Smite season five has brought with it many changes, many of the pro rosters included. The largest roster change in the SPL has to be that of Luminosity Gaming. With the majority of the team moving to Spacestation Gaming, many were left wondering who would make up LG this season. How well would the team fare with a completely new roster? After week one, it looks like the team may be equipped to perform better than anticipated.
The Team
The most immediate name that many will recognize on LG’s new roster should be Weak3n. Weak3n is no stranger to the pro circuit and more than capable of filling the jungle role on the new roster. In the solo lane is another SPL regular, KikiSoCheeky. Replacing JeffHindla in the support role is less well known NotGeno. While the name may not be as recognizable, NotGeno actually played for team Cryptik last season in the SPL. Another name from Cryptik as well as Spacestation in the previous season is Clout in the carry role. If the name if unfamiliar, he previously played under the name Vetium. Likely the most interesting pick up for the roster is the mid-lane, Keegsmate. Keegsmate won the Smite console championship earlier this year playing for Myth Gaming in the ADC role. Despite the platform change, Keegsmate has played many years in the PC realm, so this is not uncharted territory for him. Rounding out the team as the coach and substitute is Oceans, who picked up carry for the team in their debut match against eUnited week one. Interestingly, Oceans and Weak3n played together in 2017 under Allegiance, where the team went all the way to Worlds.
Game One Vs. eUnited
LG Picks:
Solo: Tera (Game One 2/2/8, Game Two 1/0/6) – KikiSoCheeky
Jungle: Ravana (Game One 5/4/8), Arachne (Game Two 6/0/3) – Weak3n
Mid: Poseidon (Game One 2/3/7), Hou Yi (Game Two 1/1/6) – Keegsmate
Support: Athena (Game One 2/4/10), Artio (Game Two 0/0/10) – NotGeno
Carry: Sol (Game One 7/3/7, Game Two 3/1/6) – Oceans
LG Bans: Game One – Ullr, Thoth, Ratatoskr, Susano / Game Two – Thoth, Ullr, Da Ji, Susano
EUN Picks:
Solo: Artio (Game One 1/2/11), Cerberus (Game Two 0/2/1) – Benji
Jungle: Camazotz (Game One 9/3/5), Bakasura (Game Two 0/2/2) – Screammmmm
Mid: Agni (Game One 5/5/9), The Morrigan (Game Two 1/3/0) – Venenu
Support: Cerberus (Game One 0/3/2), Athena (Game Two 0/2/1) – PolarBearMike
Carry: Hou Yi (Game One 1/5/8), Anhur (Game Two 1/2/0) – PandaCat
EUN Bans: Game One – He Bo, Nemesis, Medusa, Odin / Game Two – He Bo, Nemesis, Serqet, Ravana
LG played their debut match in what might have been considered to be a trial by fire. Pitted immediately against the world champions, many were skeptical how the team would perform. It was important for the new LG to prove themselves coming into season five with a completely fresh roster. After this match up though, it’s hard to argue that Luminosity doesn’t plan on showing up for the season. Game one of the series was extremely close and eUnited showed strong presence, dominating many of the objectives and team fights throughout. In the end, the damage output from Luminosity (specifically Oceans’ Sol) proved to be too much for eUnited to keep up with. Once the momentum was there, LG kept up the pressure in game two with another impressive showing from Oceans’ Sol in the dual lane and well coordinated ganks from Weak3n in the jungle. Game one had been close all the way to the end, but once the Luminosity train left the station in game two eUnited was nowhere to be seen.
Thoughts
It will be interesting to see how Luminosity carries this momentum moving forward. For one, week one was arguably not a true showing of what the team may be capable of. This might be due to eUnited perhaps not fully committing to game two. EU played a strong match in game one, but once dual lane fell in game two, it seemed like they weren’t exactly present. More telling may be whether or not LG’s primary carry being absent will have any impact in future games. Of course it is hard to deny that Luminosity had a strong showing, but Oceans is still only the sub for the team and we have not seen how Clout will mesh with the rest of the roster.
Predictions
All new, all different seems to be a recurring trend for season five. Pulling out such a decisive opening set against eUnited will certainly help with LG’s notoriety going into the spring split. Not only that, but Weak3n certainly has an opportunity to help keep the team relevant with the prominence of jungle in the current meta. Additionally, it will be interesting to watch Kiki in the solo lane and a safe bet that we will see a number of mage/guardian picks in the lane throughout the season as such. While perhaps too early to definitively say LG will go the distance, it’s safe to say their journey will be an interesting one to keep an eye on.
The new Luminosity will face off against the old in game two of their season. They will be playing Spacestation Gaming Thursday, March 29 at 6:45 PM ET. The broadcast will be streamed exclusively through SmiteGame on Mixer.
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