A New Bloom: PGS Spring Split 2016
Filipino League of Legends players will soon be able to witness the best teams in the country battle for supremacy again as the Pro Gaming Series will be returning for its 2016 season with its Spring Split.
It will be interesting to see how this season will bloom as nearly all of the returning teams from last season, including the defending champions Mineski.Globe, underwent roster changes during the off season.
The PGS teams will be playing on the preseason patch which included plenty of changes such as the introduction of Keystone Masteries, the Rift Herald, and changes to marksmen and marksmen itemization.
Roster Changes. Roster Changes everywhere.
Imperium Pro Team – Blue is the only team to retain their starting roster from last season.
It will be interesting to see how this season will bloom as nearly all of the returning teams from last season, including the defending champions Mineski.Globe, underwent roster changes during the off-season. The only team that retained their full roster from the previous split is Imperium Pro Team – Blue.
Imperium Pro Team’s updated roster. From left to right: Suez, Raux, Poysanity, Kupzzz, H4T3, Burning, Light
Among the roster changes this off-season is Imperium Pro Team’s addition of Roybie “Light” Segovia. The former Wargods player was feared as one of the strongest mid laners in the country and will be looking to make his comeback as IPT’s mid.
The revamped roster of Naga eSports. From left to right: Centhier, Badger, Daigo, Ackareign, Suzaku, Baal, Luxuria
Another team that underwent major changes is Naga eSports, as the only player they retained from last season is their mid laner Ziegfried “Daigo” Cunanan. Joining him this split is Alec “Suzaku” Valdez in the top lane, Ken “Ackareign” Garcia in the jungle, and Bon “Luxuria” Aquino and John “Badger” Swartebroeckx as their marksman and support.
New Blood on the Rift.
Making their debut in the upcoming split are Celestial eSports and Xplicit Hardcore Gaming.
Celestial eSports roster. From left to right: Fade, Deuces, Hexx, Marky, Zen, Mikoz, Teerx
Celestial eSports formed during the start of the 2015 challenger circuit where they placed first regarding points. They feature Brandon “Hexx” Clemens, a jungler who is well known in solo queue for his tactical play that is looking to prove that he can also perform well in a team-oriented environment.
Xplicit Hardcore Gaming roster. From left to right: Ikaros, Akinos, Nytez, HawL, Avaritia, Neep, Tushey
The next team joining the PGS is Xplicit Hardcore Gaming. The team was formed by Joshua Soria in Baguio city. Despite their roster completing just two weeks before the deadline to qualify for the promotional tournament, they were able to make it in time through hard work and training. Although they lost to Celestial during the promotional, their second place finish still allowed them to qualify for the PGS. Despite being new to the PGS, they have some veteran players too. Jonahrick “Keima” Balangue, a former mid laner will be looking to make his comeback in the PGS as Xplicit’s jungler.
Will the Kings retain their crown?
Mineski’s new roster. From left to right: Ced, Wind, Kaigu, Tgee, Yume, Kulit, Exo
The 2015 Season of the PGS concluded with Mineski.Globe defeating the Imperium Pro Team at Rampage 2015 to prove that they’re the best team in the country. Mineski will be starting this split with a target on their heads, as everyone will see whether or not they have what it takes to retain their crown.
Mineski is one of the teams who underwent roster changes during the off-season, as longtime mid-laner Danyll “Yume” Balisi has stepped down from his starting role. He will be replaced by Mai “Wind” Tian, who made his debut in Mineski’s show match against IPT during the eSports and Gaming Summit 2015.
Season of Marksmen?
One of the biggest changes included in the preseason patch are changes to some marksmen and marksmen itemization. Not only did some marksmen get changes to have more defined playstyles, marksmen in general received major changes to their itemization with the inclusion of more items as well as cost adjustments to items that give attack damage, attack speed and critical strike chance.
In a short interview with Mineski’s star marksman Eric “Exo” Gubatan, he stated that he’s liking the changes to marksmen because they’ll be able to hit their power spikes earlier and that overall the changes will be beneficial to their protect the marksman style of play.
Toplane: Still a lonely island?
The Rift’s top lane has historically been called a lonely island. This is because the dragon’s presence on the bottom half of the map has generally required teams to allocate more manpower there in order to control that objective. Enter the Rift Herald; a new objective that spawns in place of Baron Nashor for the first twenty minutes of the game. Securing this objective grants the champion who killed it a mini baron buff to help speed up pushing a lane.
Imperium Pro Team – Blue’s jungler Kurt “Rebengga” Cristobal says that the herald’s inclusion will speed up the pace of the game. He also mentioned that top laners may also opt to take ignite instead of teleport for added kill pressure in order to better secure the herald and use the buff to add pushing pressure for the holder of the Rift Herald’s buff.
Tune in to the premiere of the PGS Spring Split 2016 this coming Saturday, November 21 and see the teams start the new season with a bang!
Images courtesy of Garena Philippines
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