LEC Names Coach and Rookie of the 2019 Spring Split
By Wyatt Fossett ·
As we gear up for more epic action in the League of Legends European Championship, the league announced two more winners for voted awards from the first part of the year. \n
The 2019 Spring Split in Europe has been filled with so many great stories and moments. Like the surprising climb and success of a late-season SK Gaming squad. That being said, the League of Legends team had a hard task ahead of them (it seemed) in choosing who to vote for in the Coach of the Split and Rookie of the Split awards.
Coach of the Split
A lot of people are talking about how amazing the Origen team looks this year. Giving a lot of the credit to ex-pro and co-founder Enrique “xPeke” Martinez, and part-time analyst and Origen General Manager Martin “Deficio” Lynge. However, one of the biggest keys to their success is their new Head Coach in Andre “Guilhoto” Guilhoto.
Guilhoto came over from Schalke 04 in December of last year and immediately turned a pretty decent line-up of players into one of the most consistent and versatile teams in Europeans League of Legends history.
The new Origen, with Nukeduck in the mid-lane, and Mithy returning to EU for support, are a terrifying team to play. They are -- when in sync -- the most meticulous and oppressively flawless teams in any league the world over.
With play structure and draft work mostly boiling down to the Head Coach for strategy, Guilhoto deserves so much credit for Origen qualifying for the LEC Spring Split Playoffs with their second-place finish. Guilhoto finished the voting with almost twice as many as the second place Coach, which shows how dominant and obvious his impact is.
Rookie of the Split
We spoke of SK Gaming’s amazing race for a playoff spot earlier in this article, and it’s earned their shining star the Rookie of the Split award.
SK Gaming’s jungler Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek came over to the team from the Superliga, where he and his MAD Lions team won a whole lot. From SuperLiga Orange Playoffs to the Gillette XL Invitational, and even the Iberian Cup of 2018, and the European Masters Summer Event. Selfmade is no stranger to winning.
Alongside his former MAD Lions teammates, Selfmade was such a standout in his first ever LEC Split. The surprising and surging SK Gaming won the shortest game in LEC history in the second to last week of the split, and qualified for the playoffs before losing to Splyce in a hard-fought first-round matchup.
“His early prowess combined with no fear mentality against any jungler or team brought SK Gaming numerous victories during the split” said host and analyst Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere about her vote for Selfmade.
Selfmade more than doubled the second-place voted rookie in Fnatic’s Nemesis.
The LEC Spring Split Playoffs continue this weekend with matchups between Splyce and Fnaticon Friday (the match just ended as I write this), before G2 Esports takes on Origen on Saturday, April 6th.