A Whole New Coast
Riot·6/18/2014, 12:31:52 AM·1 votes·1,238 views
Change is scary, but if you ask any losing sports team, it can be necessary. After a losing season, teams often take time to re-think their approach to the competition. Team Coast, who went from a second place finish in the NA LCS spring playoffs last year to third-to-last in this year’s, underwent the most extreme change possible - a complete roster switch. To completely replace your team might seem like a desperation move, but for Coast, it might be the first step towards getting back into the LCS.
Team Coast was toast. More depressing news soon followed, when ZionSpartan and Shiphtur moved over to Team Dignitas. Would Team Coast be picked apart for scraps, then tossed away?
It seemed like the roster came together almost at the last minute. Joining the existing roster from Spring of WizFujiiN and Daydreamin would be ex-Dignitas mid laner GoldenGlue and Curse Academy top laner Rhux. Filling in for Santorin in the jungle was retired Coast AD carry, Mash.
Their first games against Team Green Forest were, luckily, fairly one-sided. The team was clearly still getting its feet beneath it, but they came out ahead of Green Forest with superior coordination and some powerful performances. Particularly impressive was the teamwork between Mash and Rhux in Game 2, when Mash on Kha’Zix would dive into the midst of Green Forest, only to have Rhux activate Lulu’s Wild Growth on him, causing their opponents to quickly fall into disarray.
By moving into the semi-finals with strength, the team gave fans a clear message that they were going to get back on track. But two short days after the win, Team Coast dropped the real bomb - a completely rebuilt squad. Mash would be replacing WizFujiiN as the team’s AD, and replacing Daydreaming would be XDG’s former support player, Sheep.
They didn’t have long before this new roster would be put to the test. Their semi-final match had them pitted up against Curse Academy, a formidable challenger team featuring many ex-LCS players, including Mancloud and Saintvicious. If Team Coast really wanted to prove they wanted back into LCS, a win against Curse Academy was just the way to do it.
The first game cast aside all doubts. Team Coast won with seeming ease, with GoldenGlue and Mash combining for 9 kills, 10 assists, and zero deaths. This wasn’t just a good team—these players were out-laning LCS-quality players, despite several Coasters having never set foot inside an LCS booth.
Game 2, however, flipped the equation on its head. Mancloud’s Yasuo took over, and the second game in the series showed that Coast still had some kinks to work out. Just one day of scrims with Santorin wouldn’t be enough to function at 100%.
With the series on the line, Coast headed into Game 3 with the knowledge that a loss here would only make it more difficult for them to qualify for promotion in the future. And as the game started up, disaster struck—Curse Academy prepared a level 1 gank attack that Coast walked straight into, ceding first blood to their opponents.
But Coast refused to just roll over a die. In fact, the additional pressure seemed to light a fire under the team, and they began playing like a top team. Over the next twenty minutes, Coast put on a clinic, schooling Curse Academy in a game they should have had down pat. It took Curse over 25 minutes to get their second kill—and in that time, Coast racked up almost a dozen of their own.
Coast were playing like a team like never before, rotating and catching members of Curse Academy out as if they were in the gold league. With superb coordination, Coast steamrolled their opponents, winning their way into the finals in London next week.
It’s clear, at this point, that Coast is back. Armed with new weapons like GoldenGlue, who looks to be one of the most exciting challenger mid laners this year, and old pros like Mash on the warpath to re-affirm his effectiveness in the LCS, Coast is looking not only like a top challenger team, but a potential re-entry in the LCS next Spring. And while Coast may not have the shiniest reputation after their disappointing exit in May, the recent changes prove that the team is dedicated to play at the highest levels, no matter the cost.
Dropping Out
At the end of the 2014 Spring Split, Coast was at it’s lowest point ever. Star players ZionSpartan and Shiphtur, who at times appeared to be top players in the region, were underperforming far below their potential. A sixth place finish in the regular season saw them seeded poorly into the playoffs, where they made an early exit into relegation. Luckily, they had the best seed, meaning they got to hand-select their opponents. Unluckily, they still lost. It wasn’t pretty - after falling behind 2-0 to compLexity, the team mounted an all-out assault to swing momentum back in their favor with a dominant third game. But in the fourth game, they fell once again, despite ZionSpartan and Shiphtur both having decent games. Team Coast’s second chance in the LCS just wasn’t meant to be. With heads hung, the team fell out of the league.
