North American League Championship Series has once again seen a Team SoloMid marksmen role change. Jason “Wildturtle” Tran has left the team after only five months to join FlyQuest as their starting ADC.

How Turtle Went Wild

Ever since Shan “Chaox” Huang, the narratives coming out of the marksmen role have been closer to a sports anime than the processions of an Esports athlete. Starting with his breakout performance as a sub for Chaox, in which he got a pentakill on Caitlin, Wildturtle has become the epitome of aggression in the ADC role. Before his time on TSM, WildTurtle was found buying BF Swords on the Rift for Quantic Gaming, a team that would later become Cloud 9.

Wildturtle made his claim to fame with his negligence of defensive items on ADCs in early Season 3. His double phantom dancer build path on the likes of Caitlin, his unexpected yet consistent objective control with Jinx Ultimates, and his knack for flashing forward are all characteristics that have defined Turtle as one of the wildest ADCs of all time.

In December of 2015, Wildturtle was benched from TSM by the call of Andy “Reginald” Dinh due to poor performances. This was a compounding event, as tensions between Wildturtle and Reginald, former teammate and owner, had been growing since the two were teammates in Season 3. Let’s not forget this gem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBMjvLJAGsQ.

After leaving TSM late in 2015, WildTurtle went to Immortals for a nearly unprecedented 17-1 Spring Split. Sadly this success did not translate to tournament performances, and team Immortals would dissolve. The 2016 Immortals lineup would see big change as Adrian “Adrian” Ma went over to Phoenix1, Heo “Huni” Seong-hoon went to SKT, and Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin signed with Team Liquid. WildTurtle would then return to TSM, temporarily as a substitute for Peter “DoubleLift” Peng. This substitution eventually held as DoubleLift temporarily retired from the LCS up until his timely bailout of Team Liquid later on in the 2017 Spring Split.

WildTurtle v DoubleLift

While most fans lean towards DoubleLift on the Turtle v DoubleLift debate, the paramount answer to this debate revolves around what season the two players are being compared in. Both WildTurtle and DoubleLift have had their ups and downs throughout their careers, making the two players difficult to compare. This, alongside the variables of their teammates’ performances, makes me hesitant to stake a claim in this heated debate.

I will, however, say that it is improbable to expect a player to perform to their fullest capacity if they are playing in an unhealthy team environment: WildTurtle on TSM in 2014. It is also easy for a player to shine when their teammates are some of the best players in their roles: WildTurtle on Immortals. A player’s stats without proper context means little. For example, DoubleLift’s 3.6 KDA in the 2017 Spring Split is unimpressive. However, when taken into account that this KDA was earned on a Team Liquid during their road to relegations, this 3.6 means something entirely different.

Regardless of whatever personal stake one has in this debate, both DoubleLift and Wildturtle have shown to be the best of the best at times. That being said, both players are unavoidably human and succumb to emotions and faults that will inevitably take hold of them on stage.

Can Turtles Fly?

Rejoining his old teammates, Daerek “LemonNation” Hart, “Hai” Du Lam, and An “Balls” Van Le, WildTurtle should feel right at home with flashing forward. This veteran squad fondly referred to as the Vanguards of the league, has already proven to be a threat even without the strengths of WildTurtle in their bottom lane. FlyQuest’s comparatively rookie jungler, Galen “Moon” Holgate, has proved to be a threat on the Rift, hoisting FlyQuest to victories early on in the Spring Split. While FlyQuest’s Spring Split record tells a story in itself, with early success and later failures, they may be able to adapt to more meta-strategies in the place of their “cheesy” picks with the addition of WildTurtle. Both TSM and FlyQuest have proven to be great teams. With FlyQuest’s weakest link being their bottom lane in this most recent Spring Split, FlyQuest may be more of a threat than they were ever expected to be.

Feature Image Courtesy of Lolesports Flickr

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