With the League of Legends season 13 coming to an end, the LCS has also entered the off-season. Despite a great result on the international stage, with NRG entering the top 8 at Worlds, the region struggled with decreasing viewership as well as some economic factors that have negatively impacted the league.
That being said, the competitive results from the NA region proved there is a lot of potential and it has a chance to keep that growth going into 2024. Let’s take a look at the latest rumors and how teams are shaping up in the LCS.
Photo Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
LCS Roster Shuffles & Free Agency – Imports are leaving the league
The most notable change in terms of participants is the departure of the historic organization TSM with Shopify Rebellion joining in their stead. They will be the new team to compete in the LCS with some anticipation on whether they can do well like NRG, who won the LCS championship in their debut split.
On the players’ side, there will be a lot of changes, especially in the mid-bottom tiers. It will be exciting to see whether the NA orgs will consider importing players from other regions or if they will go for domestic talents like NRG did this season. The free agency period starts on Nov. 21, which means that no move can be official before that date. With that in mind, let’s look at potential roster moves for the teams this off-season based on the rumors leaked.
NRG
Given that NRG just finished their Worlds journey, it’s still unclear whether they will stick with the same roster. For now, only two players have contracts expiring this offseason so Dhokla and FBI should be on teams’ watch lists.
NRG
Top: Dhokla – contract expiring November 2023
Jng: Contractz – contract expiring November 2024
Mid: Palafox – contract expiring November 2024
ADC: FBI – contract expiring November 2023
Supp: IgNar – contract expiring November 2025
Golden Guardians & Cloud9
Golden Guardians had a relatively strong season, going to MSI and almost making it to Worlds 2023. All players have contracts expiring next year and there are no rumors regarding them.
Cloud9 instead will be making two changes in their roster, with Jojopyun and Vulcan joining the C9 squad. Fudge is also rumored to stay. Zven and EMENES are the two to have left the organization.
Golden Guardians
Top: Licorice – contract expiring November 2024
Jng: River – contract expiring November 2024
Mid: Gori – contract expiring November 2024
ADC: Stixxay – contract expiring November 2024
Supp: huhi – contract expiring November 2024
Cloud 9
Top: Fudge – staying (source: Sheep Esports)
Jng: Blaber – contract expiring November 2026
Mid: jojopyun (source: Sheep Esports)
ADC: Berserker – contract expiring November 2024
Supp: Vulcan (source: Sheep Esports)
TL & FlyQuest & EG
Team Liquid has three players with contracts expiring this month, which means some changes might be coming for the organization. Former FLY player Impact is set to rejoin TL. No rumors regarding the other four players.
FlyQuest looks like it will go for a complete rebuild. Aside from Impact, FlyQuest already departed with the Korean duo of VicLa and Prince, as well as Vulcan, who is set to join Cloud9.
According to Sheep Esports, the ADC role will be covered by FLY’s academy ADC Fahad “Massu” Abdulmalek, with former TL top laner Bwipo coming to the roster. The jungle role will be occupied by former EG jungler Inspired, and Busio is set to join from 100T.
Speaking of EG, the team has multiple players with contracts expiring this year. Apart from jojopyun and Armao, who are set to join Immortals, there are no rumors regarding the other 3 players.
TL
Top: Impact (source: Sheep Esports)
Jng: Pyosik – contract expiring November 2023
Mid: APA – contract expiring November 2024
ADC: Yeon – contract expiring November 2024
Supp: CoreJJ – contract expiring November 2023
FlyQuest
Top: Bwipo (source: Sheep Esports)
Jng: Inspired (source: Sheep Esports)
Mid: ???? (VicLa left)
ADC: Massu (source: Sheep Esports)
Supp: Busio (source: Sheep Esports)
EG
Top: Revenge – contract expiring November 2023
Jng: Armao – contract expiring November 2023
Mid: jojopyun – contract expiring November 2024
ADC: UNF0RGIVEN – contract expiring November 2023
Supp: Eyla – contract expiring November 2023
100 Thieves
It’s unclear what will happen to the 100T. It was quite a disappointing season for them, especially considering some of the names involved.
Busio is set to join FLY but it’s unclear what will happen to the other four players. Mid laner Quid is the only one with a contract until next year, which means these Ssumday, Closer, and Doublelift might become free agents soon.
100 Thieves
Top: Ssumday – contract expiring November 2023
Jng: Closer – contract expiring November 2023
Mid: Quid – contract expiring November 2024
ADC: Doublelift – contract expiring November 2023
Supp: Busio – contract expiring November 2023
Dignitas, Immortals & Shopify Rebellion
Dignitas is also going for a rebuild: three of the five players have already left the organization and mid-laner Jensen is set to leave as well, according to Sheep Esports.
Top laner Rich is the only one with a contract running until 2025. Head coach Enatron has also been let go.
Immortals also are going for a major lineup change. Tactical and Treatz are the only players still on the GCD but their contracts are also expiring. Armao is rumored to join but there is no clear indication on who will end up on the lineup.
To round off, we have Shopify Rebellion, who retained the entire TSM squad after purchasing their slot. Three out of the five players, though, have their contracts expiring soon, so we might see more changes come in. We will probably have to wait for the transfer window to open to discover more about the new LCS team.
Dignitas
Top: Rich – contract expiring November 2025
Jng: ????
