Splyce looks to rebound with same lineup, new coach

Many European League of Legends teams have had successful first years. But nearly none have been as successful as Splyce, who rebounded from an eighth-place finish in Spring 2016 to making Worlds later that year after finishing runners-up to G2 in the Summer playoffs and taking down the Unicorns of Love in the Regional Finals.

The secret to Splyce’s success has been stability (well, that and strong late game team-fighting). After debuting with an all-Danish roster in the spring, Splyce made just one change before the successful summer: swapping in Slovenian support Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle. Turns out he was a perfect fit for the Splyce bottom lane, and they left the lineup untouched going into Spring 2017.

Last split was a bit of a set back for Splyce, finishing in a distant third place in Group B with a 7-6 regular season record. A 3-2 quarterfinal defeat to Misfits saw a swift end to Splyce’s postseason, but the team returns with the same lineup for the third straight split.

Splyce

lol.esportswikis.com

Spring 2017: 7-6, lost in quarterfinals

Additions: Fayan “Gevous” Pertijs

Departures: Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi

Coach: Fayan “Gevous” Pertijs

Lineup:

• Top: Martin “Wunder” Hansen
• Jungle: Jonas “Trashy” Andersen
• Mid: Chres “Sencux” Laursen
• Bot: Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup
• Support: Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle

Subs: Jesper “Gripex” Terkildsen (jungle), Annes Ravkic (mid)

There is one notable difference, however: the man at the top. After three straight splits molding Splyce’s young roster, Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi has moved on to Vitality. At Splyce, he has been replaced by Fayan “Gevous” Petijs, who recently led RED Canids to a somewhat surprising CBLoL Spring Split title and looks to do the same with Splyce.

Splyce has been handed essentially the same tough Group B again, with Unicorns of Love and H2K likely favored to finish above them. But there are two notable differences about the group this time: 3-10 Vitality, not a threat in the spring, is now coached by YamatoCannon, and 0-13 Origen has been replaced by the certainly superior Mysterious Monkeys.

Otherwise, everything’s still about the same. Splyce still has reliability in the top lane in Wunder, one of the top bottom lanes in Europe, and will hope for strong enough performances in the middle of the map from Trashy and Sencux to stay in the playoff picture and perhaps supplant UOL or H2K at the top of the Group B standings.

We’ll find out early, too — or at least find something out. The very first series of the EU LCS 2017 Summer Split will feature Splyce vs. H2K, starting at 11 a.m. ET. That’s Splyce’s only series this week, but next week the team will have a chance to prove itself against its old coach and the new team on the block, with series against both Vitality and the Mysterious Monkeys.