When Phoenix1 swept Cloud9 in Week 5 of the 2017 North American League of Legends Championship Series Spring, it was an upset.

In previous weeks, Phoenix1 had given FlyQuest a good fight and went toe-to-toe with Team SoloMid in a close 2-1 series. Unfortunately, both resulted in losses. They had also dropped a series to an inconsistent Counter Logic Gaming squad, and NA’s top teams had appeared to be out of their reach. Beating Cloud9, the first-place team in NA at the time, was unexpected.

More surprising than the win; however, was the young man in P1’s jungle: former C9 mainstay, William “Meteos” Hartman.

“I’ve got nothing to lose. Everyone knows I haven’t really been playing that much League, I was kind of brought in last second,” he told David “Phreak” Turley after the victory. “For me, it was just a fun match against my friends. Just see how they’re doing, see how I’m doing — it’s kind of a low-pressure situation for me.”

Parity in the NA LCS was discussed well before the season began. Phoenix1 is just one of many new hybrid rosters to grace the North American League of Legends scene this spring in a list that includes Team Liquid, Immortals, Team Dignitas, Echo Fox, and Team EnVyUs. Predicting how a lineup will come together if all members speak the same language and come from the same country is difficult. Predicting how a lineup will come together with various imports is near-impossible. Phoenix1 were placed in a nebulous “wait and see” category by most commentators and analysts.

Upon seeing, Phoenix1 made for an interesting specimen. Aggressive jungler Rami “Inori” Charagh had already impressed on P1 last year in their surprise upset over TSM. Now paired with the steady veteran Yoo “Ryu” Sang-ook, Inori was poised for a breakout season. While Phoenix1 rose above other hybrid rosters, they were unable to contend with the top of the league which continued to be dominated by TSM and C9, along with the familiar faces of FlyQuest.

Then Meteos stepped in.

When Meteos returned to the NA LCS on Phoenix1, it was somewhat of an emergency situation. There was no melodramatic ripping out of an intravenous cord with the cry of, “My team needs me!” in the vein of Heo “PawN” Won-seok’s famous substitution according to EDward Gaming’s San Shao in the 2015 LPL playoffs, but with Inori headed home to attend to a personal matter, Phoenix1 chose Meteos as their substitute.

View photos William “Meteos” Hartman and Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong at 2016 Worlds (Riot Games Brazil/lolesportsbr) More

Meteos was admittedly rusty. The same offseason that saw most organizations craft hybrid rosters for also saw Meteos replaced by rookie Juan “Contractz” Arturo Garcia, a top performer for C9’s former Challenger team. The 2016 League of Legends World Championship was not a strong showing from Meteos. Introspective and occasionally self-effacing, Meteos gamely tried to stave this off, but mounting community criticism took its toll.

Three weeks before C9 Challenger became FlyQuest, Cloud9 picked up Contractz as their full-time LCS jungler for the 2017 spring season. It was a smart decision, one that rewarded the team with an undefeated series record through Week 4 and a 16-4 overall game record. Contractz, despite his fair share of rookie mistakes, has proved to be a bright talent and eager student — the new face of the NA jungle alongside fellow rookie Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham. With Galen “Moon” Holgate performing well for FlyQuest, the community clamor for Meteos to return to his former C9 teammates died down. By the time his Phoenix1 debut was announced, he was out of practice.

“I’ve kind of been taking a break from League,” he said on broadcast after his first series with P1. “For six years I’ve played it for 12 hours a day or more. The past few months, I’ve just kind of been chilling. I think my mechanics are pretty bad.” He shook his head while conceding that he did “a moderate bit of feeding.”

Story continues