Ahead of the winter split of the 2023 #LeagueofLegends EMEA#Championship, #MADLions has acquired #Carzzy as its new AD carry and Kim #Chasy Dong-hyeon as its new top laner. The approval of #RiotGames is still necessary for the signings, though.
Meanwhile, despite the premature conclusion of the squad's bid for the 2022 World Championship in October, Cloud9's League of Legends division recognized enough potential in the roster's expansion to bring back the majority of the team for the following season.
The company's CEO Jack Etienne highlighted all of the significant changes to C9's starting lineup in an announcement video. He also said that after the season concluded, the entire team had a meeting to discuss any adjustments they felt would help them play better in 2023.
Cloud9 Planning Ahead
Almost all of the players were pleased with their teammates' performance, according to Etienne. “There were certainly areas where we might have done better, but they really wanted to run it again. We just made one change, which was to the middle lane.
Dimitri #Diplex Ponomarev, the team's new mid laner, most recently participated in the LFL with Team Vitality's Academy squad. He will be making his LCS debut with C9. The German, who is 19 years old, is a melee expert who thrives in teamfights, according to Etienne. He has impressed the team with his great mechanical skill and even better potential.
Alfonso #Mithy Aguirre Rodrguez, a well-known European support-turned-coach, will take over as C9's head coach while Max Waldo, the previous head coach, will become the top lane positional coach.
Last but not least, C9's Challenger roster is getting a complete makeover with the addition of North American player Jang #EMENES Min-soo and veteran players Aaron #FakeGod Lee, Tomio #Tomio Chan, Lawrence #Lost Hui, and Tristan #Zeyzal Stidam. Seong #Reven Sang-hyeon, an assistant coach, will take over as head coach.
Four out of five defending LCS champions are returning, therefore C9 is looking like a strong candidate for the Spring Split despite competing against a variety of different rosters in the new year.
MAD Lions Going Crazier
Carzzy is returning to the squad with which he won two LEC championships and consecutively qualified for the World Championship in 2020 and 2021. The ADC was then hired by Team Vitality to create a self-described “superteam” that fell short of their own goals.
Even while MAD Lions still has a contract with UNF0RGIVEN through 2024, Carzzy's hiring raises some questions about the future of the current ADC. One of the most seasoned supports in the area, Hylissang, is apparently another player that MAD Lions is hoping to add to its roster along with Carzzy.
After letting Armut go, MAD Lions on the other side of the map signed Chasy as their new top laner. As independent journalist Brieuc Seeger previously revealed, Chasy had been expected to join the group since earlier this month.
Chasy will begin his career in a big league with MAD Lions after playing for a number of academy clubs since his debut in 2018, including DWG KIA Challengers and nearly a year with X7 Esport. Armut, a player who assisted MAD Lions win two LEC titles, formerly served a significant position on the squad that he will have to fill now.
However, the new top laner has little to worry about. He has established himself as a versatile player with a broad champion pool over the course of his professional career, which has enabled him and his squad to finish second in the 2022 NCL Summer Split Playoffs.
