The Potential Of Golden Guardians' New Lineup

After releasing their entire roster from the 2020 season, Golden Guardians decided to rebuild their LCS team from the ground up. Last season’s squad was about two years in the making, adding pieces that did, and did not, bring the level of play up over the course of that run. Now, the organisation has a chance to start that process from scratch, but with more experience and a better idea of how to build a roster that can compete in the LCS. 

In this new iteration of the Guardians, youth and development are front and centre. The team has signed three rookies, an imported player with no experience in the LCS, and one sole League veteran. So what makes this team so exciting to Golden Guardians fans, and LCS fans, despite no name recognition even from those that pay attention to Academy?

The answer: this squad's potential.

Top Lane and Jungle

These two positions are lumped together because both players have played together for a while and could potentially make or break this roster.  Aiden "Niles" Tidwell in the top lane and Ethan "Iconic" Wilkinson in the jungle are both from the collegiate team Maryville University. They have been in and around the North American League of Legends scene for some time, but neither have played in Academy.

They have skipped a step in the LCS development system, but have a good reason for it. Both players have multiple accounts in Challenger on the ranked ladder and have dominated the collegiate circuit in their time with Maryville University. Together, they won the UCLA Esports Summer Invitational, the HUE 2020 Invitational, and the RCL season nine championship.

Skipping Academy and shooting into the LCS may be a tough transition for the duo, but a trial by fire may be the best way for these two to reach their full potential and really develop into LCS level players. Golden Guardians have said as much already, calling this team a developmental roster, and much of that development rides on these two players. 

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Mid Lane

Mid lane is where those who watch LCS Academy will say the real potential of this roster lies. Nicholas Antonio "Ablazeolive" Abbott will be the starting mid laner for the team next season and is a move that is years in the making. He has been in the North American scene since 2015 and was on TSM’s Academy squad for two years before joining the Guardians in 2019.

Ablazeolive has been hyped as a domestic talent since his time with TSM and is finally getting his shot to show the league what that talk was all about. While he may not have the accolades in Academy that some rookies coming in may have, his best result was a second-place finish and winning the playoffs of the 2019 Academy Spring Split; he definitely has the statistics.

Ablazeolive was top three in kill percentage, gold difference, and first blood percentage out of all mid laners who played more than 15 games in Academy in the 2020 Summer Split. He was also only given the opportunity to counter-pick his lane in 33% of those games. He is a serviceable mid laner that plays for his team and does not lose lane easily. In the team’s first developmental split, expect Ablazeolive to be the rock that his team falls on when it needs a play to kickstart a game.

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Bot Lane

This is the only position that does not really need an introduction. Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes has been in the LCS for five years now and has been a part of the best North American international result, MSI Finals, but has also finished in the bottom half of the league table in recent years.

As the lone veteran, Stixxay may get more breathing room to become a leader and guide these young players than he was shown in his last year with CLG as his team was constantly shifting around him. While Stixxay has never been touted as one of the best in his position, and it could be argued that he has already reached his potential as a player, he has a chance to grow beyond his former organisation and into something greater.

The real potential for Stixxay in this team is what he can be outside of the CLG brand and make a name for himself outside of the organisation, like so many promising players before him.

Support

Leandro "Newbie" Marcos was probably the most surprising signing out of the entire bunch, and that is saying a lot. He is the second LLA player to be signed by an LCS team, Brandon "Josedeodo" Joel Villegas beat him by a couple of days, and is highly touted in his own region. He has won multiple LLA titles and has even made an international appearance at MSI 2017.

Newbie’s role in this team should be similar to Stixxay’s, a leader that can anchor a core of green players while giving them room to improve. His champion pool is also perfect for this role already, with champions like Janna, Thresh and Nami as some of his most played.

Newbie’s expectation in this roster is to show off not only his own potential as a player in the LCS but also a player from the LLA and Latin America.

The Team

Golden Guardians are not coming into the 2021 season wanting to compete for the top of the LCS again. Its organisational leader coined this team as in development because it knows that this next season is going to be a rough one with this many new players. But, in the back half of next season, or even into 2022, this team should shed its developmental status and be ready to show the LCS its true potential.

Images via lolesports