Mid: Jensen – contract expiring November 2024 but rumored to leave (source: Sheep Esports)
ADC: ????
Supp: ????
Immortals
Top: ???? (Solo departed)
Jng: Armao (source: Sheep Esports)
Mid: ???? (Bolulu departed)
ADC: Tactical – – contract expiring November 2023
Supp: Treatz – contract expiring November 2023
Shopify Rebellion
Top: Hauntzer – contract expiring November 2023
Jng: Bugi – contract expiring November 2024
Mid: Insanity – contract expiring November 2024
ADC: WildTurtle – contract expiring November 2023
Supp: Chime – contract expiring November 2023
We will update our article several times as more information comes to light about active LCS roster moves.
Read next: LEC 2023 Free Agency & Roster Moves
Team Liquid
Team Liquid have had one of the worst results in their recent history, especially considering the investment made in 2022. The super team experiment failed and as a result, TL will no longer spend big. There are rumors that some academy players will be promoted, but none have been confirmed. The only returning member from the 2022 roster will be CoreJJ. Bwipo was allowed to explore his options while Hans Sama has already left the organization in September. Bjergsen also parted ways with TL on Nov. 11. Currently, they are the most cryptic of the lot in terms of figuring out what the 2023 roster will look like.
Team Liquid
Top: ????
Jng: ????
Mid: ???
ADC: ????
Supp: CoreJJ (source: LEC Wooloo)
Evil Geniuses & Cloud9
EG have quite a lot of players that have contracts running until the future years. Impact, Inspired, jojopyun and Vulcan are all under contract until 2024, according to the GCD.
The only certainty is that we won’t see Danny playing for EG in 2023 and with Kaori reaching a verbal agreement to play in Europe, EG will have to look for a new ADC. Some have speculated that Impact might also be swapped out, but there are no rumors regarding EG’s top laner yet.
The only major rumor from the team that circulated was the new mid laner that would come in Jensen’s place. According to Alejandro Gomis, it will be Diplex, the German mid laner who played in Vitality.Bee in 2022. With him, former Gen.G Academy mid laner Jang “EMENES” Min-soo will play for the academy team, with the probably of swapping the two during the season.
League of Legends Academy and LCS rosters locked in for 2023. Ready to burn this thing down and collect L’s.
— Jack Etienne (@JackEtienne) November 16, 2022
Meanwhile, Cloud9’s boss Jack Etienne have announced that both the Academy and the LCS rosters have been locked in for 2023.
Evil Geniuses
Top: Impact (at risk)
Jng: Inspired
Mid: jojopyun
ADC: ????
Supp: Vulcan
Cloud 9
Top: Fudge
Jng: Blaber
Mid: Diplex/ENEMES (source: Alejandro Gomis)
ADC: Berserker
Supp: Zven
TSM
TSM have officially lost Spica in the jungle and have also released the whole academy team. The team is looking to rebuild its roster but according to Travis Gafford, the team will retain Solo, Maple and Chime from the 2022 roster.
Therefore, the organization will likely have to look for a jungle and an ADC, but there are no confirmation on who might become a starting player for TSM.
TSM
Top: Solo (source: Travis Gafford)
Jng: ????
Mid: Maple (source: Travis Gafford)
ADC: ????
Supp: Chime (source: Travis Gafford)
100 Thieves
The thieves are looking to go for the “super team”, similarly to what TL did last year. Closer and Abbeddagge are set to become free agents according to LEC Wooloo, while Travis Gafford mentioned that 100T was planning on bringing in Spica, Bjergsen and Doublelift who would return to the professional scene.
Having said that, former MAD Lions ADC Unf0rgiven is also rumored to join the organization together with support player Busio who is set to be promoted from the academy. Ssumday is set to remain on the team but academy top laner Tenacity might dethrone him in 2023. Another important thing worth mentioning is head coach Reapered leaving the organization.
100 Thieves
Top: Ssumday/Tenacity (source: Travis Gafford)
Jng: Spica (source: Travis Gafford)
Mid: Bjergsen (source: Travis Gafford)
ADC: Unf0rgiven (source: LEC Wooloo) or Doublelift (source: Travis Gafford)
Supp: Busio (source: Alejandro Gomis)
Dignitas, Immortals, CLG & FlyQuest still waiting to make moves
As for the other teams, there aren’t many rumors. European mid laners Blue from Dignitas and toucouille from Flyquest have both left their own organizations. The first is a free agent while the French mid laner is set to return to Europe and play for Team GO in the LFL. Most players have contracts running until 2023 or 2024 so many might remain on their team. All CLG players have contracts at least until 2023, so the team might remain the same.
Dignitas
Top: Hoon
Jng: eXyu
Mid: ????
ADC: Spawn
Supp: Biofrost
Immortals
Top: Revenge
Jng: Kenvi
Mid: PowerofEvil
ADC: Lost
Supp: IgNar
CLG
Top: Dhokla
Jng: Contractz
Mid: Palafox
ADC: Luger
Supp: Poome
Flyquest
Top: Philip
Jng: Josedeodo (Free Agent)
Mid: ???? (toucouille leaves)
ADC: ???? (Johnsun left)
Supp: aphromoo
We will update our article several times as more information comes to light about active LCS roster moves.
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