Seeking the Perfect Roster - Team Curse
Riot·3/27/2014, 9:47:16 PM·0 votes·1,321 views
Team Curse's quest to form the perfect roster is one of unremitting change as players, new and old, have cycled on and off the main lineup throughout the course of the 2014 spring split. It began with the departure of European support player Edward "Edward" Abgaryan in the fall of last year when Curse's disastrous performance in the summer playoffs resulted in their relegation from the NA LCS.
Steve "LiQuiD112" Arhancet, Curse's manager, reflected on the situation: "I had to go back to the drawing board a bit and seek advice on what kind of management philosophy I wanted to use with the team coming into relegation. Last season, I focused on picking star players and hoping they'd do well with analyzing their own replays and it didn't work well."
He added, "I want to focus on synergy -- find a group of guys that get along and trust each other. Also, I need players that are disciplined. I wanted to make sure I had guys who had the fire within and who will push themselves."
In October 2013, Curse's entire roster was overhauled.
Mid laner Chenglong "Nyjacky" Wang and ADC David "Cop" Roberson moved to Team LoLPro while jungler Brandon "Saintvicious" DiMarco became Curse's coach and analyst. To fill the open positions, Curse reviewed over 500 applicant using scrims, VODs, and interviews. It appeared as if Curse had finally settled on a new roster for the coming split by bringing Eugene "Pobelter" Park and Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black on board.
Arhancet admitted, "In the short time between Worlds and our first match in the NACL tournament, I realized things were different than I had hoped... That's why we had more changes than we would have liked and had to make some decisions about who I felt would be the best for a successful team."
Cop returned to the main ADC position on Team Curse. Arhancet said, "...when I moved Cop to the LoLPro team, I saw this drive in him that I didn't see at the end of [the 2013 season]. He was pushing the team in ranked 5's and playing really well. I felt the better choice, based on performance, would be Cop over Aphromoo because there were uncertainties with how Aphro may perform in the LCS that I was uncomfortable with."
Pobelter was also removed from the roster due to his commitment to school. Curse went on to pick up support player George "Zekent" Liu, jungler Christian "IWillDominate" Rivera, and top laner Diego "Quas" Ruiz. Joedat "Voyboy" Esfahani switched from top lane to the mid lane.
"I think we'll be a lot stronger as a team," said Voyboy. "We've only been practicing together for a few weeks but we already see the potential. We're all bouncing ideas off each other and it's all healthy discussion. We know mistakes will happen, but we all want to get better."
At the Spring Promotion Tournament, the new Team Curse defeated COGnitive Gaming (3-1), avoiding relegation and rejoining the NA LCS.
Despite a strong showing in Saintvicious's first game back as Alistar, Curse still could not make the ultimate push to the top of the bracket as they again struggled to go positive in games every week. It was clear that bringing on Saintvicious as Curse's main support player was not the best solution.
"I asked Saint to help out and play a role that's not his main at a time of need for the team," said Arhancet, "we wanted it to work out but after a few weeks we realized that he's simply a much better jungler than he is a support."
To replace Saintvicious, Arhancet signed on Challenger player Michael "Bunny Fufuu" Kurylo.
"Right now I see him as a really good addition to the team just because I think he fits with us really well," said Cop. "We have similar personalities, all of us."
"I think everyone just kind of clicked," said Voyboy. "It feels like the right move."
Bunny FuFuu made an explosive debut in the LCS, helping Curse go 3-1 in Week 8 with his aggressive plays on Thresh and Leona. This was the first and only time Curse went positive in games during the 2014 spring split. However, in the following week, Curse once again returned to their previous pattern of going even in games (1-1).
With only two weeks remaining in the regular season, there is little time for Curse to truly find their stride with Bunny FuFuu, build up their bot lane synergy, and force their way to the top of the NA LCS rankings. They are currently tied with Team Dignitas in fourth place with a 9-13 record.
But if there's anything we've learned about Curse in the past, it's that they never give up on their ambitions despite the circumstances.
For more information on Team Curse, check out lolesports.com.
