Are Six Man Rosters Ideal for Professional LoL?

Six man rosters have slowly been rising in popularity among professional League of Legends teams in recent years. Long time pros of the scene have expressed concerns of burn out, and having a viable sub for the team is slowly becoming more enticing for teams. One of the most successful teams in the world, SK Telecom T1, have used this strategy in utilizing different strengths of certain players. There are definitely some strengths in having an extra player to split scrims with and bounce ideas off of. There can also be flaws in splitting scrim time as well.

With ADC, Jason “Wildturtle” Tran, heading to Flyquest, TSM is still looking to field a six man roster for the summer. Fans are a bit confused as TSM has one of the best ADCs in the World in Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng.

Player burn out

Photo by: Riot Games

It’s no doubt that player burn out is a concern for some of the long time veterans of the scene. TSM’s Doublelift took the Spring Split off to take a rest from the fatigue that sets in from being a pro player. Practicing 12+ hours a day, plus the stress of competing at a high level can be a grueling process for some players.

Pro players have begun to develop wrist injuries to the point of playing more than a few hours a day can be painful. Having someone there to split practice time with could be beneficial for both parties in preserving the longevity of one’s career.

Different Playstyles

Another perk of having an extra roster member is the ability to show off different play styles. Most notably, Cloud 9 did this last split with top laners Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong and Jeon “Ray” Ji-won. Impact was known more for his stellar tank play, while Ray handled playing the split push/carry top laners. Ray described it as a “sword and shield” relationship among the two. Cloud 9 hopes that Ray will be able to learn more from Impact and develop into his replacement one day. This also gives the players a chance to bounce ideas off one another. Having another person who masters the same role as you gives way to more ideas for improvement and discussions.

SK Telecom T1 also did this quite well back in Season 5 when they’d go on to take their second World championship. They utilized two mid laners in Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon. Easyhoon became famous for his Azir play, while Faker dominated on Ryze. SKT continues to use multiple players at different positions among the roster. They’ve been one of the most successful teams in utilizing subs.

Is splitting scrim time bad?

Photo by: Riot Games

It raises the question if splitting scrim time is bad for players. On one end, the team has to adjust to a different player for half the scrims. Some say Impact fell off a bit last season from his phenomenal playoff and Worlds performance of last summer. This could be a result of him needing to split scrim time with Ray and not getting the necessary amount of practice needed to play at that high level we’re used to seeing. Less practice means your competitor could be getting double the practice than the person they’re facing.

EU has yet to really look into fielding a six man roster. In NA it’s slowly becoming an upward trend for teams with star veterans of the pro scene. LCK has begun to utilize it more as well after seeing how much success SKT has had with it. Developing young players under star veterans gives them a chance to reach their ceiling much quicker than if they were thrown into pro play right away. This may explain why LCK is known for developing the best players into League of Legend stars.

Six man rosters are slowly becoming the norm for professional League of Legends. This could slowly develop into ten man rosters so that each position has a sort of “position coach” to bounce ideas off of and learn from. It will be interesting to see if teams begin to follow this upward trend.

Cover Photo by Riot Games

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