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Phoenix1 has made a big offseason signing, landing former Immortals support Adrian Ma in the first official signing of the North American offseason, as first reported by ESPN’s Tyler Erzberger.
"I appreciated my year on Immortals and the opportunities that they provided me. During the off season I carefully considered some of the many options I had and how I wanted to move forward for the next year. After talking with Phoenix1, I realized that they had two components that made my decision easier; strong domestic players in Zig and Inori that I would want to work with, and a fresh team that has a legitimate chance at making a successful run at playoffs. While talking to the owner, Michael Moore, it was very apparent that he took all of my concerns and ideas for the team into consideration. I feel playing for Phoenix 1 will help me grow, both as a player and as a person," Adrian told ESPN.
Born in Houston, the 19-year-old Adrian is best known as the starting support for Team Impulse in 2015 and for Immortals in 2016. He has made four consecutive NA LCS playoff appearances, finishing in fourth place twice with TIP in 2015 and third place twice with Immortals in 2016.
Prior to his time with TIP, Adrian was a scholarship player at Robert Morris University, the best collegiate League program in the United States. He became known for his unconventional support style this year with Immortals, frequently choosing enchanter supports like Soraka and Nami even when tank supports were considered the meta choice.
Phoenix1 joined the NA LCS prior to the 2016 Summer Split, buying the spot previously occupied by Team Impulse. After losing its first nine series with an abysmal 3-18 game record, P1 made a remarkable turn around at the end of the season, winning five of its last nine series. Phoenix1 was the only team to win a series against eventual champions Team SoloMid, and ended up finishing in eighth place before sweeping Echo Fox in the Promotion/Relegation Tournament to secure a spot in the 2017 Spring Split.
Erzberger also reports Phoenix1 has renewed the contracts of top laner Derek "Zig" Shao, jungler Rami "Inori" Charagh, and mid laner Jun-sik “Pirean” Choi. The team is reportedly trying out AD Carries to join Adrian in the bottom lane while bootcamping in South Korea.