If I could control roster swaps in EU, I think my ideal top four would look something like this -
Alliance - Shy, Shook, Froggen, Rekkles, Heart
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Tabzz hasn't given any indication that he wanted to leave Alliance, so his contract not being renewed only makes sense if the Alliance management knew they could get a better ADC. And in my opinion, the only ADC in Europe better than Tabzz is Rekkles and maybe Forg1ven. Rekkles fits Alliance's playstyle better, tho.
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Shy does what Wickd does except more consistently, and if CJ is forced to merge teams, he's almost certainly going to be let go over Flame. The dude's even known for his Irelia play - I would see him as pretty much a strict upgrade if the language barrier could be overcome.
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Madlife would also be pretty great, but I feel like Heart's longstanding partnership with Deft would make him the ideal support for an ADC like Rekkles. I think his ability to control vision would also remedy one of Alliance's greatest flaws as a team.
Fnatic - Kev1n, Swift, xPeke, Tabzz, Yellowstar
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sOAZ had a pretty rough worlds, and he's been criticized for a lack of motivation for months, now. As much respect as I have for him as a player, I just don't see him as a player that's going to keep on growing and overcome the issues that he has right now. Kev1n has quietly been one off the best top laners in Europe since the Spring Split, and I think he could bring the consistency that Fnatic needs.
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With KaKAO most likely signing to a Chinese team, Swift is by far the strongest free agent jungler right now. More importantly, I think that his very mid-centric playstyle would make him a really good fit for Fnatic as a team, since they've been operating on the Cyanide-xPeke mid jungle synergy for years, now.
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Since Rekkles is almost certainly not playing on Fnatic next year, Tabzz is the only player they could pick up who wouldn't be a huge downgrade. He'd also be a much more natural fit for Fnatic than Rekkles was, in my opinion.
SK Gaming - fredy122. Svenskeren, Incarnation, Freeze, nRated
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So, Incarnation is obviously conditional on him being unbanned by Riot, which may or may not happen. If he is unbanned, however, I think he'd be a definite contender for best mid laner in Europe, and given his previous association with SK and their need of a mid laner, he'd be a shoe in for the team.
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Both Forg1ven and Freeze are strong contenders for ADC. Freeze wins out for me because I want to see Draven in the LCS he's demonstrated the ability to perform on top tier teams. I'm concerned that, if Forg1ven were put on a team where he wasn't the star player, he'd end up like Amazing did in TSM - decent, but nowhere near as impressive as when he was one of the primary carries for his team.
Supa Hot Crew - Zorozero, k0u, Selfie, MrRalleZ, Cain
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Basically, Team Four European Rising Talents and One Korean Veteran
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I'm probably dreaming with Zorozero, since the dude probably won't want to play competitively until he's finished school, but the dude is an absolute beast - strong contender for best top laner in EU once he returns to the game. Since I like to think of SHC as the talent team, he seems like a natural fit.
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I haven't seen much of amin's play, so I'm defaulting to k0u - he really impressed me when I saw him in the challenger series, and with his 17th birthday coinciding nicely with SHC's loss of a jungler, he seems like a natural pick up.
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Cain is one of the oldest professional league players out there at 27, and he brings a wealth of experience, having competed in every OGN since Summer 2012 and reached the semifinals of S3 Worlds. To me, he'd be the perfect fit for a team as stacked with talent as the SHC I've created - as an older player used to Korean training regimens, he could provide the leadership and discipline needed to turn potential into realized greatness.