With the League of Legends season 12 coming to an end, the LCS has also entered the off-season. After some disappointing results on the international stage, the region will have to find a way to bounce back in 2023.
Let’s take a look at the latest moves and what how teams are shaping up in the North American League.
LCS Roster Shuffles & Free Agency – Imports are leaving the league
The LCS always had a history of picking up talent from the other regions, but this year things might not be the same. While there are still some import players that are set to remain in the league, some of them have left like Hans Sama and some are rumored to leave once the free agency period starts on Nov. 21.
Since the transfer window is not officially open, most moves are only rumors currently. Let’s break down the potential roster moves for the teams this off-season.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid have had one of the worst results in their recent history, especially considering the investment made in 2022. The super team experiment failed and as a result, TL will no longer spend big. There are rumors that some academy players will be promoted, but none have been confirmed. The only returning member from the 2022 roster will be CoreJJ. Bwipo was allowed to explore his options while Hans Sama has already left the organization in September. Bjergsen also parted ways with TL on Nov. 11. Currently, they are the most cryptic of the lot in terms of figuring out what the 2023 roster will look like.
Team Liquid
Top: ????
Jng: ????
Mid: ???
ADC: ????
Supp: CoreJJ (source: LEC Wooloo)
Evil Geniuses & Cloud9
EG have quite a lot of players that have contracts running until the future years. Impact, Inspired, jojopyun and Vulcan are all under contract until 2024, according to the GCD.
The only certainty is that we won’t see Danny playing for EG in 2023 and with Kaori reaching a verbal agreement to play in Europe, EG will have to look for a new ADC. Some have speculated that Impact might also be swapped out, but there are no rumors regarding EG’s top laner yet.
The only major rumor from the team that circulated was the new mid laner that would come in Jensen’s place. According to Alejandro Gomis, it will be Diplex, the German mid laner who played in Vitality.Bee in 2022. With him, former Gen.G Academy mid laner Jang “EMENES” Min-soo will play for the academy team, with the probably of swapping the two during the season.
League of Legends Academy and LCS rosters locked in for 2023. Ready to burn this thing down and collect L’s.
— Jack Etienne (@JackEtienne) November 16, 2022
Meanwhile, Cloud9’s boss Jack Etienne have announced that both the Academy and the LCS rosters have been locked in for 2023.
Evil Geniuses
Top: Impact (at risk)
Jng: Inspired
Mid: jojopyun
ADC: ????
Supp: Vulcan
Cloud 9
Top: Fudge
Jng: Blaber
Mid: Diplex/ENEMES (source: Alejandro Gomis)
ADC: Berserker
Supp: Zven
TeamSoloMid
TSM have officially lost Spica in the jungle and have also released the whole academy team. The team is looking to rebuild its roster but according to Travis Gafford, the team will retain Solo, Maple and Chime from the 2022 roster.
Therefore, the organization will likely have to look for a jungle and an ADC, but there are no confirmation on who might become a starting player for TSM.
TSM
Top: Solo (source: Travis Gafford)
Jng: ????
Mid: Maple (source: Travis Gafford)
ADC: ????
Supp: Chime (source: Travis Gafford)
100 Thieves
The thieves are looking to go for the “super team”, similarly to what TL did last year. Closer and Abbeddagge are set to become free agents according to LEC Wooloo, while Travis Gafford mentioned that 100T was planning on bringing in Spica, Bjergsen and Doublelift who would return to the professional scene.
Having said that, former MAD Lions ADC Unf0rgiven is also rumored to join the organization together with support player Busio who is set to be promoted from the academy. Ssumday is set to remain on the team but academy top laner Tenacity might dethrone him in 2023. Another important thing worth mentioning is head coach Reapered leaving the organization.
100 Thieves
Top: Ssumday/Tenacity (source: Travis Gafford)
Jng: Spica (source: Travis Gafford)
Mid: Bjergsen (source: Travis Gafford)
ADC: Unf0rgiven (source: LEC Wooloo) or Doublelift (source: Travis Gafford)
Supp: Busio (source: Alejandro Gomis)
Dignitas, Immortals, CLG & FlyQuest still waiting to make moves
As for the other teams, there aren’t many rumors. European mid laners Blue from Dignitas and toucouille from Flyquest have both left their own organizations. The first is a free agent while the French mid laner is set to return to Europe and play for Team GO in the LFL. Most players have contracts running until 2023 or 2024 so many might remain on their team. All CLG players have contracts at least until 2023, so the team might remain the same.
Dignitas
Top: Hoon
Jng: eXyu
Mid: ????
ADC: Spawn
Supp: Biofrost
Immortals
Top: Revenge
Jng: Kenvi
Mid: PowerofEvil
ADC: Lost
Supp: IgNar
CLG
Top: Dhokla
Jng: Contractz
Mid: Palafox
ADC: Luger
Supp: Poome
Flyquest
Top: Philip
Jng: Josedeodo (Free Agent)
Mid: ???? (toucouille leaves)
ADC: ???? (Johnsun left)
Supp: aphromoo
We will update our article several times as more information comes to light about active LCS roster moves.
