Partizan Esports return to LoL reignites biggest Serbian sports rivalry

Partizan Esports finally returns back to competitive League of Legends after a long 5 year hiatus. Aljoša “Milica” Kovandžić will headline the new line-up built specifically to win the EBL and potentially EU Masters down the line.

The impact on the small Balkan regional is immense, as the biggest sports rivalry in Serbia ignites into the esports scene once again.

Partizan Esports returns to LoL primed for victory

This is not the first time Partizan attempted an LoL stint. In 2017, the organization began by signing an inexperienced set of players to compete in the Fortuna Championship Series Season 2. With little surprise, the Partizan Esports failed to compete against the slightly more established teams, failing to secure a single game throughout the entire competition. Following their disastrous 0-7 performance, the organization decided to quickly pull the plug, exiting competitive League of Legends.

With Riot increasing support to competitive League of Legends in developing regions, Partizan Esports has decided to make a bid for EUM glory. Prior to signing any members, Partizan Esports showed their conviction early by purchasing the EBL 2022 Summer qualification off SOVEJA. To aid building the roster, they signed Colamax, a former pro player turned coach.

Learning from their mistake, Partizan is now taking their time to carefully select players.

The first of which is mid-laner Milica, an experience pro who has competed since 2018. Milica and KlikTech made waves in 2018, after finishing 5th in EU Masters behind the likes of MAD Lions and Origen. He followed by being key in the success of the Vodafone Giants Spain. During his time on Vodafone, the team transformed from a mid-tier team in Spring of 2019, to securing first place in the LVP SLO 2019 Summer regular season and playoffs.

The team later fell to MAD Lions in the Iberian Cup 2019, finishing second, nevertheless Milica proved himself to be one of the most promising talents to come from a smaller league. Following his star performance in 2019, Milica joined the bigger leagues by getting signed to both Team Vitality and Giants (Spanish team). Unfortunate lack of results from both teams sent Milica now to return to his home country to form a super team. While he may have shown to fall short in the big leagues, his experience competing against the top teams will aid the development of a new force like Partizan Esports.

Rivalry reignited

There is so much that can be said about Serbia’s biggest sports rivalry. Crvena Zvezda and Partizan are rivals across almost every sport and the fan division between the two has created a long standing and epic rivalry. Honestly, just Google it.

Over in the LoL Esports Balkan League, Crvena Zvezda are the reigning champions, and potentially set to defend their trophy against Partizan in Summer. One can only imagine the potential narratives and storylines that will arise from this small Regional League.

We are currently kept in the dark on the remaining Partizan roster, but based on the first signing we are definitely seeing the makings of a new super team.