Preseason
In October 2013, Curse's entire roster was overhauled.
Mid laner Chenglong "Nyjacky" Wang and ADC David "Cop" Roberson moved to Team LoLPro while jungler Brandon "Saintvicious" DiMarco became Curse's coach and analyst. To fill the open positions, Curse reviewed over 500 applicant using scrims, VODs, and interviews. It appeared as if Curse had finally settled on a new roster for the coming split by bringing Eugene "Pobelter" Park and Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black on board.
Arhancet admitted, "In the short time between Worlds and our first match in the NACL tournament, I realized things were different than I had hoped... That's why we had more changes than we would have liked and had to make some decisions about who I felt would be the best for a successful team."
Cop returned to the main ADC position on Team Curse. Arhancet said, "...when I moved Cop to the LoLPro team, I saw this drive in him that I didn't see at the end of [the 2013 season]. He was pushing the team in ranked 5's and playing really well. I felt the better choice, based on performance, would be Cop over Aphromoo because there were uncertainties with how Aphro may perform in the LCS that I was uncomfortable with."
Pobelter was also removed from the roster due to his commitment to school. Curse went on to pick up support player George "Zekent" Liu, jungler Christian "IWillDominate" Rivera, and top laner Diego "Quas" Ruiz. Joedat "Voyboy" Esfahani switched from top lane to the mid lane.
"I think we'll be a lot stronger as a team," said Voyboy. "We've only been practicing together for a few weeks but we already see the potential. We're all bouncing ideas off each other and it's all healthy discussion. We know mistakes will happen, but we all want to get better."
At the Spring Promotion Tournament, the new Team Curse defeated COGnitive Gaming (3-1), avoiding relegation and rejoining the NA LCS.
The 2014 Spring Split
The future looked promising for Team Curse as they fought through Super Week with unorthodox strategies, including a global team composition with Pantheon jungle and Karthus top with teleport. However, against stronger teams such as Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming, Curse struggled immensely. And as the season progressed, Curse continued to linger in the middle of the LCS pack, repeatedly going even or negative in games every week. Once again discontented with the direction of Team Curse, Arhancet sought change. After only three weeks of LCS play, Zekent was removed from the main roster and replaced by Saintvicious. Not only would Saintvicious be filling in the role of support, he would also be taking on the role of late game shotcaller, which was something Curse desperately needed.
Despite a strong showing in Saintvicious's first game back as Alistar, Curse still could not make the ultimate push to the top of the bracket as they again struggled to go positive in games every week. It was clear that bringing on Saintvicious as Curse's main support player was not the best solution.
"I asked Saint to help out and play a role that's not his main at a time of need for the team," said Arhancet, "we wanted it to work out but after a few weeks we realized that he's simply a much better jungler than he is a support."
To replace Saintvicious, Arhancet signed on Challenger player Michael "Bunny Fufuu" Kurylo.
"Right now I see him as a really good addition to the team just because I think he fits with us really well," said Cop. "We have similar personalities, all of us."
"I think everyone just kind of clicked," said Voyboy. "It feels like the right move."
Bunny FuFuu made an explosive debut in the LCS, helping Curse go 3-1 in Week 8 with his aggressive plays on Thresh and Leona. This was the first and only time Curse went positive in games during the 2014 spring split. However, in the following week, Curse once again returned to their previous pattern of going even in games (1-1).
With only two weeks remaining in the regular season, there is little time for Curse to truly find their stride with Bunny FuFuu, build up their bot lane synergy, and force their way to the top of the NA LCS rankings. They are currently tied with Team Dignitas in fourth place with a 9-13 record.
But if there's anything we've learned about Curse in the past, it's that they never give up on their ambitions despite the circumstances.
For more information on Team Curse, check out lolesports.com.
or 
he just gets wrecked in lane and it kinda throws the game. The other bad thing is iwilldominate, he is REALLY good at smiting and stealing objectives, but he is really aggressive and gets caught out ALOT. So if they can fix voboy's mid lane where he win almost all his matchup's and Iwilldominate's to aggressiveness then i think curse can be the best team in LCS.