Every offseason, LCS players and coaches play musical chairs, hoping they have a seat on an organization when the music stops. Through this shuffling, every once in a while two players reunite after time apart on different teams. In 2022, 11 players and coaches that have played together in the past will rejoin each other.
Most old-head LCS players will notice this reunion first. Santorin and Bjergsen were on TSM (back when they were still called Team Solo Mid) together in 2015. Santorin replaced Amazing, following TSM’s 5-8th place finish at Worlds 2013. Alongside Dyrus, Wildturtle and Lustboy, Bjergsen and Santorin won the Spring 2015 Finals, finished fifth at MSI 2015, took second in the Summer 2015 Finals, and finished last in their group at Worlds 2015.
Since then, Bjergsen has remained with TSM, while Santorin has played for seven different organizations. Both have had varying levels of success since 2015, but their newly assembled Team Liquid roster is poised to win big in 2022. Hopefully some of that 2015 Spring Championship synergy can manifest once again.
PowerOfEvil and Wildturtle reunite on Immortals for 2022.
It seems like Wildturtle and PowerOfEvil switch teams every year, but at least they are still here. They actually played together on FlyQuest not too long ago, and found some of their highest highs at the time. That 2020 FlyQuest roster, which also included Solo/V1per, Santorin and IgNar, played back-to-back Finals, coming away with a pair of second places. WildTurtle and PowerOfEvil then went to Worlds 2020 and finished 3-3 for third in their group.
It was PoE’s second Worlds appearance and Wildturtle’s fourth. However, it was also Wildturtle’s first appearance since 2015. They reunite as teammates in 2022, now on Immortals–an organization that has had no real success in the franchise era of LCS. This mid-bot duo will look to elevate IMT, like they did with FLY.
Most might know, but some might not—before Tactical and Spica joined the LCS, they played together on TSM Academy. The Summer 2019 TSMA roster took home third-fourth, and by Summer 2020, both players were starting in LCS. Spica remains on TSM, while Tactical promoted to Team Liquid. Now Tactical rejoins TSM for 2022.
They are about to participate in TSM’s experiment to develop Chinese talents Keaiduo and Shenyi from the LDL (China’s minor league). Huni remains in top lane. While they only played one split together previously, Tactical and Spica have remained friends over the years. This reunion may help TSM find success in 2022.
Johnsun and Aphromoo reunite on Flyquest for 2022.
FlyQuest’s 2022 roster includes three pieces of 2020 Dignitas. Johnsun and Aphromoo reunite in the bot lane, with Invert leading as head coach. That was the year DIG swapped Froggen for Fenix, ran Grig and Akaadian before settling on Dardoch, and swapped V1per and Lourlo for Huni. The roster was a mess, which resulted in seventh-eighth place finishes across the year.
Johnsun and Aphromoo were pretty solid together, despite Johnsun being a rookie and the chaotic roster rotations. Who knows how much say Invert had in the decisions? He was co-coaching with Thinkcard. Aphromoo remained with DIG one more year, while Johnsun transferred to FLY and Invert stepped down to DIG Academy. None of these players have had much success over the past few years, but maybe coming together with Kumo, Josedeodo and Toucouille will make some magic happen.
With Guilhoto joining Team Liquid as head coach for 2022, he links up with a player he coach in Europe in 2019—Kold. They were both on Origen in 2019, where they finished second place in Finals against G2 in spring, before dropping to eighth in summer and missing the World Championship. Since then, Guilhoto remained with Origen until joining Immortals last year with Xerxe. Kold took a break in 2020, before returning to League of Legends esports as assistant coach for Team Liquid last year.
Seeing these two as coaches on the same organization in North America is pretty interesting. Mithy and Alphari, two other members of that 2019 Origen team, were in the LCS last year. Xerxe and Destiny played under Guilhoto in 2020, and joined the LCS last year. Nukeduck, Upset and Patrik just need to come over for North America to have cycled through all of Origen/Astralis.
Images from LoL Esports Flickr
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