It’s reasonable to say this League of Legends off-season shuffle has been pretty insane so far. In one of the most active periods of free-agency in recent memory, dozens of teams have looked to revamp their rosters ahead of the new season.
Last week, in particular, saw a seemingly endless stream of signings and trades, starting with ESPN writer Jacob Wolf and co’s ground-breaking Free Agency Live Show, and trailing off as the week closed.
By the time the smoke had cleared, the very landscape of pro League of Legends had been transformed, and what we’re left with is a mass of headlines to trawl through for info. One issue has been the sheer volume of deals made. With over thirty signings announced in just five days, it’s been hard to keep track of things. Made all the more difficult by the controversy and conflict between the moderators of Reddit’s r/leagueoflegends and the aforementioned ESPN reporting. The subreddit’s policy of not allowing individual threads for “un-confirmed” deals sparked a debate on editorial standards far beyond the scope of both Reddit and ESPN’s esports sections.
So with all the confusion, here’s a breakdown of the three biggest moves in the past week – the ones that really matter and that will have the biggest impact going forward.
Sneaky and Zeyzal depart C9, Zven and Vuclan in
One of the key components of Cloud 9, and the last of the team’s “old guard”, Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi is no longer with the team.
The move came as C9 started it’s bid to create a brand new bot lane ahead of the new season. Having signed Matthew “Deftly” Chen and Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen, the team has seemingly moved on from the popular core of Sneaky and Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam.
Although Sneaky still remains signed by Cloud 9 at the time of writing, reports have all but confirmed his departure. His new home, however, is far from certain. Sneaky is very much one of the last of the “classic” NA LCS players, having played in the league since its formation in 2013. Many teams are eager to find top-level talent, but may feel Sneaky’s time at the top has passed. Especially when so much talk in the region has recently focused on developing new talent for the future.
Scuderi’s C9 lane partner, Zeyzal’s future is far more concrete, as he was announced as the new support for Evil Geniuses, and will presumably start for the team next season.
New off-season shuffle, old 100 Thieves
What’s old is new, and what’s new is old again, as two major players from the 2018 100 Thieves roster are set to make their return to the organisation. As a trade last week, William “Meteos” Hartman, has returned to the team after being traded to FlyQuest, and later OpTic Gaming last year. After OpTic Gaming was acquired by Immortals Gaming Club in June of this year, Meteos was temporarily active under the Immortals banner, before being traded this week past.
Meteos is set to be joined by former 100T teammate, and Worlds 2019 standout Cody Sun. 100T are reportedly in the process of buying out the NA ADC star, who garnered significant media coverage during this year’s World Championships. With two veterans return to the fold, 100T will be trying to finally achieve more consistent success in the LCS.
Forgiven makes his triumphant return to League of Legends
While the LCS got the vast majority of coverage over the past week from free agency, they weren’t the only league making big changes. The LCK, LPL, and LEC have been abuzz with action. But nothing more significant than the return of Konstantinos-Napoleon “Forg1ven” Tzortziou. The former H2k Gaming AD Carry signed with FC Schalke 04 on November 19, after a two year absence from professional play.
The star carry player had fulfilled the terms his National Service in his home country of Greece earlier this year and had been vocal on social media about his desire to return. Schalke seems like a perfect fit for Forgiven, especially since his former H2k Gaming teammate Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu just recently resigned. It will be incredibly exciting to see whether the Greek ADC has missed a beat, or if he’s still the superstar we remember.
The League of Legends off-season has only just begun. Keep track of all the upcoming off-season shuffling, and all the latest League of Legends news and analysis on Dartfrog’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch.