Read next: LEC 2023 Free Agency & Roster Moves
Post Worlds 2021, the LCS has also entered the off-season with one of the most exciting LCS Rosters shuffles of recent history. The region is heavily investing into foreign talent to bolster the scene and hopefully make an impact in 2022. Let’s take a look at the latest moves and what could this mean for the North American League.
LCS Roster Shuffles – EU and KR imports all over the place!
The LCS always had a history of picking up talent from the other regions, one of these being EU. LEC players have always been high-priority targets, but this year things have changed. Not only did the organizations pick up some EU imports, but they were able to get some of the very best and top-tier players.
Out of the entire lot, only 100Thieves opted out to keep their entire roster from 2021, and re-sign them for the upcoming season. Every other organization decided to make severe roster moves this off-season.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid made insane off-season transfers, probably the best ones in the League: they were able to get both Bwipo and Hans Sama. Together with Bjergsen’s return to competitive, TL’s roster looks very scary. Hans Sama and CoreJJ will form one of the best bot lanes in recent history and Bwipo will be very hungry to prove himself at top lane once again. There are still some question marks regarding CoreJJ’s residency status: if that fails by the beginning of the split, TL will have to quickly find a solution. Nevertheless, this roster is definitely championship material and we do not expect less than a 2nd place this upcoming split.
Evil Geniuses & Cloud9
EG’s roster move was probably one of the least expected ones in this off-season. The organization managed to get their hands on Inspired, arguably the best jungler in the LEC last year. Despite re-signing with Rogue during Summer, EG was able to buy his contract for the upcoming year. He will surely be a strong addition to the team, but it will also depend on Canadian rookie jojopyun’s performance and support Vulcan. EG will be betting on them to carry the team to victory.
Speaking of Vulcan, Cloud9 not only lost him but they also lost Perkz, who will be going back to EU. To fill their spots, C9 promoted Academy support Isles and roleswapped their top laner Fudge to the mid lane. It is a very bold move, considering Fudge will have to adapt to a completely new role. The decision, however, was well-thought: Korean top laner Summit will be coming in as C9’s new top laner. Regarded as one of the best in the LCK in his role, he might make a very big difference individually.
The other interesting move is Berseker’s, coming in as the second ADC for the team. Previously playing for T1’s Academy team, the organization must’ve seen a big potential in him. The question will be on how the team and coaching staff will handle the coexistence with Zven, who will surely want to be the starting player.
EG and Cloud9 are making some bold moves in terms of roster setup, but we might see severe lack of synergy across lanes in both rosters.
TeamSoloMid
TSM found themselves in a very weird situation, after recent drama around Reginald, and following Bjergsen’s departure. The part-owner willingly leaving his stake in the company and joining one of the biggest rivals is a huge warning for everyone. Nevertheless, TSM is doing everything they can to make a strong roster for 2022.
PowerofEvil left to join Immortals while SwordArt parted ways after only one year of stay. The organization signed Tactical from TL into the ADC role, as the two spots are yet to be announced. According to multiple sources, including IWD and Youngblood, it seems like TSM will have LPL’s Creme as their new mid laner. As for the support role, different sources have mentioned different names, but the main two candidates are Ignar (according to Travis Gafford) and G2’s former support Mikyx (according to Pablo Suárez).
With that being said, nothing is certain yet, so we’ll have to wait a little longer to know what is TSM’s potential for the upcoming 2022 Spring Split.
Golden Guardians
GGs are doing yet another roster experiment for the upcoming season. The organization decided to extend contracts with Licorice and Ablazeolive, while Olleh returns to the LCS as their starting support. The interesting move comes with the potential signing of Mouz jungler Pridestalkr, and former TSM ADC Lost as the final two players on the roster. Considering how the new roster looks, GGs are once again re-building from almost zero as we get a blend of non-premier league players meeting un-retired former players.
Time will tell if this is the winning formula for the Guardians, considering they do a wacky rebuild of their roster almost every season.
Dignitas, Immortals, CLG & FlyQuest struggle for relevance
At the bottom of the league we have three organizations that are making mediocre moves and trying to scrape by this off-season. Compared to their counterparts, these three teams made some big roster moves but neither of their rosters seem season winning on paper.
CLG decided to go with Luger, Jenkins, Contractz, Palafox and Poome as their starting five coming into next season. Neither of their newly signed players has had an impressive season in the last four splits, leaving plenty of question marks about performance in the upcoming season.
Dignitas is one of the more peculiar teams this off-season, as they are signing both fomre PSG jungler River and SK mid Blue to their roster. Neo and Fakegod retained their spots on the roster, while the support is graced by Biofrost. The new roster seems too lackluster on paper, and we might be in for either a horrible showing come February, or one of the most inspiring winning runs in recent LCS history.
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