LCS Off-Season Roster Changes for 2021

By Jesse Roberts
November 16, 2020

As the majority of League of Legends tournaments come to an end in 2020, players and fans alike are waiting to see how the offseason before 2021 plays out. This offseason will prove to be one of the most chaotic we have ever seen with essentially ever team in the LCS making at least 2 roster moves. We will witness veteran players fade out from the scene and young prodigies take the first steps in their historic careers.

This article will be updated daily with every confirmed LCS Offseason Roster Change for 2021. To find out about LEC Offseason, check out our article here.

Updated Daily. Last updated Dec. 2, 4:00pm PST.

Dec. 2

Evil Geniuses have promoted Matthew “Deftly” Chen to their starting ADC for LCS. He was set to head to FLYA, but following the Lost deal with TSM failing, EG decided to keep Deftly.

Lee “Ignar” Dong-geun leaves FlyQuest to sign with Evil Geniuses as their starting support. This comes after two successful splits on FLY and a trip Worlds 2020.

Evil Geniuses have signed Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong to replace Heo “Huni” Seug-hoon as their LCS top laner. Impact has been with Team Liquid since 2017, so we will see how plays within a new team and system.

Dec. 1

Following his short contract with Evil Geniuses, free agent and veteran mid laner, Greyson “GoldenGlue” Gilmer has announced his retirement from professional play. This is not the end though, as he has been signed to 100 Thieves as their Academy Head Coach.

Nov. 30

TSM has promoted Lawrence “Lost” Sze Yuy Hui from Academy to their LCS ADC. Lost has seen time on the LCS stage before but hasn’t been given the chance to prove himself after much growth in Academy, till now.

Heo “Huni” Seug-hoon leaves Evil Geniuses to sign with TSM as their starting top laner. Huni was in Academy for part of the summer split before finishing out the split as EG’s starting top laner.

Nov. 26

Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh has officially signed with TSM as their new starting support in a record-breaking contract of $6 million for 2 years. SwordArt is a world-class player who finished as a runner-up at Worlds 2020 with Suning from the LPL. He is best known for his time on Flash Wolves in the LMS, a team that TSM faced at many international events.

Nov. 25

Dignitas has decided to take their organization in a new direction and decided to part ways with Henrik “Froggen” Hansen, Omran “v1per” Shoura, and Kim “Fenix” Jae-hun.

The final straw that cements this offseason as the end of an era. Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng has retired from the LCS alongside his teammate and friend Bjergsen. Doublelift’s career and trophy case is rivaled by few and it is hard to imagine anyone matching his titles with Bjergsen also retiring this year. It is likely we see him return to streaming where he has had great success over the years.

Dignitas have signed top laner Aaron “FakeGod” Lee, and mid laner Max “Soligo” Soong. Both players are known for their time on 100 Thieves Academy, where both were subbed into the starting LCS roster in 2019.

Nov. 24

Surprisingly, after Cloud 9 had stated that they would keep all of the roster from this past split, we have seen them replace Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer and Licorice. Nisqy will be once again returning to the LEC, but now as the starting mid laner for Fnatic.

Nov. 23

Golden Guardians were in a rough spot but have had a creative offseason with their new signings. They have promoted Nicholas “Ablazeolive” Antonio Abbott from Academy to their starting mid laner as well as picking up AD Carry veteran, Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes from CLG. To round out their roster, they have imported support Leandro “Newbie” Marcos from the LLA.

After their best split yet, Golden Guardians is left having to rebuild their entire roster. They have signed jungler Ethan “Zoun” Wilkinson and top laner Aiden “Niles” Tidwell. It is clear they are looking to develop talent as both of these players are from the collegiate scene, more specifically Maryville University.

Rounding out the Immortals roster, support Mitchell “Destiny” Shaw and AD Carry Quin “Raes” Korebrits have signed to their starting roster. Despite Destiny having played in LEC this past split, the two are former teammates from their time together on Chief Esports Club in the OPL. They will also make history as the first OCE bottom lane in the LCS.

