The offseason for Echo Fox has been one to remember.

It all started at the end of the 2016 when the organization maintained its spot in the League of Legends Championship Series following a sweep of NRG eSports. The experience helped them spotlight the shortcomings in the roster and the organisation. First, they needed to assemble an League Championship Series-ready roster during the offseason around Henrik "Froggen" Hansen and Yuri "KEITH" Jew. Second, they wanted to bolster their challenger team, Delta Fox. Editor's Picks Confidential: Life as a League of Legends Pro

Full circle: The whirlwind journey of Jaedong 1 Related

To address the second point, enter top laner Brandon "Brandini" Chen and support Terry "baby" Chuong. They are set to compete in the challenger circuit with Jonathan "Grigne" Armao, Tanner "Damonte" Damonte and Vincent "Shynon" Vu on Delta Fox this spring. The new additions are aimed to help EF build in-house competition (much like FlyQuest did before reaching the LCS) and foster talent to LCS readiness.

"We're excited to officially announce baby and Brandini as a part of the Echo Fox family," Jake "Ginko" Fyfe, general manager of the League of Legends team, told ESPN. "Delta Fox will be living, training and developing their talents alongside our LCS roster. I am especially excited that we were able to have Baby and Grigne return as a part of Echo Fox."

To the first issue, the organization ultimately acquired key players in the offseason - two of whom have played against them throughout the season. Matt "Akaadian" Higginbotham had faced Echo Fox during scrimmage sessions as DreamTeam's starting jungler, and Austin "Gate" Yu wrought havoc upon them during the Promotion Tournament as a member of Phoenix1. There may be a similarity in one factor that helped them stand out - switching roles - but their stories have been different up until 2017.

Akaadian was competing in the Challenger circuit as a top laner, but his switch to the jungle within Team Liquid Academy and DreamTeam helped him ascend to new heights. "Jungling fits me a lot better," he said. "It is also pretty useful to be thrown into a situation where, [for] one, I needed to perform well and, [for] two, I got all this LCS knowledge because I was working with and under an LCS team."

Echo Fox owner and three-time NBA champion Rick Fox. Riot Games

Armed with the know-how on the macro level, Akaadian was able to determine the best course of action in-game and ultimately compelled Echo Fox to sign him one season earlier than he had anticipated. "Granted, I only played the bottom five teams, but I was consistently out-jungling most of the junglers in practice, so I was pretty sure that I could play in the LCS," he added. "I was just not expecting it to happen in the Spring [split]."

On the other hand, seasoned veteran Austin "Gate" Yu hadn't always been a support, but that is where he nearly helped Team Impulse nearly reach the 2015 World Championship. Since then, his career as a member of TiP and Phoenix1 had featured many ups and downs, which included visa issues on both squads. His fondest remembrance is something Rick Fox may be able to relate to. "I ended up playing at Madison Square [Garden], which made me feel that I was part of something great," he cheerfully noted.

His position as a former foe of Echo Fox during the 2017 Spring Promotion Qualifiers helped him track the squad's in-game vulnerabilities. As a member of Phoenix1, he had capitalized on them. "[Phoenix1] had this strategy of banning out [Henrik "Froggen" Hansen] and playing the game out normally, because I thought we were more cohesive as a team," he claims matter-of-factly. "Now that I'm on Echo Fox, I'm hoping to bring my experience in playing in the LCS to help them avoid this situation where they can only play one-dimensionally."

As Echo Fox's owner, Rick Fox could not be happier to make these acquisitions. "Over the past year, I have watched Gate and Akaadian perform well on other teams and I am extremely excited to bring them in to the Echo Fox family," claims the three-time NBA champion. "Combined with Froggen, Keith and Looper, they give us our strongest team yet and I can't wait to see them compete on January 20."

The stakes have never been higher for Echo Fox, who have undergone a boot camp during December 2016 to mesh as a squad, as they seek to emulate the potential success of the organization's acquisitions in the fighting game scene, many of whom Gate is eager to meet. "since there have been so many great acquisitions on Echo Fox, I think it's up to the League of Legends team to stay at the same level as well and make the organization proud," Gate asserts. "We're going to be doing our very best to get to the top of the league."