League of Legends: Top ten LEC players seeking redemption in 2019 (part 1)

New viewers might want to brush up on some of the storylines coming into this split. In the pre-season anticipation, there are many former greats seeking redemption.

Europe redefined their record of international success at Worlds this year, putting G2 into the semis and seeing Fnatic make an incredible run into the finals. Beyond that, franchising added some other spicy sauce to the EU mix, replacing several well-known EU teams with a couple of legacy teams and a few newcomers. But the upcoming split offers not only the chance for greatness, but redemption as well.

With this turbulent backdrop, we turn to the players. There’s an incredible amount of talent rearing its head in Europe this year, and there are plenty of contenders looking to stamp their name on that famous moniker, “Best in the West”. And for every fresh upstart looking to make his way, there’s an older pro struggling to reestablish his relevance. Here are the top ten players seeking redemption from the hardships of 2018.

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10. Choi “Pirean” Jun-sik (SK Gaming)

It’s no small feat to serve as Faker’s sub on the most historically dominant team in the world. That was Pirean last split, and SKT’s failure to make Worlds undoubtedly left a bad taste in his mouth.

Now he’s come to the LEC to make a name for himself riding in on a veritable wave of Korean talent. He’s got tough competition amongst the insane skill of LEC mids, but that’s the perfect time to rise to the challenge.

9. Patrik “Patrik” Jiru (Origen)

There’s something frankly insulting in the H2k arc of last year. Since Pr0lly took over the team in 2014, H2k had been a contender among the best teams in EU. Though never #1, the team had incredible ceilings, even making Semis at Worlds in 2015.

The summer split of 2018 saw the team go 2-16 – possibly the most horrendous performance of any European team – before getting dropped during the franchising process. Patrik – formerly Sherriff – has the skills to be a regional menace, and he’s looking for vindication after the H2k fiasco of last split.

8. Raymond “KaSing” Sang (exceL)

KaSing first came to prominence for turning around H2k’s fortunes in 2015 as a strong mechanical support and impeccable shotcaller. However, since those days KaSing has played on a host of different teams, including a short stint on TSM, and a reasonably successful run with Vitality that nonetheless saw the team missing Worlds in 2016.

However, his 2017 was quiet, and his performance in 2018 on Splyce saw that squad missing Worlds as well. As a legacy player with a strong resume, these performances must be disappointing, and KaSing is surely looking for redemption on his new Excel roster.