Are we sure this guy is even a rookie, Riot Games? All right, well, if he's on the list of eligible candidates for the award, I guess we have a winner!

When Bora "YellOwStaR" Kim left Team SoloMid last offseason to return to his old club Fnatic in Europe, there was a definite impact on the seven-time North American League of Legends Championship Series finalists. TSM had lost its last two finals to longtime rival Counter Logic Gaming, and then YellOwStaR, one of the best supports the game had ever seen, decided to depart instead of sticking it out for another split. With a majority of the bigger support names already signed to yearlong deals, the pool of available support talent left a lot to be desired.

Who could live up to YellOwStaR's legacy? Promising young talent Lee "IgNar" Dong-geun from South Korea? Netherland's Glenn "Hybrid" Doornenbal, perhaps?

When the dust settled, TSM picked an unsexy choice, Vincent "Biofrost" Wang. Not an import. Not an unknown player out of nowhere. Biofrost, for all intents and purposes, was a solid minor league player who had bounced around different teams in the Challenger scene before finally getting his chance with TSM.

Although he had good experience, the new teammate was a steep drop-off from a support player who had gone to every previous World Championship.

YellOwStaR was, well, a star. Biofrost was seemingly putting on shoes five sizes too big for him.

As the heat picks up in Southern California with the beginning of August, we now know the truth: You could bring Biofrost the shoes of Shaquille O'Neal and they'd still fit him.

Beyond his stellar play and partnership with my MVP choice, Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng, it's Biofrost's demeanor that separates him from noteworthy rookies before him. We saw the maniacal play of future MVP winner Lee "Rush" Yoon-jae when he was a newcomer, but the South Korean jungler was unrefined in his first split. Usually when an elite rookie makes his appearance known, he's a strong player in most categories but lacks in certain areas. He's either too aggressive or he's too passive. It generally takes upward of a year for a rookie to finally start finding a balance between the two and become an all-around player.

Biofrost is already at that point after just a single split in the NA LCS. From his interviews to his movements in-game, it doesn't feel like this is Biofrost's first season. If you covered up his ID during games while he's on his trademark Bard, you'd think you were watching one of the better, more experienced supports in League of Legends Champions Korea. There have been times when he has faltered, and it hasn't affected him in the slightest. He doesn't shy away from making a big play even after failing the first time, and Doublelift, the best AD carry North America has ever produced, shows enough confidence in the rookie to follow his lead at times.

Team SoloMid teammates Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng (left) and Vincent "Biofrost" Wang (right) have a strong partnership on the field of battle in League of Legends. Provided by Riot Games

It's not only that Biofrost is a great player, which he most certainly is, but it's also how he plays the game that makes him one of the best Rookie of the Split winners we've seen in the history of the LCS. It's easy to say his success solely comes from playing alongside an exceptionally talented core of players on TSM, but you don't make it to a 17-1 record in a best-of-three format with a substandard player in the support role.

If the same issues that plagued TSM last year were still prevalent on the team, Immortals would have finished first in North America and TSM would have settled around the same area where Team Liquid and CLG currently sit heading into the playoffs. On a team with four mature players who knew what it takes to make it through an LCS season, Biofrost didn't feel out of place once; sometimes he actually became the factor that won TSM games through his pivotal Bard ultimates or Karma sped-up engages.

Playoffs could be an entirely different story. With the heat on him to win a championship and the matches transitioning into a best-of-five, we might see Biofrost sweat, or maybe even slip up for the first time. Until that happens, though, Biofrost is as cool as you can be in the bottom lane, ready to prove that ice truly flows in his veins.

Honorable mentions

Rami "Inori" Charagh: In a world where visa issues hadn't plagued Phoenix1, Inori might have won this award. It's sad that a Rookie of the Split runoff for the ages was nullified due to Inori only being able to play a little over half the season. Inori's play since joining P1 has been phenomenal, and he was the ace of a team that would have been a playoff side if it had had its starting five from the beginning of the split.

Jovani "Fabbbyyy" Guillen: Fabbbyyy had a good split as a rookie for playoff squad Team Liquid, but he unluckily was a rookie in a season where Biofrost and Inori stole all the Rookie of the Split headlines. We'll see if he can have a breakout performance in the quarterfinals for TL as they go up against back-to-back defending champions CLG.

Jeon "Ray" Ji-won: "Glass cannon" is the best way to describe Apex's carry-oriented rookie top laner. It looked like Ray would be a top contender for Rookie of the Split in the early weeks of the season, but his kills shrank and his deaths skyrocketed as the season went along.

Derek "Zig" Shao: Maybe lagging a bit behind the other four rookies mentioned, Zig had a solid season after his almost-five-year odyssey to make it into the NA LCS. If Phoenix1 can requalify for the LCS, Zig should have a better season next time in a full split alongside Inori.