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Offseason Roster Changes in NA, EU, and SEA

Riot·5/6/2014, 12:13:55 AM·0 votes·7,110 views
The offseason has been anything but quiet with the onslaught of roster changes, and no region is safe. North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia all have experienced their fair share of retirements, team splits, and players trades all in preparation for the 2014 summer split and the road to the World Championships. Some of the LCS's biggest names have hopped onto new teams, while veterans have bid their farewells and a wave of new talent arises. Let's take a look at some of the key roster changes coming into the offseason.

North American LCS Roster Changes

Team SoloMid On May 3, Bryan "TheOddOne" Wylie announced his retirement. In the same announcement, it was revealed that Maurice "Amazing" Stuckenschneider of Copenhagen Wolves would be replacing him in the jungle. The following day TSM again made headlines as they announced the departure of longtime support player Alex "Xpecial" Chu and the acquisition of Challenger player Nicolas "Gleebglarbu" Haddad of Cloud 9 Tempest. New blood on the roster may bring about positive change as it has happened before with the acquisition of Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg in the mid lane. Amazing, in particular, boasts strong mechanics and an extensive champion pool, which may be just what TSM needs to become a great team as opposed to a team of great players.
Team SoloMid
Top Dyrus
Jungler Amazing
Mid Bjergsen
ADC WildTurtle
Support Gleebglarbu
Counter Logic Gaming On April 23, CLG announced that Zach "Nien" Malhas would be stepping down from the starting top lane position. While no official announcements have been made regarding Nien's replacement, rumors have circulated that CLG's management is currently seeking foreign talent to join the roster. During the spring split, CLG demonstrated strong teamwork in both lane phase and late game as they moved across the Rift as a cohesive unit, controlling objectives and excelling in team fights. Losing NiIen is a blow to the teamwork CLG developed over the course of the split, however, the offseason may provide enough time for CLG to pick up and practice with a new solo laner.
Counter Logic Gaming
Top TBD
Jungler Dexter
Mid LiNk
ADC Doublelift
Support Aphromoo
Team Curse On May 3, Curse announced their acquisition of support player Xpecial. Michael "Bunny FuFuu" Kurylo was subsequently moved to a substitute position. As an experienced support player, Xpecial may facilitate stronger playmaking and consistency in Curse's bottom lane. While ADC David "Cop" Roberson has surely improved over the spring split, his ability to shine may have been stifled by the constant roster changes; he played with three different supports in a single season. With Xpecial by his side, Cop may finally be able to stand out as a top ADC in the North American LCS and help carry his team to Worlds.
Team Curse
Top Quas
Jungler IWillDominate
Mid Voyboy
ADC Cop
Support Xpecial
Team Dignitas On May 2, Dignitas excited the masses when they announced their acquisition of Team Coast solo laners Danny "Shiphtur" Le and Darshan "ZionSpartan" Upadhyaya. William "Scarra" Li returned to his position as coach, while Cruz "Cruzerthebruzer" Ogden became a subsittutesubstitute. Shiphtur and ZionSpartan's assertive and confident playstyle may benefit Dignitas significantly. With two rising stars on their squad, Dignitas may finally have what they need to be a strong contender in the 2014 summer split and even Worlds.
Team Dignitas
Top ZionSpartan
Jungler Crumbz
Mid Shiphtur
ADC Imaqtpie
Support KiWiKiD

