Photo by liquidlegends
After a mediocre debut in North American LCS, team NRG eSports look to reshape their roster using veteran LCS talent.
Toward the end of the LCS spring split tournament, rumors were surfacing around NRG and potential changes being made to their roster. News came to light that top laner Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong was working out a deal with Cloud 9 to join them and create two possible teams. Following this, the grapevine brought us rumblings that carry player Johnny “Altec” Ru might also be interested in joining C9’s brand new challenger squad, making things look rather grim for NRG.
Today, ESPN reports that NRG's fortunes may have taken a turn for the better. NRG’s new roster lists Diego “Quas” Ruiz, Lucas “Santorin” Larsen, and Alan “KiWiKiD” Nguyen as having joined, with the team’s only returning member being Lee “GBM” Chang-suk, and no listing for a new ADC. The news does not elaborate on the plans of former jungler Galen “Moon” Holgate. As for the team’s former support, Kevin “KonKwon” Kwon, he has received an offer to join Apex Gaming’s newly formed challenger team.
Quas’ return comes as the most shocking, having announced that he planned to retire from Team Liquid and League of Legends at the end of last year. Santorin makes his LCS return after spending his Spring Split playing for EU Challenger team Team Huma and former NA Challenger squad Team Ember, both of which failed to advance out of the Challenger Series. Lastly is KiWiKiD, who is only now making his first team change in over three years after his long time home Team Dignitas suffered relegation, having been a mainstay since the LCS began.
With the sheer raw talent these players possess, the biggest question mark will be if they all will be able to communicate efficiently to execute their plays. One of NRG’s fatal weaknesses in spring was their obvious lack of communication, which was always going to be the challenge given their half Korean and half American roster. Should they mesh well together, this team should be a strong presence in this upcoming summer split.
