League of Legends LCS: breaking down all the offseason roster rumors
By Josh Tyler
Licorice to TSM
This rumor has widely been debunked by Travis and Loco, but there were rumblings earlier in the offseason that TSM could make a blockbuster trade to acquire Cloud9 top laner Eric “Licorice” Ritchie.
Winners: Oh TSM is a winner 100%. In my opinion, Licorice is the best top laner in the LCS and certainly the best native NA top laner in the league.
Losers: Cloud9, who will have no top laners in their organization given that they recently sold Kumo to EG (assuming it goes through). Obviously, this would also suck for TSM’s top laner Broken Blade who would be looking for a new home after his first year in the LCS.
Amazing to TSM
While neither Travis nor Loco have been able to give any concrete weight to this rumor, it has been circulating widely for a while. Could we see Maurice “Amazing” Stückenschneider back on TSM after leaving them at the end of Season 4?
Winners: Amazing is probably a winner, as he’d get to reunite with his old pal Bjergsen, but it’s unclear whether TSM or 100 Thieves would be the better overall team and fit for him.
Losers: Honestly, TSM might be a loser here. While Amazing got a lot of credit for his leadership turning 100 Thieves around in the summer, statistically he was one of the worst junglers in terms of early game pathing, KDA, and vision control, ranking below such junglers as Lira and Akaadian. TSM’s jungle situation is a mess, but I think they should be aiming higher.
Next. How each LCS team can improve this offseason. dark
Kobbe/Upset/Rekkles to TSM
There have been rumors regarding multiple European ADCs, confirmed by Travis on Hotline League, that TSM could be acquiring. Among those, in order of least to most likely, would be Fnatic’s Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, FC Schalke’s Elias “Upset” Lipp, and Splyce’s Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup.
Winners: TSM, regardless of who they get. All three of these ADCs are among the top three-to-five in their position in Europe. Also, just about any of these players would probably benefit from coming to a region with much weaker ADC competition.
Losers: Whatever LEC team happens to lose their starting AD Carry.