It didn’t turn out quite like they planned. It never does. Part of the nature of competition comes from an innate need to improve; best one’s self, best the competition. Complete satisfaction is an unattainable end goal. In the wake of the EU LCS semifinals, teams that didn’t pull the results they wanted may scramble for a change in an attempt to finalize a Top 3 Summer Split roster.

Both Splyce and H2K-Gaming, World Championship attendees in 2016, finished outside Top 4 of the EU LCS playoffs. Splyce CEO Marty Strenczewilk said in his YouTube video update, “I don’t think it will come as a surprise to most of you out there that we are internally not happy either — from players to management, I don’t think anyone is happy with our performance.”

In the video, Marty announced that Splyce will part ways with Head Coach Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi, signaling one of the EU LCS’ first offseason changes. Often, when performance suffers, offseason changes can provide a boost to morale or a sense for starting fresh; you won’t blame the same person for the same repeated mistake.

As with anything, there are good and bad ways to handle roster changes between splits. Unicorns of Love this weekend received community praise for a near-constant ability to rebuild, and their position in the final against G2 Esports this split might encourage other organizations to take the plunge in the weeks before Summer.

Name a team other than @UnicornsOfLove that's successfully integrated and succeeded with this many LCS rookies year over year. So impressive — Noah Whinston (@NWhinston) April 16, 2017





Overlooking Unicorns of Love’s recent rise, one doesn’t have to search very far to see how horribly a midseason gamble can go. Team Vitality, following an unexpected clean sweep at the hands of Fnatic, replaced both their jungler and AD carry between 2016 Spring and 2016 Summer. They went from a Top 3 Spring regular season hopeful to bottom four in both 2016 Summer and 2017 Spring.

Observing what both these teams have done right or wrong can provide the beginnings of an outline on how to handle an offseason overhaul in EU LCS — the Unicorns’ what to do, and Vitality’s what not to do.

First, it’s important to dispel the myth that every rookie Unicorns of Love have touched has turned into a superstar. UoL’s 2016 Summer roster changes left them just inside the playoffs zone, and they benefitted considerably from the elimination of lane swaps on the Playoffs patch. In 2016 Spring, they rifled through a list of junglers that didn’t seem to stick or develop well on the team.

Arguably, UoL’s most successful players developed within the organization itself outside their initial qualifying roster are players on their existing lineup: Fabian “Exileh” Schubert, Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir, and Samuel “Samux” Fernández Fort. As Xerxe and Samux have only played one split, time will still need to prove whether they can continue to succeed.

UoL’s “rookie development” program may have been overstated. What has consistently worked for them, however, comes through in the strong backbone supplied by Kiss “Vizicsacsi” Tamas and Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov.

Unicorns’ increased success came from Vizicsacsi’s steady improvements. Patch changes continued to favor his small trade-focused laning style, and his play made him increasingly reliable. Hylissang’s form has fluctuated more, but his sense for engage and willingness to flank or trade plays has remained true, even when he fumbles. These two pillars not only allowed Unicorns to facilitate communication across the map, but defined Unicorns’ play throughout the years.

At their core, Unicorns’ approach has remained the same.

Strategically, Unicorns have only made small improvements throughout the years. Their vision setup behind and around Baron has improved, but their fixation with the objective has remained a cornerstone that both represents a flaw and a strength. They have made gains in executing 1-3-1 compositions, but more recently have reverted to conservative split-pushing, sometimes indiscriminately stacking side waves, and baiting for a mid lane or Baron pit flank.

When a roster remains constantly in flux like Unicorns of Love’s, sticking to core strategic principles becomes a necessity. If UoL can maintain their current lineup, they might grow and become a more nuanced team. UoL have preserved a foundation in Vizicsacsi and Hylissang, a core strategic playstyle, and the bare bones of their organization. Ideally, they’ll be able to continue to refine the details with a consistent starting five.

Story continues