NRG Imaqtpie?

Could the Twitch Streamer and Former Dignitas ADC be Making a Comeback to Competitive Play?

Following the recent big news about NRG Esports roster changes, rumors have surfaced about another addition to the team. Michael “Imaqtpie” Santana is currently streaming on Twitch (link warning: profanity and dank memes) under a stream title of “NRG Imaqtpie.” Santana, known to fans as just Qtpie (among other, lewder names), is a notorious troll, and his newly adorned title should hardly be taken as any indication of fact. However, Qtpie’s unreliable reputation hasn’t stopped his fans from indulging in fervent speculation.

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Followers of League of Legends were suggesting, in various degrees of earnesty, that NRG might make an offer to Imaqtpie after news broke yesterday that the team planned to add Alan “KiWiKid” Nguyen. Qtpie and KiWiKid played together on Team Dignitas from 2012 to 2014. The two are good friends, sharing screen time frequently on each other’s streams, and showed good synergy in their play together as AD Carry and Support in the NA LCS. Qtpie preempted official news of NRG’s offer to KiWiKid with a tweet suggesting that Nguyen would be an improvement to the team’s roster:

So far there has been no official word one way or another about Qtpie’s status in regards to the NRG roster. That in itself is a good indication that Qtpie is just winding up the rumor mill, as a real announcement of his return to competitive play would be huge news. As of this writing, Qtpie’s streaming channel is the 10th largest on twitch by follower count, and the 5th largest belonging to an individual game streamer. Given even very rough estimates of Qtpie’s income from Twitch views, subscriptions, and donations, it’s likely that a return to the NA LCS would be motivated by his passion for competitive play rather than any financial incentive.

This is, of course, foregoing the question of whether NRG would even have any interest in adding Imaqtpie to their roster. The team is looking to add an AD Carry, after losing last split’s starter Altec to Cloud9. We’ve guessed before on Blog of Legends that NRG may go after an “import”, non-North American player to fill their remaining roster hole, with players like Pierre “Steelback” Medjaldi and Oh “Ohq” Gyu-min rumored to be interested in joining an NA LCS team. (NRG has one remaining import slot available in their starting roster; midlaner Lee “GBM” Chang-suk occupies one. Newly added jungler Lucas “Santorin” Tao Kilmer Larsen is from Denmark originally, but has NA residency for LCS purposes after several prolonged stints with teams in the region.) Qtpie is likely not as good a player as either Steelback or Ohq, but he was a strong aggressive carry in his days with Dignitas, and would bring undeniable celebrity recognition to a team that has courted big name investors like Shaquille O’Neal and MLB All-Star Jimmy Rollins.

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We’re pretty sure this is all a big joke, but it would be interesting to see how Imaqtpie would perform if he really did return to the LCS. He is without a doubt a talented player, and gave some absolutely top tier LCS pre-game interviews in his day. If NRG truly wants The Pie on their squad, they might have to compete with some other top dogs for his favor: