After spending the 2020 Spring Split on the LEC analyst desk, Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi has reportedly made history by joining Sandbox Gaming for the upcoming Summer Split, becoming the LCK’s first Western head coach in the process, according to ESPN.
The 24-year old coach will be working remotely from Europe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. South Korea has seen plenty of developments with the virus’ spread, but things still haven’t improved enough for Yamato to work with the team in Korea.
Yamato is most known for his work with Team Vitality, in which he helped lead the roster battle through one of the hardest groups of the 2018 World Championship—the team barely missed out on getting through the group stage, after managing to win against powerhouses like Gen.G and Royal Never Give Up.
His famous speech to all European teams helped spark a fire within Europe at the tournament, and for the first time in a long time, an LEC team reached the World Finals. Now, Europe has become one of the most powerful regions in the world.
Sandbox Gaming will be heading into the 2020 LCK Summer Split with pretty low expectations—the team ended the previous split in ninth place, with an abysmal 5-13 record. Luckily, they were able to keep their spot in the league after taking down Seorabeol Gaming in the 2020 LCK Promotional Tournament.
