2021 Offseason LCS Roster Changes – Winners and Losers

The 2021 Offseason LCS Roster Changes have closed out and North American League of Legends fans are super excited about all the shuffling that has happened over the past month. While a lot of Star Players have begun moving on from the game, new names are starting to fill up the gaps in an attempt to fill out the void in the North American League of Legends. Looking at the upcoming season, it looks like the future of the esports scene in the region is becoming a lot brighter with all the news that we’ve received.

Doublelift, Licorice, Imaqtpie, and Sneaky huddling
Who won the 2021 Offseason?

2021 LCS Offseason

This offseason might be the most surprising offseason in the history of LCS not only because of the big additions to the region but also because of the icon players that they’ve lost in 2020 itself. As early as October, rumors and news of big names coming to North America following the LCS Roster Changes became a hot topic in the community. Players began speculating who would join. With the atmosphere settling down after a bloody battle between organizations, the rosters are finally complete.

As the teams prepare for the upcoming season, we’ll be looking at which organizations are the biggest winners and losers when it comes to their LCS roster changes. As European and Oceanic talent begin flooding the North American scene, we will be looking at how each of these team’s incorporate their newfound players into the team. Even if a player looks really good, poor organizational skills might lead into the wasting of talent of said players.

LCS Roster Changes 2021 – Winners

Let’s kick things off immediately by looking at which teams can we consider are the winners of the LCS Roster Changes. The North American League of Legends scene has scene a large surge of imported talent this offseason, especially with the Oceania Merge that happened. This gives the teams more freedom to get more players from other regions without taking up import slots. Here are the biggest winners of the 2021 Roster Changes:

1. Team Liquid

Team Liquid has stood amongst the top teams in the LCS for the past few years. Even with the departure of Doublelift, the team managed to fill the void in the bottom lane with their rising talent – Tactical – mentored by former world champion, CoreJJ. They’ve shown an impressive performance in the 2020 World Championship Group Stages but with their new additions, they look like they’re planning to remain as the top contender in the League.

Major Additions:

Alphari

Following the announcement that Origen will rebrand as Astralis, 4 out of 5 of the members went to seek other opportunities in other regions. The team’s superstar Top Laner in Alphari decided to go to NA to join Team Liquid. Alphari has been one of the more consistent members of Origen and has always shown an amazing performance in Europe. His addition to Team Liquid will bring a refreshing playstyle that is not as weakside focused as Impact’s is.

Origen's Alphari fixing his setup on stage
Team Liquid’s looking to change it up in the top lane

Impact’s role in Team Liquid was also a big one but with the meta shifting into somewhat a more solo lane focused playstyle, perhaps the team wanted a change of pace to give them a bit more flexibility in their drafts. Alphari is sure to fill in some big shoes as TL’s new Top Laner but the organization is confident that he’s the right man for the job. We’ll be seeing a brand-new side of Team Liquid with this new roster.

Santorin

Santorin had an amazing performance in both the 2020 LCS Summer Split and even in the World Championship Group Stage. Alongside PowerOfEvil, they carried the banner of FlyQuest to bring home a bit of consolation glory for NA by defeating one of the top contenders in TOP Esports. He’ll be replacing Broxah in the jungle after a completely average split. They are expecting a more proactive gameplay out of the new Mid-Jungle duo.

2. Cloud9

Cloud9 had an incredibly outstanding Spring and Summer Split in 2020 but fell short when it mattered. The team had one of the most impressive runs in LCS history, being able to go 17-1 in Spring before taking home the domestic trophy. Now, they’re going to try out a new strategy but with some of their biggest names moving to different teams, a lot of people wonder if they’re able to repeat the same success they had in the previous year.

Major Additions:

Perkz

Perkz was probably the biggest surprise in the history of LCS Roster Changes especially since he was expected to stay with G2 Esports for a long time. After the announcement that Jensen would sign a $4.2 Million deal with Team Liquid, Cloud9 went on to top that with another record-breaking deal. With Perkz coming back to the mid lane, fans are worried on whether he’s lost his edge as a mid laner or will be coming back in full form.

Perkz and Mikyx waving on stage
Perkz is coming for those pancakes!

Coming to Cloud9 also means that he’ll be reunited with Zven, his former AD Carry in G2 Esports’ early days. The biggest question about this current iteration of Cloud9 comes with their Top Laner – Fudge – who has just come out of the LCS Academy. A lot of other rookies also surprised us in 2020 by playing beyond the levels of someone from academy so we shouldn’t count them out just yet. North America will be watching whether Perkz will be playing to win it all or simply cash in the easy money he made.

3. FlyQuest

FlyQuest had an exceptional showing in the 2020 Summer Split and 2020 World Championships. They had an above average split in Spring but proved that they were worthy of competing in the highest stage after getting an upset victory over TOP Esports. However, FlyQuest in 2021 will be featuring a brand-new roster with all 5 positions being filled up by new names that the fans are truly excited about coming into the new year.

