The New (& Old) Kids On The Block In The NA LCS Pro Scene

The North American League of Legends Championship Series is off with a bang, but for some of these teams this is all new territory. Let’s take a closer look at how the offseason has treated these players, as some have managed to retain their original spots, while others are forced to find a new home

---

100 Thieves

The name might be new, but these players certainly aren’t. Regular spectators of the NA LCS will certainly recognise the members of 100 Thieves, with the team makeup comprising of veteran Korean top laner Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho, with stream-meme favourite William "Meteos" Hartman in the jungle, former Phoenix1 mid laner Yoo "Ryu" Sang-wook, and a bot lane duo of former Immortals ADC Cody Sun, and former CLG team captain and support Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black. Perhaps the most surprising move of this roster comes with the addition of Aphromoo, a long-time member of CLG who helped lead his team to two NA LCS championships as well as appearances at both the Mid-Season Invitational and World Championships of 2016. 100 thieves is definitely a team with the potential to go far.

 

Cloud9

The roster for Cloud9 has remained mostly stable, only making two changes for their current line-up. With the departure of former world champion top laner Impact, they have signed Licorice as the new starting top laner, a player who found success on former challenger team eUnited. Additionally Cloud9 have parted ways with former jungler Contractz, who played a large role in their recent successes. Contractz’s replacement is veteran jungler Svenskeren, former member of Team Solo Mid, who joins the team after the massive reshuffle following their world championship 2017 campaign. This looks to be a must watch team for 2018.

 

Clutch Gaming

Clutch Gaming is another newcomer to the NALCS, and they’ve brought a few new faces to the scene as well. Top laner Solo has bounced between challenger and the NA LCS before landing a spot as the starter for Clutch Gaming, and he is joined by former European mid laner Febiven as he makes his NA debut. Fortunately for these two, the other three members have been around the block before, with LirA, Apollo and Hakuho all hailing from the now defunct Team EnVyUs. With players experienced in both the NA LCS as well as experience in the pro LoL scene in general, Clutch Gaming hopes to carve out a place for themselves in the coming weeks.

 

Counter Logic Gaming

CLG has managed to retain almost all of their previous line-up, only losing veteran support and team captain aphromoo to new team 100 Thieves. Attempting to fill his shoes is Biofrost, former support for Team Solo Mid, who also left the team following their world championship 2017 campaign. It now falls to CLG veterans Darshan, Reignover, Huhi and Stixxay to help bring Biofrost into the mould and become a unified team. CLG without aphromoo is an interesting prospect to watch out for.

 

Echo Fox

Echo Fox has possibly the biggest shake-up up, replacing their entire 2017 roster with a whole new line-up. That said their new roster comprises of many familiar faces as well, with Huni, a perennial fan favourite taking the top lane, Dardoch, an almost infamous figure in the NA LCS, Altec and Adrian in the bot lane, and a reappearance of Fenix in the mid lane. Fenix is a player that enjoyed a lot of success when he was starting mid laner for Team Liquid before he unfortunately was removed due to clashes with the residency rules. With such a potentially volatile line-up, Echo Fox is sure to capture the interest of the fans.

 

Flyquest

An offshoot brand of Cloud9 that quickly came into their own, Flyquest managed to prove that once you have the magic, you don’t lose it, as their original starting line-up consisted of mostly former, and retired, pro players. However, that hasn’t stopped Flyquest from looking to the future with their new line-up consisting of former Korean top laner Flame, jungler AnDa, mid laner Keane, who popularised such unorthodox strats as mid lane Hecarim, and NA LCS veteran’s WildTurtle and Stunt, who will battle it out in the bot lane. Flyquest has an interesting make-up of players who have shared in the highest highs, as well as the lowest lows. What peak they will achieve this year remains to be seen.

 

Golden Guardians

Golden Guardians is the team perhaps taking the most advantage of their affiliation with a professional sports team, often appearing on both the social media and in person with their parent team, the NBA Golden State Warriors. While none of these players are particularly new to the scene at large, this is a line-up that we haven’t seen together before, with Lourlo in the top lane, Contractz in the jungle, Hai as mid laner, and Deftly and Matt taking the bot lane pairing. With several popular players, backed by a very popular team, Golden Guardians has the best opportunity of the new teams to grow a fan base quickly.

 

OpTic Gaming

While OpTic isn’t a new organisation to pro gaming, they are a new face to League of Legends. Fielding a team of veterans from other organisations, they look to bring the culture of improving under fire from their days as an FPS brand into the NA LCS. In the top lane, Zig, a player who has seen his fair share of challenger and pro teams, backed up by Akaadian, a rookie jungler from 2017’s Echo Fox line-up who was a large reason for their success, PowerOfEvil in the mid lane, a man who enjoyed a lot of success back in Europe before making the region swap to NA, and Arrow and LemonNation in the bot lane, a duo that has many years of experience under their collective belts. While the organisation is new, the players will already draw a lot of fans due to their storied past on other teams.

 

Team Liquid

Team Liquid is not a new team to the NA LCS, though this is a new roster for them. In the past, TL has suffered greatly at the hands of the internet machine, with many inside jokes and jabs aimed at their ability to perform under pressure. That said, their new line-up remains one of the strongest in the NA LCS, at least on paper. With former world champion Impact taking the top lane role, NA jungle stalwart Xmithie teaming up with former Immortals teammate Pobelter in the mid lane, and the formidable bot lane duo of Doublelift and Olleh, Team Liquid looks to once and for all quash all talk about their inability to perform where it counts.

 

Team SoloMid

TSM has often been the team that people love to hate, however that hasn’t stopped them from becoming the most dominant organisation in the NA LCS. While they have retained star mid laner Bjergsen and star top laner Hauntzer, they have parted ways with their jungler and bot lane duo. Taking their place is former Phoenix1 jungler and rookie of the split MikeYeung, and the bot lane pairing of European stars Zven and mithy. Whether these roster swaps allow TSM to remain on top is still to be seen, however on paper they are also one of the more dominant teams in the NA LCS.

These are the line-ups that will be battling it out over the coming months in the North American League of Legends Championship Series. While no team escaped unscathed, a new group of organisations have emerged to challenge the supremacy of the established organisations. Whether or not they are successful remains to be seen, but one thing is clear, we sure aren’t dealing with the average player anymore.

For more esports related news today, check out our coverage of ELEAGUE breaking the Twich viewership record for their CS:GO Major in Boston!