:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54938547/28089172204_24d551bcc0_k.0.jpg)
Since joining the North American League Championship Series before the 2016 Summer Split, life has not been easy for Team EnvyUs. After an 8-10 opening splits was good enough for sixth place and a first-round playoff exit, the team collapsed in the spring, posting a 3-15 record and finishing in dead last.
NV survived in the promotion tournament after beating Gold Coin United in an intense five-game series, and now the team is doing a little rebuilding prior to the 2017 Summer Split. Mid laner Noh “Ninja” Geon-woo, one of three NV players to start in all 87 of the team’s NA LCS games, has left the team. Replacing him will be former Team Impulse/Phoenix1 mid laner Choi “Pirean” Jun-sik and former Fnatic Academy mid laner Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer, according to Riot’s contract database.
Pirean, a 19-year-old from South Korea, spent the last split as the backup to third team All-Pro NA LCS mid laner Yoo “Ryu” Sang-ook on Phoenix1. He is best known for the two splits he spent as a starter in the NA LCS. Pirean started 20 games for TIP in Spring 2016 (the team went 7-13 in those games), and 41 for Phoenix1 in Summer 2016 (15-26).
Pirean has started a lot of NA LCS games in his career, but hasn’t been a top performer statistically. With TIP in Spring 2016, Pirean ranked ninth among starting mid laners in KDA (2.2), eighth in CSD@10 (-5.4) and tied for eighth in DPM (503). In Summer 2016 with Phoenix1, Pirean once again ranked ninth among starting mid laners in KDA (2.8), eighth in CSD@10 (2.8) and ninth in DPM (531). His most-played champion in pro play is Azir (4-7 in 11 games), and most of his go-to picks are control mages (he’s 2-4 on both Karma and Viktor).
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8541183/34035712575_fd01140f5a_k.jpg)
Nisqy, an 18-year-old from Belgium, was a part of the Fnatic Academy team that won promotion from the EU Challenger Series this split. The team went 16-11 in his 27 games in the mid lane, but he ranked dead last among EU CS mid laners in playoff KDA (1.7) as well as CSD@10 (-3.8 in regular season, -.4.4 in playoffs) and DPM (366 in regular season, 352 in playoffs). Like Pirean (and most pro mid laners), Nisqy is experienced with control mages, but his favored picks sway to higher damage dealers like Syndra (6-2), LeBlanc (6-2) and Cassiopeia (6-1).