Major Additions:

Licorice

Cloud9’s former Top Laner will be joining FlyQuest as the core member of the new roster. Licorice has always been one of the best Top Laners in North America and is consistently showing a good performance in his role. While a lot of people though he’d be staying with Cloud9 after the announcement that Perkz will be joining the team, his decision to join another team will be met with a lot of expectation and excitement.

C9 Licorice standing and smiling after the game
Can he lead his team to victory?

As the most experienced LCS player on the team, he’s expected to lead the new FlyQuest to the top of the competition. While he’s joined by 2 academy players, analysts are looking forward to how this team can perform. Licorice is one of the most exciting changes this season since he brings with him a miraculous element that somehow allows the team’s he’s joined with reach the top even when they’re expected to lose.

Josedeodo

Rainbow7 and Latin America’s star Jungler has finally come to North America to compete with this newly formed roster. Josedeodo was one of the most exciting players to watch during the Play In stages of the World Qualifiers. With his arrival to the region, it looks like NA will be receiving a new set of fans from their neighboring region. Let’s just hope that FlyQuest is able to use Josedeodo’s full capabilities in the LCS and perform the same way he did at Worlds.

LCS Roster Changes 2021 – Losers

Now that we’ve seen who won the 2021 LCS Roster Changes, let’s take a look at which team are on the losing side of the bracket. Team’s that even though have managed to rebuild their team, might have a hard time making it into the top bracket of the LCS. While we may think that these teams will struggle today, we still never know if they might surprise us and show much more than we expect of them in the future. Here are some of the losers in the 2021 LCS Roster Changes:

1. Golden Guardians

Golden Guardians had an almost miraculous run in the 2020 Summer Split with their team finally showing up on the later half of the season, even beating eventual LCS Champions, Team SoloMid, 3-0 in the First Round of Playoffs. Just as this roster finally found the style it needed after adding in Huhi to the support role, the team decided to transfer almost the entirety of their roster to 100 Thieves for the 2021 season which left them to rebuild.

Biggest Losses:

Closer

Closer was definitely the heart of the Golden Guardians squad, not letting his fellow Turkish players in the LCS (Broken Blade & Nisqy) outshine him in the league. He managed to drag his team from the depths of the league and lead them to the victories they had. He might be working his way as the best Jungler in North America, and with new opportunities in 100T with his old squad, he might just find the organization that can push him to making it come true.

Turkish superstar - Closer playing a game
From a Golden Guardian to a 100 Thief?

FBI & Huhi

Individually, these two were average players or worse. Together, they’re one of the best bottom lane duos in North America. Being able to compete against high-level players and veterans, these two feature an extremely aggressive style that can secure the advantage in the bottom lane no matter who their opponent was. These two rejoining as a duo in 100 Thieves is one of the best moves in their careers as they are able to continue playing together and hone their laning skills with familiar teammates.

2. Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses didn’t perform how everyone expected them to perform in 2020 but with a few players leaving the team, it became even more questionable if they can pull it off in the 2021 season. Even though they retained some of their core members and managed to get other decent players, their success will lie mostly in their ability to coach these players to their full potential and open up new possibilities to show their skills.

Biggest Losses:

Bang

Bang was one of the most exciting additions to the LCS back in 2019. He ultimately decided to come back to the LCK to play with Afreeca Freecs. During his time in the LCS, he didn’t manage to show off his potential and play mediocre games throughout his time in the region. We’ll soon discover if his failure in the region is because of complacency or because of the organizational structure in his previous teams. Regardless, he’s still a huge loss to the LCS as a region.

Bang wearing his old T1 uniform
Going back to Korea

Huni

Huni was far from being LCS’ greatest star but his skills as a player have been proven in the past. A lot of people argue that Huni is not worth the price he’s being made and wonder why a lot of orgs try to contest him. Others argue that his previous teammates simply can’t keep up with Huni’s aggressive carry style. If teams are willing to buy him out, he must be hiding a lot of potentials which we will be looking forward to in his time with Team SoloMid.

Other Great Losses in the LCS

Aside from the LCS Roster Changes, the LCS also suffered some heavy losses in the 2021 preseason. The announcement of a few of the region’s most iconic players has left a void that will be difficult to fill up. It will take a few more months until the impact these players left will be filled up. Whether or not they will be returning to the pro-stage in the following seasons is unclear.

Players Not Playing in 2021

  • Bjergsen
  • Doublelift
  • Xmithie
  • Hauntzer
  • Biofrost
Farewell Doublelift

Thoughts on LCS Roster Changes

This is by far the most eventful preseason in LCS history. The loss of NA’s greatest players all in one year is definitely something that will be difficult. Fortunately, a few big names have joined to make the league more exciting and hopefully add a bit of a competitive element to their game. Just looking at the rosters already make us look forward to the season and hope that the LCS will stop being a 4Fun region and become recognized internationally.

Who is the most exciting addition in LCS 2021 Preseason?

The most exciting additions during the 2021 LCS Roster Changes are Swordart and Perkz who have both broken records when it comes to signing price.

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