One of North American League of Legends‘ most rapidly changing teams is at it again, this time bringing in a a hometown veteran and a local star from halfway across the globe.
Final Five has added former Winterfox support Nicholas “GleebGlarbu” Haddad and ex-Dire Wolves substitute jungler Shern “Shernfire” Tai to its roster, sources close to the organization tell the Daily Dot. The two will replace Jamie “Sheep” Gallagher and Matt “Impaler” Taylor respectively, both of whom left the team in April. Final Five has also been trialing new mid and top laners, but hasn’t extended any offers yet.
Marksman Kim “Veritas” Kyoun-gmin, who like Tai is also originally from the Oceania region, will return to the team, while its former mid laner, Austin “Gate” Yu, is moving on to play with Team Coast. It’s not clear what top laner Keenan “Rhux” Santos’s plans are. The team fielded an eligible “three-fifths” roster (three members of its active roster from the previous split), according to Riot Games, allowing it to keep its spot within the Challenger Series.
Tai was dogged by controversy in his home region before moving to North America. In Oceania, he was often regarded as a high-tier solo queue “god,” achieving rank one on the OCE server at one point. But he was followed by allegations of elo boosting and in-game toxic behavior, which culminated when Riot Games Oceania reportedly barred him from playing in a competitive match with his team, Dire Wolves.
Like his Final Five compatriots, he’s already become a partnered streamer on Azubu, albeit under the Team Coast brand. Team Coast, which has a contract with Azubu, has a tight relationship with Final Five, merging and then disbanding after both sides qualified for the Challenger Series (Riot allows organizations to field only one Challenger squad). Both teams still share staff members, however, and the two organizations still work in close unison.
Haddad’s addition comes as no surprise. Final Five were in a bind to find a new support since Gallagher’s departure, and Haddad was essentially the only available capable of the quality Final Five was looking for. On April 27, Haddad’s professional career came to a halt when his team, Winterfox, lost in the promotion tournament versus Team Dragon Knights. Since then, he has trialed with Counter Logic Gaming Black as well as Final Five, but ultimately decided to go with the latter.
The team’s first competitive match won’t be until June 23, so its latest additions will have several weeks to adjust. The team will be facing off against the likes of Team Coast, Winterfox, Cloud9 Tempest, and Misfits, with the latter two qualifying for the split on June 10. The final participant for the series will be determined on June 16 when Counter Logic Gaming Black battles MAGnetic.
Final Five has yet to respond to a request for comment.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr | Remix by Jacob Wolf
