It's time to think about the sub problem in League © Riot Games Flickr

Phoenix1 has enjoyed their fair share of dramatic narratives during their time in the LCS so far. Last year, there was their massive 9-9 revival, their toppling of titan TSM and the up-and-comer Inori making his mark on a league full of veteran talent — P1 have a talent for creating those fantastic storylines. Their latest sub, William "Meteos" Hartman, has created another tale worth following. Meteos stepped down from Cloud9 twice, after a long and healthy career with the team, and he stepped in for Phoenix1 when their jungler found himself in an unexpected emergency.

Not only was Meteos returning to the LCS after a long break, but he was doing so to face off against his old team, Cloud9, who had just faced off against the other Cloud9, FlyQuest. Amidst the emotional saga of (metaphorical, united by memes) brother against brother, one story has gone seemingly unnoticed: The ability for Meteos to plug and play with a new roster.

Substitute players are often considered benchwarmers, with a few notable exceptions like SKT T1’s use of Faker and Easyhoon in the mid lane. However, it’s crucial to have a few subs on hand — after all, players are humans, and they can run into predicaments that force them away from the game. While the anime tale of Meteos and Sneaky facing off on opposite sides of the battlefield touches our hearts, Phoenix1’s quandary and ability to pick up an emergency sub is a story that should tingle the brain.

Phoenix1 in a pickle

No one was more surprised by Meteos’s return to the LCS than Meteos. “On Monday, Jack messaged me that P1 needed a sub and Inori had some kind of personal issue. They just said that they needed an emergency sub. I thought he was kind of joking because I hadn't been playing that much League compared to what I normally do. They just asked me a couple times and I was like ‘I don't think I'm good, but I'll try out and see if I can help out.'"

Meteos stepped down from pro play after Worlds, making way for rookie Contractz, and he wasn’t expecting, nor was he prepared, to plug into another team and play on such short notice. Luckily, Phoenix1 worked to make up that gap. "I thought it would be weirder than it was," Meteos says. "I had always been on Cloud 9 and I never really played on another team except for All-Stars or whatever. But they were really accommodating, more than Cloud9 ever was. They would tell me to go farm and let me know when I could just go get my jungle instead of making a play."

Meteos is still adored by fans after leaving C9 © Riot Games Flickr

Phoenix1’s efforts to make Meteos feel at home paid off; he notes that the experience has been "super fun," and "FeelsGoodMan." He elaborates, “They've been really accommodating to me. I don't think I'm that good right now, out of form, rusty or whatever, but they're understanding of that and getting me up to speed.”

Any port in a storm

While no one wants anything bad to happen to one of their players or their families, every team has to be ready to plan around that possibility. Last year, both Apex Gaming and Team Liquid ran "10-man rosters," where they fielded a team in the LCS and had a second team ready to go. Other teams, such as Fnatic, have used their Challenger team as a "just in case," without expecting it to foster as an entire potential second team in a pinch. This sort of switch hit mentality has yet to work out in North America in any real way; even Liquid’s recent plan to field both Link and Goldenglue in the mid lane seems to have fallen apart.

Winning always feels good at the LCS © Riot Games Flickr

Recently, the Unicorns of Love caught some notice for one of their subs, a woman named Audrey LaSapa. LaSapa explained in a Twitlonger that she was the team’s designer, and that being a sub allowed her to travel with the team, but she had no real desire to play. As she put it, "unless Hylissang gets a heart attack, or break both of his hands going on stage, I will not play LCS!" It’s a tongue in cheek statement, but it reflects that many teams don’t have a plan for that potential heart attack.

This brings us back around to Meteos’s rise from the flames — he was able (with significant help from the magnanimousness of Cloud9’s Jack) to step in and staunch a bleeding wound. In the LCS, every week matters for determining playoff seeding, or avoiding the risk of missing playoffs altogether! Few players would be able to step in during such a time, and part of this is due to the youth of the game.

Meteos isn’t surprised by his return to the game. "Last time I took a break, people were like, 'Oh Meteos is retired,' but I was like 22 years old. How can I be retired, that’s for old people. So, I think it’s not as big of a deal to take some time away and come back." As ridiculous as it might sound if you’re not familiar in the sport, there is a dearth of these relatively older retired veterans who are still sharp enough to be able to play. As such, these players may prove to be an enormous asset should further emergencies arise.

Will Meteos say goodbye to the LCS again? © Riot Games Flickr

Pro play, part time

Players like Meteos may become increasingly common as League matures as an esport. We’ve already seen players like Hai step up to pinch hit in multiple roles, but that was seen as a one-time exception due to a desperate team and a truly legendary shotcaller. Could such an arrangement, where one player steps into sub or guide a team briefly, become more common?

Meteos can see the benefits, especially when it comes to returning after time away. "[Breaks] help a lot. This isn't the first break I've taken. I stepped down from Cloud9 once before rejoining last year. I always feel like it’s just a good reset for me, mentally. The offseason for players is pretty short and you’re practicing and going to international tournaments during that time anyway. A couple months with no responsibilities is like a summer break from school all over again. It helps a lot for me, it just kind of clears your head. When you do the same thing all the time, it can kind of wear you down." Returning after such a break could allow a player to help a team in crisis without sacrificing their own health in return.

Just like Tuxedo Mask, Meteos is happy with swooping in and then stepping back out once his job is done. "I remember people on my stream asking if I was ever going to play competitive again, a couple weeks ago. I was like ‘I’m not sure, probably not’," he says. Like riding a bike, it was surprisingly easy to jump back into the LCS. “I think the term retired is so strange in League. It’s not like I’m not playing League at all. It’s still the game that I enjoy a lot and a lot of the things that are really valuable in this game, like how well you work with teammates and understanding macro. Those are things that don’t change from season to season. So it’s still about coordinating with your teammates to get vision, tracking the enemy jungler. These are all things I’ve done for such a long time so coming back into it, those skills are still pretty sharp."

He acknowledges he still has some room for improvement: "Obviously in that series, I messed up a lot of things mechanically from not being as practiced as normal." Still, fans may clamour to see their beloved jungler back in the LCS. He’s leaving that up in the air: "I don’t know [about coming back]," he says, then adds: "We’ll see."