The end of the 2019 Spring Split was an awkward one for SK Gaming as part of the European LEC pro league. After losing their Head Coach midway through the split, their academy coach Ram “Brokenshard” Djemal came up to the big game and managed to pull out a crazy end of the split, seeing SK Gaming make the playoffs on the faintest of hopes. 

Now, as the storied LEC franchise heads towards the 2019 Summer Split, some important things needed to be shored up. Mainly, with the coaching situation. Today, the team announced that Brokenshard would be returning to the SK Gaming Prime team, and their recently appointed analyst Andrei “Realistik” Ruse gets the promotion to LEC Head Coach. 

With the shuffle of coaching staff, SK Gaming has parted ways with Coach Fabian “Sheepy” Mallant, who spent just the Spring Split with the organization. 

“Although ultimately we didn't align with the same vision, I very much respect the work that's been done by everybody resulting in us reaching Playoffs in our very first Split. I wish the players and staff nothing but the best and hope SK Gaming will continue to grow and develop," said Sheepy in an official statement. 

Some might think that sending Brokenshard back down to SK Prime after such a turnaround performance on the main-stage is a negative thing, but the Head Coach stated that he has plenty of unfinished business with Prime. 

“For summer Realistik, our former Head Analyst, who was already coaching the team with Brokenshard in Spring will take over the Head Coach Position while Brokenshard will go back to being SK Prime's Head Coach,” said SK Gaming’s League of Legends General Manager Rene Spanier. “We already saw where Realistik's work led us and with more time we are sure that we can compete for a top 3 spot in Europe. Moreover, we are also looking to add more staff to support him. A first step has already been made and I’m really happy to welcome Pyros as our new Analyst."

There’s a lot of hope in this young organization. The very near future is a very bright one. 

The LEC 2019 Summer Split will begin on June 7th, and the League of Legends world should be excited to see where this team takes their efforts.