January 16th is the start of the spring NA LCS split! I’m pretty excited about this, and it looks to be an interesting split to say the least. There were numerous roster changes during the offseason which is to be expected. The teams that made it, or stayed in, to the NA LCS are Cloud 9, Counter Logic Gaming, Team Dignitas, Echo Fox, Immortals, NRG ESports, Renegades, Team Impulse, Team Liquid, and Team Solo Mid. There are two extremely interesting teams in this line up. Echo Fox is owned by the NBA champion Rick Fox, and Renegades has the first female player to be on the big stage, Remi.
Cloud 9 picked up Rush, the reigning NA LCS MVP. They also retained Hai who was Cloud 9’s midlaner until a wrist injury. After a brief hiatus, Hai returned to Cloud 9 as their jungler. He’s now going to be Cloud 9’s support along with Bunnyfufu, who is another new player to their roster. CLG (Counter Logic Gaming) took on Stixxay as a new addition to their team in the ADC role. Their team remains relatively unchanged as Huhi was a regular player with them while Darshan is the player formerly known as Zionspartan.
Immortals, NRG Esports, and Renegades are new to the LCS with Immortals and NRG Esports gaining entry upon purchasing two older teams spots in the LCS. Renegades won their way into the NA LCS through the lower ladder Championship series when they knocked Team Dragon Knights out late last year.
Echo Fox used to be Winterfox and picked up an entire new roster of players who are led by Froggen, a midlaner who used to play in the EU LCS. Team Impulse returns but with 4 new players on their team being led by Gate, the midlaner. Dignitas also comes back with Kiwikid and Shiphtur along with a new hire, SmittyJ, a veteran of the Championship series.
Team Liquid and TeamSoloMid (TSM) are the last two teams in the NA LCS. Team liquid has Iwilldomiate returning with Fenix and Piglet. They acquired Smoothie from TDK to be their new support. They are also boasting a larger roster, and I would venture a guess they’ll be making many changes between individual games to keep their opposition on guard. TSM maintained Bjergsen as their midlaner and picked up the European’s Svenskeren for jungler and Yellowstar for support. They also gained Doublelift as their ADC who used to play for CLG.
This should shape up to be a very hard fought spring split. With the vast amount of roster changes, there will certainly be a few weeks of getting into the groove of being with new team mates. The acquisition of so many players from overseas will also breathe some new ideas and strategies into the North American scene. Keep tuned to the NA LCS on lolesports.com and catch the start of the season on the 16th of January.
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