What makes the DKB Diamonds different from other League of Legends teams?
The DKB Diamonds are a joint project of the Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB) and the esports player foundation (epf). The “DKB Diamonds”, which is made up of players supported by the epf, operates as a Free Agent League of Legends team and actively participates in the Strauss Prime League. Free Agent means in this sense that the players have the possibility to change to a higher class team at any time.
The goal of the DKB Diamonds
Initiated in January 2022, the DKB Diamonds enable talented players to establish themselves in the scene, with the goal of drawing attention to the skills of the players. In this way, the DKB Diamonds do not function as a classic Esports team, but as a pioneer and springboard for young talents. The talents train in a highly professional environment and should get used to the routines of professional athletes. This environment includes daily in-game coaching, as well as regular sports sessions, nutritional counseling, and sports psychology support.
What happened so far
Kick-off in 2022
After the successful calibration phase in January 2022, the DKB Diamonds started with the lineup consisting of Tobias “Lownley” Jelting, Christian “Chryssey” Rublack, Finn “Finnry” Radoy, Enes “Aken” Akgül and Marius “Baxe” Müller in the Fifth Division of the Strauss Prime League. Under the direction of the two-time German champion Chris “MoSiTing” Würger and his assistant Albion “Albi” Cakar succeeded in an undefeated march through to the Fourth Division of the Strauss Prime League.
Right after the first split, two players from the promotion team, Marius “Müller” Baxe and Tobias “Lownley” Jelting, moved to higher-class teams. The former joined the “Epic Dudes” in the Third Division of the Strauss Prime League, the latter moved to the “Unicorns of Love” in the First Division.
Promotion to Division 3
The vacant positions were filled by Tallha “Ryu” Kaya (Toplane) and Xavier “Senceless” Winiarski in the Summer Split 2022. With the new team composition, a similarly successful split followed as in the spring of that year. After winning the main round undefeated, they only dropped one game in the playoffs to the Third Division and eventually qualified for the Third Division.
After promotion, the team remained unchanged and competed in the 3rd Division in the Strauss Prime League in the winter split of 2022. After a strong start and taking the lead in the standings, they finished the split in 4th place in a secure mid-table position.
New challenges
All players except Xavier “Senceless” Winiarski left DKB Diamonds after the winter split to pursue new challenges. Among others, Christian “Chryssey” Rublack joined GamerLegion (1st Division Strauss Prime League), while the jungler Finn “Finnry” Radoy decided to move to the second division team WeSports.
Spring Split 2023 - Division 2
In Spring Split 2023, the newly formed DKB Diamonds will compete in the Second Division of the Strauss Prime League. This is made possible by the takeover of the spot from Eintracht Frankfurt Esports, who were promoted to the First Division. Under the leadership of experienced coach Leon Huchel, the DKB Diamonds will compete with the following line-up, all players are supported by the esports player foundation.
- Top-Lane: Khaled “Difference“ Said
- Mid-Lane: Leon “Relative“ Lôc Van
- Jungle: Fabian-Maximilian “JustInTime” Gummelt
- AD-Carry: Marc “Wenbo” Ostner
- Support: Xavier “Senceless” Winiarski
The DKB Diamonds had a strong start into the Spring Split and lost their first game only on the 4th game day. Also in the rest of the season the DKB Diamonds settled in the top group in the 2nd division and finished 2nd in the final table. As a result, the DKB Diamonds qualified for the Upper Bracket Final of the playoffs. There they faced Austrian Force Willhaben, who finished the main round in first place. With a 3-0 win, the DKB Diamonds earned a spot in the Division 2 playoff finals, where they again faced Austrian Force Willhaben. In a tight fought series they were beaten 2-3 by Austrian Force Willhaben. Thus the DKB Diamonds finished 2nd in the Spring Split 2023 of the Strauss Prime League.
DKB Diamonds RAW - Academy Team of DKB Diamonds
Due to the success of the DKB Diamonds, Deutsche Kreditbank AG and the esports player foundation decided to expand their project at the beginning of 2023. Together they created the “DKB Diamonds RAW”, another team that will serve as a springboard for young, highly talented players to reach the top of the world.
The focus of the DKB Diamonds RAW is on even younger players, primarily between the ages of 14 and 18. It also serves as an academy/young talent team for the DKB Diamonds.
In doing so, the DKB Diamonds RAW, after seven wins and one loss in the calibration phase, now compete in the fifth division of the Strauss Prime League.
Led by coach Carl “Forellenlord” Lückmann, the team played a strong first split and finished the main round in first place with a record of 13 wins and one loss. Despite losing in the upper-bracket of the Division 4 playoffs, the team advanced to the 4th Division by making a lower-bracket run.
With the same line-up, the team will compete in the 4th division of the Strauss Prime League in the 2023 summer split. The goal is the promotion to the 3rd Division.
- Top-Lane: Dominik “Sprotte” Koch
- Mid-Lane: Julian “MrMannerMight” Hanspeter
- Jungle: Alex “alex234” Szymanski
- Bot-Lane: Paul “Shukkzz” Berger
- Support: Eduard “Eddy” Usov
To be continued…