Counter Logic Gaming
Roster
NEW: Stixxay (ADC)
RETURNING: Darshan (Top, formerly ZionSpartan), Xmithie (Jungle), Huhi (Mid), Aphromoo (Support)
The biggest headline of CLG’s offseason was losing their star AD Carry Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng to their long time rival, Team SoloMid. Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes, formerly of CLG Black, was added to the roster to fill the vacancy. In turn Stixxay won’t require the hefty amount of resources that Doublelift did, but he also won’t impact the game as strongly as Doublelift did either. The new carrying responsibility will most likely spill over to Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaha (formerly know as ZionSpartan) in the top lane. We got a sample of the new CLG lineup at IEM San Jose in November and it showcased flashes of brilliance with Darshan leading CLG to victory through strong split-pushes.
Choi “HuHi” Jaehyun did not impress as much, taking over the vacancy left by mid-laner Eugene “Pobelter” Park. It was stated by CLG after Worlds that they saw HuHi as a better player than Pobelter last season, but did not make the change mainly because HuHi started practicing late due to Visa issues. After his display at IEM, many are doubtful that he can even fill Pobelter’s shoes. The success of CLG is going to come down to if HuHi can hold his lane and expand his champion pool, as well as if Darshan can lead the team to victory through well executed split-pushes.
Team SoloMid
Roster
NEW: Hauntzer (Top), Svenskeren (Jungle), Doublelift (ADC), Yellowstar (Support)
RETURNING: Bjergsen (Mid)
Of all of the teams in the NA and EU League Championship Series, it is easy to argue that TSM came out with the strongest roster additions and improvements overall. TSM started off their explosive offseason acquiring Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell from Gravity Gaming and Doublelift from long time rival, CLG. As if picking up a talented, young toplaner and arguably the best ADC in the North American scene wasn’t enough, TSM’s roster only got stronger as the offseason drew on.
Next up on the list of supercharged additions was none other than Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen, former jungler of SK Gaming and arguably one of the best carry-style junglers in EU last season. They didn’t stop there though. TSM’s final pickup was arguably the LCS pickup of the offseason in EU support and legend, Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim. YellOwStaR was highly considering retiring after a strong semi-finals finish at Worlds and an undefeated, 18-0, Summer Split with Fnatic when he learned that Heo”Huni” Seunghoon and Kim “Reignover” Yeujin were looking to move on. TSM made an offer to YellOw that would allow him to come across the ocean to a team of established veterans instead of facing another rebuilding period with Fnatic. This was the motivation he needed to stay in the scene for another year.
The success of TSM will come down to how well YellOwStaR’s praiseworthy leadership and shotcalling is able to keep the many strong personalities and resource hogs of TSM in line. If he can unite the team, on and off the Rift, in their quest for dominance then the sky is the limit for this powerhouse team of veterans. They are my favorites to take this split with relative ease.
Cloud 9
Roster
NEW: Rush (Jungle), BunnyFuFuu (Support)
RETURNING: Balls (Top), Jensen (Mid, formerly Incarnati0n), Sneaky (ADC), Hai (Support)
Cloud 9 had a strong offseason after an impressive run through the 2015 Regional Qualifier to make it to Worlds, after finishing 7th in the Summer Split of the NA LCS. At Worlds C9 started off strong as well going 3-0 in their first 3 games of the group stage before losing every other game after that. This offseason Cloud 9 acquired NA LCS MVP and former Team Impulse jungler Lee “Rush” Yoonjae. Arguably the most impactful carry jungler in the NA Scene, Rush should strengthen C9’s lackluster early game play quite a bit.
With the addition of Rush, C9 looked to transition captain Hai “Hai” Du Lam from jungle to the support role mainly to keep his shotcalling skills on the Rift. C9 went on to acquire Michael “BunnyFuFuu” Kurylo from Gravity Gaming for Hai to train to take over his role as support and shotcaller, so that Hai could move back into retirement from playing on the stage and instad work behind the scenes in the C9 organization. The success of this team will come down to An “Balls” Le improving his top lane presence on champions other than Rumble, as well as BunnyFuFuu’s transition into the shotcalling role of the team. Expect C9 to be vying for a top 5 finish this split as Bunny transitions into his added responsibilities.
