN on Saturday.
Schalke will need to buy out Odoamne's contract from Splyce to finish the deal. If that buyout goes through, Odoamne will join a team that has rebuilt themselves around young star AD carry Elias "Upset" Lipp, the sole remaining contracted player from Schalke's 2018 roster. On Sunday, the team announced the signing of jungler Jonas "Memento" Elmarghichi, who previously competed on Schalke throughout the first half of 2017. The team will be coached by former Fnatic coach Dylan Falco.
Schalke 04 declined comment on the roster moves. Splyce did not respond to requests for comment on Odoamne.
Schalke is in the midst of facilitating a buyout agreement with Splyce for Odoamne, who had interest from multiple teams in North America and Europe, sources said. Odoamne received interest from Schalke, Counter Logic Gaming, Rogue and others, according to sources. In what could be an unplanned swap, Splyce signed former Schalke top laner Tamás "Vizicsacsi" Kiss, as reported by ESPN on Friday.
Abbedagge and IgNar both received interest from multiple teams in Europe, sources said. Throughout free agency, Abbedagge had interest from exceL Esports, one of the new teams in the League of Legends European Championship. IgNar also negotiated with SK Gaming, according to a report from VPEsports, but ultimately decided to join Schalke.
The rebuild comes after Schalke had its most successful year ever since it entered pro League of Legends in mid-2016. The team finished second in the European League Championship Series summer split behind Fnatic. However, it failed to qualify for the League of Legends World Championship after falling to G2 Esports in the finals of the European regional qualifier in September.
On Monday, the contracts for all of the 2018 Schalke lineup, except for Upset, expired. Vizicsacsi has since signed with Splyce; former mid laner Erlend "Nukeduck" Holm joined Origen on Tuesday; and former jungler Maurice "Amazing" Stückenschneider and support Oskar "Vander" Bogdan announced neither are likely to land on teams in the League European Championship.