European LCS Roster Changes

Copenhagen Wolves Following a tough battle in relegation, ADC Konstantinos "Forg1ven" parted ways with Copenhagen Wolves. On May 3, Jungler Amazing also left to join TSM in the NA LCS. No official reports have been made of their replacements, though some contenders have been reported. The 2014 spring split was nothing short of stressful for the Copenhagen Wolves, who struggled to keep up with the middle of the LCS pack. The team's CEO Jakob Lund Kristensen said, "The fact that Forg1ven was not happy about the current situation in the team and that the team was neither happy about it, has been quite clear for a while." Releasing Forg1ven and bringing on new talent may just be what the Wolves need to make a comeback in the summer split.
Copenhagen Wolves
Top Youngbuck
Jungler TBD
Mid CowTard
ADC TBD
Support Unlimited
Gambit Gaming On May 3, Gambit Gaming announced that mid laner Alexey "Alex Ich" Ichetovkin decided to part ways with the team. No official announcements have been made of Alex Ich's replacement or his future plans with professional gaming. Despite being a world-class team with talented players, Gambit Gaming suffered from inner turmoil, ranging from travel fatigue to a lack of motivation. Alex admitted, "You could easily notice that victories didn't bring joy as much as they used to." Losing a leader like Alex Ich may be difficult for Gambit at first, but change may rekindle the enthusiasm and passion Gambit lost over time.
Gambit Gaming
Top Darien
Jungler Diamondprox
Mid TBD
ADC Genja
Support Edward
Supa Hot Crew On May 1, support player Maxime "Migxa" Pointsott announced his retirement from professional gaming after Supa Hot Crew removed him from the main roster. On May 5, it was announced that Supa Hot Crew would be picking up Bram "wewillfailer" de Winter to replace Migxa. SHC found what they wanted with wewillfailer, who boasted both the experience and positive attitude they desired for the team. In the announcement, SHC stated, "[wewillfailer] is easily one of the most experienced European support players in the scene right now and his in-game knowledge coupled with his continuous motivation to improve should prove invaluable in the upcoming 2014 summer split."
Supa Hot Crew
Top Mimer
Jungler Impaler
Mid SELFIE
ADC Mr RalleZ
Support wewillfailer

SEA Roster Changes

<-- SMALL PICTURE, can you put in the original larger file. Taipei Assassins On April 23, Taipei Assassins announced that Xue "DinTer" Hong-Wei would be stepping down from the starting jungling position, and Chen "Winds" Peng-Nien would take his place in the jungle. A week later, it was revealed that Wong "Chawy" Xing Lei of Singapore Sentinels would be transferring to TPA as the new mid lanera sixth man, who will rotate with . Chen "Morning" Kuan-Ting. subsequently moved to a substitute positions. Winds is a welcomed change to the TPA roster as Winds has proven his ability to singlehandedly carry teams to victory with his Kha'Zix plays.
Taipei Assassins
Top Achie
Jungler Winds
Mid Chawy
ADC bebe
Support Jay

Taipei Snipers On April 23, Taipei Snipers announced that Winds would be transferring to Taipei Assassins. His replacement in the jungle would be Xue "Mountain" Zhao-Hong of yoe Flash Wolves. Although Taipei Snipers placed third at 2014 GPL Spring, they struggled to perform at the 2014 Taiwan Promotion, where they failed to qualify for the 2014 GPL Summer. Furthermore, losing Winds was devastating for the team as he was their main shot caller and carry jungler. However, Mountain may be what TPS needs to rejoin the GPL.

Taipei Snipers
Top Zonda
Jungler Mountain
Mid OhReaL
ADC GoDJJ
Support Awei

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69 Comments

Legendoggy5/6/2014, 1:45:12 AM28 votes

i just don't see gambit without alex ich. he was the face of the team.

Qwerty2635/6/2014, 1:22:03 AM19 votes

Crs_Xpecial just feels so weird and TSM_Gleebglarbu feels weird too Xpecial was one of the best best supports if not the best in NA. I just hope TSM know what theyre doing. Dignitas must be very happy, getting two star players!!!!! Im happy CST lost cause know zion and shiphtur wont have to carry all the weight.

jessedude7045/6/2014, 1:47:53 AM14 votes

In my opinion, TSM has totally screwed themselves. Xpecial was arguably one of the best league players in all of NA, across any position. "just because you have the best players on a team does not mean you have the best team". This statement frustrates me. First of all, it's not even completely true. If you have a team of all amazing players, and you can't get them to "work well together" or something of that sort, it comes down to extremely poor coaching ability. In my opinion, it's totally ridiculous of them to get rid of an allstar support, and let alone one of the most intelligent league players in the game, who had a powerful drive to succeed and improve. However, the acquisition of Xpecial by Curse will help Cop shine, and show his true merit as one of the most solid ADC's in Na. Cop is often overshadowed by the likes of Sneaky, Doublelift and Wildturtle. I have thought for a long time that Cop could be in contention of a top 3 spot in terms of NA ADC. Dignitas, being a team that I have thoroughly enjoyed being a fan of, has made a very good decision in picking up Zion and Shiphtur. Team coast had little to no potential (again, in my opinion) other than these two players, and it's awesome that they get to continue their gaming careers on a strong team that will allow them to excel. The stepdown of Nien, i think, may have been premature.. I feel he was just coming into stride towards the end of the season with CLG, and he was only going to get better. It's a shame, and I hope he's not done with LCS. Again, back to TSM, I feel that if anyone should have either stepped down / been replaced, it would have been Dyrus. I love Dyrus as a player, but I feel he's been lacking very much as of late, and he has had an inability to play from behind, which has become a more frequent occurrence and will continue to happen due to everyone else in the LCS constantly improving.