Team Liquid
Roster
NEW: Lourlo (Top), Smoothie (Support)
RETURNING: IWillDominate (Jungle), Fenix (Mid), Piglet (ADC), Zig (Top), YoungBin (Mid), Dardoch (Jungle), Fabbbyyy (ADC), Matt (Support)
Team Liquid made headlines recently stating that they were moving from the traditional 5-man roster to add 5 more players to their team and round out with a strategic 10-man roster. Talk about a full gaming house. The idea behind this roster expansion is to increase the team’s use of strategic substitutions, as well as to provide a stronger environment for regular scrimmages, while increasing the overall play of all of the players.
The main strategy of this team will most likely remain to be feeding World Champion AD Carry Chae “Piglet” Gwangjin to carry the team to success. Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera is believed to be stepping up as the team captain this split as well. Overall it is hard to predict how this massively sized roster will be utilized and the impact it will have on Team Liquid’s standings. Some believe that it will bring quite a bit of success with the vast amount of strategy that it allows for, but many others believe that the sheer number of players will bring about inconsistency and will negatively impact the team. I expect Team Liquid to finish somewhere between the 4th and 6th spots on the board.
Team Impulse
Roster
NEW: Feng (Top), Procxin (Jungle), Pirean (Mid), Mash (ADC)
RETURNING: Gate (Support)
Team Impulse is a sad story. After a strong finish last year that ended just shy of making it to Worlds, TIP practically disbanded. The owner was trying to sell the LCS spot, but none of the offers quite met expectations and as a result a roster was thrown together at the last minute. Austin “Gate” Yu is the only returning member after subbing for star midlaner Yu “XiaoWeiXiao” Xian once he was banned for elo boosting last year. Gate has moved into the support role for this split.
It is also believed that Visa issues will affect this team in the early weeks of the Split, with substitutes Kenneth “Ken” Tang and Meng “belbei” Zhang believed to be filling the voids left in the jungle and mid roles until the issues are solved. Expect this team to make a strong case for last place this split.
Echo Fox (Formerly Gravity Gaming)
Roster
NEW: kfo (Top), Hard (Jungle), Froggen (Mid), KEITH (ADC), B1G (Support)
RETURNING: None
Echo Fox is a result of former three-time NBA Champion Rick Fox feeling inspired to purchase Gravity Gaming and dive into the growing Esports scene. The Echo Fox roster is headlined by former Elements midlaner and EU LCS legend Henrik “Froggen” Hansen. Froggen had a tough season last year playing with two different sets of teammates with neither set finishing in the top half of the EU LCS standings. This season he is looking to reinvigorate his career with a change of scenery.
Next up on the carry list would be former Team Liquid and TSM substitute ADC Yuri “KEITH” Jew. After being brought in by TL and TSM to push the teams’ current starting ADCs at the time, Keith never really found a true home. Keith plays a cleanup style ADC and should fill in as the secondary carry behind Froggen. There are a lot of questions still surrounding the remaining three players on the roster, so only time will tell how they fit into Echo Fox’s big picture. I expect this team to finish toward the lower middle section of the table this split.
Team Dignitas
Roster
NEW: SmittyJ (Top), Kirei (Jungle), Apollo (ADC)
RETURNING: Shiphtur (Mid), KiWiKiD (Support)
Even with IEM Cologne acting as a looking glass into this team, there are still many questions to be answering surrounding this roster. For starters, who will be the primary carry on this team. Danny “Shiphtur” Le is one possible choice after pulling off quite a few highlights last year, but at the same point many believe that he has reached the ceiling of his success as well.
