Off-Season Roster Update: An Arms Race to the 2015 Season
In the aftermath of the big issues pestering Philippine eSports these past few weeks, two of the biggest teams in Philippine League of Legends (LoL) surprised us with a wave of roster updates yesterday. It seems that no scandal could scratch the will of our professional teams as they geared up for the expanded Garena Premier League.
Wargods: Taking on the Blue Cape
Wargods – League of Legends left us hanging after they announced a big roster update earlier this month. It was during the inception of the Wargods Strife Team that Robert “Otchie” Conrad Pascual announced his retirement from the Wargods LoL squad before transferring into the Wargods Strife team.
After a new teaser was released announcing that Neil “Vyy” Cedric Juan from Pacific eSports will be joining the Wargods LoL team as its new AD Carry, Zeus “Faster” Lee was announced to take the mid lane position for the squad, leaving only the support position vacant.
From right-top to left-bottom: Jaiby “JLC” Paglingayen, Zeus “Faster” Lee, Ronel “Stronger” Tan, and Neil “Vyy” Cedric Juan
Waiting for the new support, the team surprisingly announced their updated League of Legends Roster over Facebook:
As of now, Wargods League of Legends will run with the following roster:
Solo Top – Jaiby “JLC” Paglingayen
Jungle – Ken “Skill” Garcia
Mid – Robert “Otchie” Conrad Pascual
ADR – Neil “Vvy” Cedric Juan
Support – Ronel “Str0nger” Tan
Previously reported mid laner Faster said that he will focus on studies for the time being, giving the position to Otchie.
In line with their new sponsorship with GameX, the team will be adopting a blue cape design for style points.
Mineski: Bringing Back the Duo
Along with Wargods’ roster update was Mineski’s announcement over their Facebook page that they are bringing back their formidable duo.
Eric “Exo” Allen Gubatan and Gerald “Tgee” Gianne Gelacio are coming back to Mineski League of Legends from their former team, Manila Eagles. The duo experienced success with Team Mineski, taking Garena Premier League’s second seed and qualifying for the Season 3 Worlds Championships during their previous stint.
They’ve been recognized as the primary threat from Team Mineski as Exo has beaten Singapore Sentinel’s Chawy, who is considered the best AD player in Southeast Asia.
Although the official announcement was retracted, it seems that their return is certain as reflected in Exo’s posts.
Garena Premier League: A Storm is Coming
In a similar announcement, Mineski alluded to a big update coming from Garena due next week.
Until next week, we can only guess as to what the announcement will be. There are some hints that Exo and Tgee cannot simply transfer teams as they have qualified in GPL under Manila Eagles. Another guess is that Garena Philippines has some interesting things in the pipeline while they’re preparing for the Pro Gaming Series, most likely related to the Garena Premier League expansion.
A possible consequence of which is that the Philippines will be getting an additional slot to the Garena Premier League, allowing for three Philippine teams in GPL this year! It is possible that rising local teams like Betrayal, Royale, Wogo and other tournament active teams have their eyes set on PGS, so they should be the ones to watch out for.
If that’s not enough, the legendary mid laner of the Season 2 Worlds Champions — Taipei Assasin’s (TPA) Kurtis “Toyz” Lau — is back, along with his former teammate Wang “Stanley” June Tsan. The two have formed a team under Hongkong eSports, picking up Xue “DinTer” Hong-Wei from TPA, Chang “Awei” Jia-Wei and Wang “GoDJJ” Yong Jie from ahq Snipers. The hype is real for this team as they set their eyes on dominating the 2015 Garena Premier League. Scary.
And so, legends are coming back to their home turf, veterans are forging their way back into the limelight and new comers thirsty for blood are battling for supremacy just days after the conclusion of 2014 Worlds. Whichever side you take, one thing’s for sure: It’s going to be a stormy Southeast Asia and I’m sure we Filipinos are prepared for it.
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