The offseason was fast, precise and brought some of our beloved players back to the stage and some new talents took up the challenge and will be stepping on the stage of the EU LCS for the first time in 2018. Some of these newcomers have been playing for a while in the challenger scene dreaming about this moment. Some of these teams decided to stick to their guns and only filled the blank spots, while some other teams went all in and decide to rebuild their lineups completely.



So let’s get to know some of the storylines to follow in the 2018 EU LCS season.





FNC Hylissang





It was a small surprise for everyone when we saw the two pillars of Unicorns of Love Hylissang and Vizicasci look for new opportunities for the upcoming year. Despite Jesiz comeback as a player after being a coach for an entire year excelled all expectations even if the player had very clear limitations, he was a key part of Fnatic's success in 2017. Bringing in Hylissang could solve some of the Bot lane laning problems just as some champion pool problems without losing the characteristic engaging support Preferences of Jesiz. Hylissang is not only known for his thresh but he has stellar mechanics and has been one of the main voices in the Unicorns of Love roster since the start. The player will be able to fill the place that Jesiz left behind just as expands it being the more experienced support player. He brings in strategical and a champion variety to the team that Jesiz couldn't bring in as a player throughout the year. However, we will most likely have to say goodbye to the Camille support.





H2K Caedrel





Caedrel should sound familiar to many of the challenger scene followers in specifically to the ones who follow the Spanish league LVP. Caedrel is a talent that has been active in the challenger scene for a few years already and has been trying to break into the LCS for quite sometimes now. He achieved his breakthrough in 2015 when he won the LVP with Giants Spanish team and would then join Team Huma for the following challenger series split. Caedrel’s performances during the regular season would always be stellar, but when the stakes would rise he would often choke and not perform to his standards. Something he has been working on and was able to beat in his time at Schalke and be one of the influential factors of the team qualifying for the 2018 EU LCS season. So him joining H2K might be the real test to see if Caedrel has learned enough through his years in the challenger scene or is still only the LCS rookie needing the right coaching to succeed on Europe’s biggest stage.





MSF Sencux





Despite good performances at Splyce, Misfits could be the team Sencux was waiting to expose his talent to the world. Even if the player will need to fill in the shoes of a leader type person, also the more versatile player in Power of Evil, Sencux has everything to boost Misfits to a top 4 finish once again. Sencux is probably one of the best mid laners currently in Europe because of his impressive mechanics. He might be better on assassins and be more comfortable on a splitpushing style, but this is only a stylistic preference that Misfits might need to adapt so they are able to unleash his full potential. Playing around splitpushing setups is nothing new to the Misfits lineup as they already done it in the past with their Challenger Series lineup back in 2016. The only question left to answer will Misfits be able to adapt to Sencux in the mid lane?





VIT Jizuke





Italy’s first representant at the LCS has been playing since 2016 in the challenger series and finally managed to qualify with Giants Gaming to the LCS. The mid laner also was known as Italian god and is famous for his Swain in the mid lane which would force a few bans in the 2016 summer split of the EU challenger series. He is a strong later as he already proven multiple times the ability to climb to the rank 1 of the European server. He also just won with Giants only the Brave the LVP Winter with the core of Vitalitys new roster if you want to see him and Gilius speak for themselves.









VIT Minitroupax





Just like teammate Jizuke, Minitroupax not only qualified with Giants Gaming to the LCS and he is the first Portuguese Player to play the LCS. The Portuguese player started in 2015 in the LPLOL the Portuguese League of Legends scene. His team would always make it to the finals, but prior to joining the Portuguese powerhouse K1ck Esports in August of 2016, he would always fall short to them in the finals. The Ad carry would then be picked up by Giants Gaming where he stayed until now. He has been one of the players to watch in the past challenger series edition as he would be always competing against Schalke’s upset for the spot as the biggest ad carry talent in the challenger series. Not only did he surprise many professionals with his talent but now he has the chance to prove it against the best in Europe. But will he maintain ahead of his rival Upset? Here is also a highlight video of Giants during the promotional tournament if you want to see his Tristana skills.









S04 Upset





The German prodigy, Schalke’s poster boy and probably one of the best mechanical talents we’ve discovered in the past year. The young talent Upset not only took the competition by storm but also been the face of Schalke 04 lineup as the only German player currently present in their lineup. He’s young and impulsive and creates a lot of hype through trash-talking via Twitter prior to games. It backfired a couple of times for the amusement of the fans. The German player might be talented but the lack of experience is still present as he couldn’t perform every time to his standards during high stake situations. It will be interesting to follow his growth as a player now that former player and caster Krepo will be coaching Schalke 04 this season.



The 18-year-old German will be the player to watch since he is the only player remaining from the previous lineup and will be teaming up once again with Spring split support Vander.







UOL Whiteknight







Whiteknight has been Europe’s most hyped up talent for the past two years. Hitting rank one in Challenger not only once, the player has already gathered some challenger series experience and also subbed back 2013 for Team alternate a few times. The top laner plays basically every role to a high level but has stuck to top lane due to being his primary main role. Despite having already had multiple offers for the challenger series and LCS, the player has declined all those offers in order to be able to finish school first. He played in the challenger series for Paris Saint Germain in 2017 and had good individual performances. This will be the player to watch in 2018 as he finally commits to the challenge of playing a full LCS split.







Photo Credit : lolesports Flickr



Disclaimer: The following article was written freely based on the author's opinion, and it may not necessarily represent Inven Global's editorial stance.

About the Author:

Hello guys, Alexandre Weber also known under the ID: DrPuppet. I'm a Brazilian professional Coach and content creator since 2015, mostly focused on League of Legends. I worked with many teams throughout the years in major and minor regions, but my most known work was with Kaos Latin Gamers from Chile in 2015, where we played the International Wildcard Finals against Pain Gaming. Since then I have been studying Cinema in Hamburg and creating content on youtube and twitch, besides writing for respected sites in Esports. You can find me on the social networks under @drpuppetlp and on Twitch under DrPuppet.

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