The next viable though is new jungle addition Thomas “Kirei” Yuen who showcased a great deal of skill at IEM Cologne, but at the same point he isn’t Rush. The bottom lane duo of Apollo “Apollo” Price and Alan “KiWiKiD” Nguyen is also drowned in questions with Kiwi favoring an overly aggressive style and Apollo playing a reserved, cleanup oriented style last split. If this team can keep their overall overaggressive style in check and calculate their plays then their is a chance for this team to pull toward the middle of the pack. I expect it to take time though and this team should finish toward the lower middle of the group.
Immortals (Formerly Team 8)
Roster
NEW: Huni (Top), Reignover (Jungle), Pobelter (Mid), WildTurtle (ADC), Adrain (Support)
RETURNING: None
Immortals is one of, if not the strongest, new roster to come to the NA LCS this offseason. Immortals brought in World Semi-finalists and Fnatic duo Huni and Reignover to stand as the foundation of the team in top lane. With much weaker top lane competition than Huni topped in EU last season, expect him to flourish in the NA LCS with partner Reignover keeping a close eye on the jovial top’s lane as well.
Eugene “Pobelter” Park isn’t a top talent in the mid lane, but he is rather consistant. He should be able to hold his lane well enough to open up Reignover’s jungle pathing outside of the top side of the map. Adrian “Adrian” Ma also brings an impressive support resume to the team, participating in over 80% of the kills that Team Impulse had last season. The biggest question mark of this team comes in the form of AD Carry Jason “Wild Turtle” Tran. Formerly an impressive ADC for Team SoloMid, WildTurtle saw a decline last season and looks to revitalize his career with a new support pairing and a new team environment. If WildTurtle can at least put up average statistics, expect this team to finish in the top 3 and make a strong push for the top spot.
NRG Esports (Formerly Team Coast)
Roster
NEW: Impact (Top), Moon (Jungle), GBM (Mid), Altec (ADC), Konkwon (Support)
RETURNING: None
NRG Esports is the new project of a few co-owners of the Sacramento Kings National Basketball Association (NBA) Team. Touting one of the world’s strongest mid laners, Lee “GBM” Changseok, and arguably the best top laner in NA, former World Champion Jung “Impact” Eonyeong; this team is poised for success straight from the start. To round out the pool of strong talent on this team is Johnny “Altec” Ru who showcased extraordinary team fight positioning throughout the majority of his time with Team Gravity and WinterFox before that. Altec’s career has been stunted in the past by the weaknesses of his teammates however.
With three proven players already in the ranks, the success of this team will come down to the impact that jungler Galen “Moon” Holgate and support Kevin “KonKwon” Kwon will have. Moon will have 3 strong lanes to choose from when ganking and this should allow him to be creative with his jungle pathing. KonKwon is known for his strength in in-game team communication and this should help out quite a bit as the team looks to develop a strategies and synergize with one another.
With a strong support staff that includes Origen’s former head coach, this team is poised to make a strong push for the top 3.
Note: Due to LCS rules three of the five qualifying members (formerly of Team Coast) have to be present for the first week and as a result Christian “Cris” Rosales” and Lee “Shrimp” Byeonghoon will start in place of Impact and Moon, respectively.
Renegades
Roster
NEW: Freeze (ADC)
RETURNING: RF Legendary (Top), Crumbzz (Jungle), Alex Ich (Mid), Remi (Support)
Mid laner Alexey “Alex Ich” Ichetovkin and jungler Alberto “Crumbzz” Rengifo headline this roster as well known veterans of Moscow5 and Dignitas, respectively. They have both been around for quite a while and bring a wealth of experience to the team. This team only made one addition to their successful NA Challenger Series team and it was a big one. Ales “Freeze” Knezinek will be joining the team as the starting AD carry after impressing in the EU LCS last year on a Copenhagen Wolves’ team that was falling apart.
Freeze will be joined by the first female to enter the LCS scene, support Maria “Remilia” Creveling. There are doubts surrounding Remilia about being able to establish herself at the higher level of play that the LCS brings, but with Freeze at her side expect her to silence her doubters. Many believe that Renegades will fail to flourish, but I’m taking them to finish in the top half or just shy of it in the 5th or 6th place this split.
Featured image courtesy of lolesports.com