warpedmind5/6/2014, 2:40:41 AM13 votes

that alex ich one really got me suprised. imho genja is the weakest link of gambit with darien nearby. but family comes first

ps: TSM looks scary now. not only that with the newest roster changes i will 100% watch the NA LCS summer split

Junebuck5/6/2014, 12:56:57 AM12 votes

This is just my opinion, don't hate, but these roster changes honestly make me very sad. item 3070 item 3070

DeltaRaven5/6/2014, 2:57:43 AM12 votes

Kind of sad to see TSM breaking apart, I really liked the old TSM. But time will tell if these changes are what they needed. I think getting rid of xpecial was a big mistake, he was a really good player. On a positive side, I'm glad that shiphtur and zionspartan are staying in the LCS, they were Coast's rising stars. I really want to see who will be replacing nien in CLG though, I wasn't expecting CLG to replace him.

darioSRB5/6/2014, 11:20:44 AM8 votes

R.I.P Alex ich item 3070

cube mine5/6/2014, 3:02:01 AM8 votes

TSM, why no nightblue for jungle

bkLav5/6/2014, 2:01:28 AM6 votes

I'm so pumped, TSM will actually be able to get on C9's level now.

VirtualPlay5/6/2014, 10:41:55 AM6 votes

Does anyone actually proofread these things before they get posted? They misspelled Nien's name once and left in a massive typo that said Cruz became a "subsittutesubstitute."

As for the content, the only NA news that makes me happy is seeing Dignitas pick up ZionSpartan and Shiphtur. I'm upset that Xpecial's attitude pushed him off TSM, but just as upset he was picked up by Curse; if he had attitude and a dedication problem on TSM, what's to say he can improve those on a different team? And of course Nien's departure is saddening, but it was his decision to step down, not something forced on him.

Synval5/6/2014, 2:39:04 PM5 votes

CW = another team after NiP that is gonna be screwed by TSM poaching. But hey, they must pay them better in the US, somehow we don't see Gambit or SK taking players from XDG etc. the path only goes one way. One good news, we won't have to stare at Forgiven's acne infested face, with all that money pros are making he could afford a Clearasil by now.

ligitbeast75/6/2014, 2:55:03 AM5 votes

My two favorite teams meshing together into one all star team? Im calling a Dignicoast championship in the summer split.

ScarletEzreal5/6/2014, 3:37:23 AM4 votes

Goodbye Baylife... Gonna miss the ol' TSM

CrayonDragon5/6/2014, 6:15:28 AM3 votes

If the roster changes for TSM dont produce results fast, its GG for them. Reginald gone and screwed himself over then losing Xpecial gonna hurt like mad

Qwerty2635/6/2014, 1:31:41 AM3 votes

Would be fun if they added coaches in the background because they are part of the team.

Awstan5/6/2014, 3:16:26 PM3 votes

RETURN OF HOTSHOT GG for CLG Nidalee

Rinced Player5/6/2014, 5:32:58 PM2 votes

Xpecial joins Curse, ZionSpartan and Shiphtur join Dignitas.Now, with LMQ and Complexity, I don't see how EG can't finish 8th this summer split 0o

TheTortured5/6/2014, 6:32:36 PM2 votes

Holy editing failures. Having one or two minor errors would be forgivable, but every paragraph has one issue or another.

Try reading your post before clicking submit.

Splatticus5/6/2014, 10:37:33 PM2 votes

...I wonder how much Curse offered Regi...hmmmm

ZerobyDivided5/14/2014, 7:04:50 AM1 votes

I am still not sure what was TSM thinking of removing Xpecial. He was the best support on NA by a mile.. Even if Xpecial joined curse I don't everything would go that well. curse line up aren't better than TSM's individually.

ZerobyDivided5/14/2014, 7:05:53 AM1 votes

maybe if xpecial starts carrying with thresh every single game. he can make a difference on curse. but that will just be ban 100% like they did against bunny.

Tréeman5/20/2014, 9:26:46 PM1 votes

I am really sad to watch the Classic TSM roster that i was used to and loved being broken apart :( I'm not saying that all of their choices were bad but how would it feel for Xpecial to play against his ol'friends at the Summer Split? :(( I was honestly really shocked.item 3070 item 3070

SleepingChemical5/10/2015, 2:47:36 AM1 votes

Aatrox