It’s a seismic shift for the German League of Legends scene. SK Gaming Prime, the academy team of LEC’s SK Gaming, is reportedly leaving the Prime League, according to Sheep Esports sources. Founded in 2014, SKP is the longest-standing LEC academy team. A decade ago, they competed in the EU Challenger Series, former Europe's second division. Well-known Tier 1 players such as Mateusz “Kikis” Szkudlarek, Erberk “Gilius” Demir, Chres “Sencux” Laursen, or Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage wore the SK Gaming Prime jersey in the early days of the project, often before moving up to Europe’s top tier.

After a hiatus between 2016 and 2018, SK's academy was reactivated in 2019 when the main team returned to the European elite under the newly established LEC. SKP began competing in the Premier Tour, featuring players like Janik “JNX” Bartels in the midlane and a botlane duo well-known to European fans: Tim “Keduii” Willers and Mads “Doss” Schwartz. That same year, the team reached the European Masters final but lost to Misfits Premier, another academy team from the LEC.

Only six academies remain in the ERL

SK Prime joined the Prime League in its inaugural 2020 season. After a difficult first year, during which SKP nearly lost their spot in the league, the team steadily improved. Over the following years, SK Prime reached the league final three times: both splits in 2023 and Spring 2024. Of these, they secured one title in the Summer 2023. Their most recent showing was a third-place finish in the Prime League Summer 2024 — with Doss as a support.

The club’s latest actions hinted at this decision, as SK Gaming opted to compete in the Prime League Pokal—the German Cup—with their WNB roster, typically known as SK Gaming Avarosa. With SK Gaming’s exit from the PRM, only six of the ten LEC teams continue to maintain academy teams in the ERL system: GIANTX (GIANTX Pride/LVP), Karmine Corp (Karmine Corp Blue/LFL), MAD Lions KOI (Movistar KOI/LVP), Team BDS (Team BDS Academy/LFL), Team Heretics (Los Heretics/LVP), and Team Vitality (Vitality.Bee LFL). Meanwhile, the Prime League is now devoid of LEC academies, a stark contrast to 2021 when it hosted two: Schalke 04 and SK Gaming.