One of the North American League Championship Series‘ latest additions has today announced its League of Legends roster for its debut season. The venture-funding backed Immortals have combined a batch of experienced stars from North America and Korea to create a lineup packed with individual talent.
The roster includes former Fnatic players and World Championship semi-finalists Seung Hoon “Huni” Heo and Yeu Jin “Reignover” Kim in the top lane and jungle position. Joining the two Koreans are three North American talents in the form of Eugene “Pobelter” Park, Jason “WildTurtle” Tran, and Adrian “Adrian” Ma.
Immortals CEO Noah Whinston wasn’t just looking for big names to sign for his new team. “I approached the roster construction process prioritizing players who were flexible, both in playstyle and in personality so that they could adapt easily to the new team environment,” Whinston said. “So far, the communication between the players has been excellent, and they’re working really well together on both a personal and professional level.”
The two Fnatic players come fresh off the most dominating season by any team in European League Championship Series history, going undefeated on their way to the title. Fnatic followed up that record-breaking performance with an impressive display at Worlds, losing in the semifinals to eventual runners-up KOO Tigers.
“I really like my teammates as people and in game, because they are such good players and nice guys,” Huni said. “So it was easy to get used to everything in the Immortals house. I already knew WildTurtle from MSI and thought he was a really funny guy so I am glad to play on a team with him now. I want to play against Impact, because it has been more than a year since I could play against him and I think he was the best Top in NA last year.”
The team is rounded out by a trio of players well known to the North American scene. Pobelter joins the roster after a mixed season with Counter Logic Gaming, where his strong performance in the LCS was followed by a disappointing showing at Worlds. The mid laner will be looking to prove that his performance last season was no fluke. In the bottom lane, WildTurtle and Adrian will combine for the first time in their careers. WildTurtle is the most recent casualty of Team SoloMid’s roster shuffle, while Adrian joins off the back of an impressive debut season with Team Impulse.
“I think that all of my teammates are quite good,” Pobelter said, citing his teammate’s “extensive experience,” in the LCS. “It’s nice to be able to brainstorm with players from 4 different teams,” he said, adding that he was looking forward to see how we stack up against more established teams like TSM or CLG, as well as the many other new teams in the NA LCS this season.”
The team will be run by an experienced core of coaches, including former Team SoloMid analyst Dylan Falco, who also served as a member of the support staff for H2k at the 2015 World Championship (and, like Fnatic coach Luis “Deilor” Seville Petit, has experience as a professional poker coach). Falco’s was charged with helping to design the team’s “strategy, practice regimen, and coaching infrastructure,” according to the team’s press release. Falco will be joined by performance coach Robert Yip and retired professional League player (and Heroes of Newerth world champion) Jun Kang.
The new look roster is packed with individual talent, however team owner Whinston is confident that the new lineup will piece together as a unit ahead of the new season.
“This roster and staff represent the culmination of months of interviews, tryouts, and negotiations,” Whinston said. “I can’t think of a team better suited to be the first representative of the Immortals organization, both in and out of competition.”
Image via Immortals | Remix by Jacob Wolf
We spoke with the CEO of Immortals, find out what he had to say.
