There have been plenty of roster moves throughout the 2021 LCS Summer Split, and FlyQuest is ready to make the season just a little bit busier. The League of Legends team announced it will be swapping out veteran top laner Licorice, AD carry Johnsun, and support Dreams for the last day of week four.
In their places, the team will be subbing in three of their Academy players in Kumo, Tomo, and Diamond for one game against Golden Guardians. This decision was made this week before the LCS matches against TSM and Team Dignitas. Next week, Licorice, Johnsun, and Dreams will return to the starting lineup, but the coaching staff will continue to monitor the players’ progress.
“We’ve been pleased with Kumo, Tomo and Diamond’s performance in Academy, and wanted to reward them with an LCS start,” FlyQuest’s general manager Nick Phan said in a statement. “We believe that stage experience is a crucial element in developing talent, and we’ll continue to provide that opportunity for any of our deserving Academy players.”
This season, FlyQuest haven’t looked too hot through the summer heat, posting a lackluster 3-8 record through the first three and a half weeks of competitive play. The team currently has the most deaths of any LCS team with 170, while also having the worst early game in the league with an average difference of -1,200 gold at 15 minutes, according to Oracle’s Elixir. They just haven’t been able to keep up with the rest of the league’s firepower and team coordination, and it shows in their results.
FlyQuest also isn’t the first team to reward its Academy players for good performances. Evil Geniuses recently subbed in Contractz to replace Svenskeren on its main roster for one match, since he’s been playing at a high level in both Academy and the LCS Proving Grounds. In this situation, Svenskeren will also remain the starting jungler after this weekend.
You can catch Kumo, Tomo, and Diamond in action when they take the stage today at 6pm CT.
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