Nov. 21

TSM is keeping up with tradition in signing one of the best mid laners available. Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage has joined TSM as their starting mid. PowerOfEvil has consistently been a strong player to build a roster around and paired with the rising star in Spica, TSM will still be a fun team to watch even with Bjergsen no longer playing.

Nov. 20

Jason “WildTurtle” Tran has left FlyQuest to sign with Counter Logic Gaming as their AD Carry for 2021. WildTurtle was benched at the beginning of Summer, but came back to have a dominant split in the back half of the split.

Following the signing of Guilhoto, Immortals have signed jungler Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir. Similar to Alphari, even with a poor team showing, Xerxe proved to be a menace in the LEC. His new team is relatively young and inexperienced, so he will have to have a huge impact if he wants to make a splash in the LCS.

Team Liquid have signed Lucas “Santorin” Tao Kilmer Larsen, who came off his best year in his career and was in the running for 1st Team All-Pro jungler. Santorin now has even more weapons with a top laner like Alphari and the rising talent in Tactical.

As reported very early in the offseason, Barney “Alphari” Morris has signed with Team Liquid as their top laner. Despite Origen having a very poor performance in Summer, Alphari still dominated his lane opponents.

It actually happened… Luka “Perkz” Perković is returning to the mid lane role, but not in the region where he proved himself to be one of the greatest players in LoL history. Perkz has officially signed with Cloud 9. NA’s chances for getting out of groups at Worlds keeps going up this offseason.

Nov. 19

Counter Logic Gaming has promoted their Academy coach Galen “Moon” Holgate to their LCS Head Coach. This comes after CLG fired SSONG and Weldon immediately after the completion of the regular Summer Split.

As expected, 100 Thieves have finished a deal securing mid laner Tanner “Damonte” Damonte to complete their roster for the 2021 season. It is clear that 100T believes in the synergy and talent of these 4 former Golden Guardians.

Following the signing of Ignar, Evil Geniuses have dropped their support Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam. A few rosters have still not announced their starting support, so we see him signing a contract soon.

FlyQuest have parted ways with their substitute AD Carry Brandon “Mash” Phan. He played several games for their starting roster during the Summer Split.

Nov. 17

Counter Logic Gaming import Finn “Finn” Wiestål as their starting top laner for LCS. This comes after his first Worlds appearance on Rogue in the LEC.

Top laner Kim “Ruin” Hyeong-min leaves Counter Logic Gaming. It is unclear where he will land since the starter positions for top laners are filling up quick in the LCS.

Nov. 16

TSM sells the contract for Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik to Schalke 04 in the LEC. Broken Blade has German citizenship, making him a valuable asset in his return to Europe.

After an impressive run at Worlds 2020 with Rainbow7, Brandon “Josedeodo” Joel Villegas has signed with FlyQuest to become their starting jungler.

Former FlyQuest Academy top laner, Mohamed “Revenge” Kaddoura signs with Immortals to be on their starting LCS Roster.

Immortals release their support, Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent. This marks the end of the historic Apollo/Hakuho duo for now.

100T sign jungler Can “Closer” Çelik, ad carry Ian Victor “FBI” Huang, and support Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun. If this roster looks familiar, just wait… Tanner “Damonte” Damonte is reported to be finalizing a deal as their next mid laner.

Previously benched during the Summer Split 2020, Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro has been announced as the starting mid laner for Evil Geniuses once again.

Counter Logic Gaming has signed import jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen, previously of Team Liquid.

FlyQuest sign a bundle of players from Cloud 9 including top laner Eric “Licorice” Ritchie, mid laner Christian “Palafox” Palafox, and support David “Diamond” Bérubé. Palafox and Diamond were both academy players but will be on the starting LCS roster for FlyQuest.

Immortals parts ways with jungler Jake “Xmithie” Puchero. Xmithie has multiple LCS titles under his belt and years of experience, so we might see him find a new home.