Team Coast was toast. More depressing news soon followed, when ZionSpartan and Shiphtur moved over to Team Dignitas. Would Team Coast be picked apart for scraps, then tossed away?
Moving Forward
The answer soon became clear. Despite the hard work that would be involved, Team Coast began putting the puzzle pieces back together, and on May 13th, announced the first major change - the signing of Danish jungler, Santorin, a relative unknown. His presence on several EU Challenger teams hinted at a potential that was especially attractive to Team Coast management, and Santorin was quickly put onto the main roster in the place of veteran NintendudeX. However, time was running out for Coast. Their Challenger Series games, the team’s only chance to get back into the LCS, began on June 7th. With less than a month, they would not only have to get Santorin up-to-speed, despite him being in school in Denmark, but also replace ZionSpartan and Shiphtur.
It seemed like the roster came together almost at the last minute. Joining the existing roster from Spring of WizFujiiN and Daydreamin would be ex-Dignitas mid laner GoldenGlue and Curse Academy top laner Rhux. Filling in for Santorin in the jungle was retired Coast AD carry, Mash.
Their first games against Team Green Forest were, luckily, fairly one-sided. The team was clearly still getting its feet beneath it, but they came out ahead of Green Forest with superior coordination and some powerful performances. Particularly impressive was the teamwork between Mash and Rhux in Game 2, when Mash on Kha’Zix would dive into the midst of Green Forest, only to have Rhux activate Lulu’s Wild Growth on him, causing their opponents to quickly fall into disarray.
By moving into the semi-finals with strength, the team gave fans a clear message that they were going to get back on track. But two short days after the win, Team Coast dropped the real bomb - a completely rebuilt squad. Mash would be replacing WizFujiiN as the team’s AD, and replacing Daydreaming would be XDG’s former support player, Sheep.
Another Rebirth
Team Coast had done the unthinkable. Every single player who had been on the team just a month ago was gone—and in their place, a hodge-podge of challenger players, and one from a completely different continent. Additionally, and perhaps as a breath of relief to fans, was the additional mention of Chaox as the team’s coach. Perhaps this was a more thought-out change than initially planned. Perhaps, this wasn’t all just desperation.
They didn’t have long before this new roster would be put to the test. Their semi-final match had them pitted up against Curse Academy, a formidable challenger team featuring many ex-LCS players, including Mancloud and Saintvicious. If Team Coast really wanted to prove they wanted back into LCS, a win against Curse Academy was just the way to do it.
The first game cast aside all doubts. Team Coast won with seeming ease, with GoldenGlue and Mash combining for 9 kills, 10 assists, and zero deaths. This wasn’t just a good team—these players were out-laning LCS-quality players, despite several Coasters having never set foot inside an LCS booth.
Game 2, however, flipped the equation on its head. Mancloud’s Yasuo took over, and the second game in the series showed that Coast still had some kinks to work out. Just one day of scrims with Santorin wouldn’t be enough to function at 100%.
With the series on the line, Coast headed into Game 3 with the knowledge that a loss here would only make it more difficult for them to qualify for promotion in the future. And as the game started up, disaster struck—Curse Academy prepared a level 1 gank attack that Coast walked straight into, ceding first blood to their opponents.
But Coast refused to just roll over a die. In fact, the additional pressure seemed to light a fire under the team, and they began playing like a top team. Over the next twenty minutes, Coast put on a clinic, schooling Curse Academy in a game they should have had down pat. It took Curse over 25 minutes to get their second kill—and in that time, Coast racked up almost a dozen of their own.
Coast were playing like a team like never before, rotating and catching members of Curse Academy out as if they were in the gold league. With superb coordination, Coast steamrolled their opponents, winning their way into the finals in London next week.
It’s clear, at this point, that Coast is back. Armed with new weapons like GoldenGlue, who looks to be one of the most exciting challenger mid laners this year, and old pros like Mash on the warpath to re-affirm his effectiveness in the LCS, Coast is looking not only like a top challenger team, but a potential re-entry in the LCS next Spring. And while Coast may not have the shiniest reputation after their disappointing exit in May, the recent changes prove that the team is dedicated to play at the highest levels, no matter the cost.
