A stalwart of the League of Legends scene has found a new home.
Former Complexity support and Fusion analyst Royce “Bubbadub” Newcomb has joined Cloud9 in a coaching role for its Challenger team, Cloud9 Tempest, the organization confirms.
His role with the squad comes as no surprise. He previously worked with Cloud9 General Manager Danan “Kaniggit” Flander, who was Complexity’s manager during Newcomb’s time with the team.
Flander tells the Daily Dot that the recruitment process for staffing the Challenger side of the organization was quite lengthy; however, with the help of Cloud9 main coach, Charlie Lipsie, it was narrowed down to a few candidates.
The team ultimately decided on hiring Newcomb for the head coach position after what Flander calls an “abrupt elimination” from the AlphaDraft Challenger League playoffs, resulting in a third-place finish. Shortly after, Flander says, “we came to an agreement as a roster and offered Bubba the position.”
Flander elaborates his rationale for bringing in Newbomb: “[Newcomb’s] prior (and lengthy) experiences in both the NACS and the NALCS were impossible to ignore. I personally worked alongside him at compLexity and was always impressed by his commitment to attacking the strategy of the game from a more cerebral viewpoint than most players. Given his previous, albeit short, stint of work at Fusion, we’re confident he’ll prove himself to be a top North American coaching talent.”
Newcomb is one of the older players in League of Legends and is a former pro himself. He got his start with Complexity back in 2013 after making an agreement with his wife that he would quit his job to pursue a career as a pro League player. Although the team didn’t meet immediate success, Newcomb and his fellow Complexity teammates qualified for the League Championship Series in April 2014.
Things did not go as anticipated for the team, however. It was relegated from the LCS in September at the hands of Challenger team, Team 8.
Complexity later benched mid laner Neil “pr0lly” Hammad, now the head coach of H2K-Gaming, a decision that carved a large divide between the players. Complexity split the team in two, creating Complexity.White and Complexity.Black for the 2015 Expansion Tournament.
Newcomb, who was close with Hammad, moved to Complexity.Black, joining former Complexity LCS member Robert “RobertxLee” Lee. Results were once again lackluster as the team fell to Final Five in the online rounds of the tournament.
After yet another disappointment, Newcomb briefly postponed his League of Legends career and returned to work, only to sign on to work as an analyst with Team Fusion four months later. Fusion, a Challenger team competing in the 2015 Summer Promotion Tournament, ultimately lost in a close series against Dignitas. But the drive was still ignited in the player.
Newcomb’s new home has been hailed as one that instantly forges one of the summer’s best Challenger teams. On paper, Cloud9 Tempest has the talent needed to traverse the difficult road ahead in the qualifier tournament. The team is best known for mid laner David “Yusui” Bloomquist, as well as jungler Tony “Hard” Barkhovtsev and support Jamie “Sheep” Gallagher. But their side side of the bracket is easily the most difficult, potentially putting them against Counter Logic Gaming Black, Odyssey Gaming, and Maelstrom Gaming. The team faces Frank Fang Gaming in the first round on May 26. With Newcomb now leading the way with his veteran experience, Cloud9 Tempest will have one more potent weapon on hand.
