Pobelter has finally found a new home for the upcoming year. The veteran mid laner will be joining FlyQuest in 2019.
.@Pobelter has signed with @FlyQuestSports, sources said on Thursday.https://t.co/xrKeQlkDCV pic.twitter.com/EKe3Jl4EzR
— ESPN Esports (@ESPN_Esports) November 22, 2018
ESPN would report on the news on Thursday evening. With this acquisition, the mid lane talent pool is now significantly smaller for any remaining teams in the market for a mid lane. Multiple teams in the lower half of the standings are still searching for a mid laner and may prove difficult in the coming season. For example, Cloud9 would lose their All-Star mid laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen to Team Liquid, leaving them with a huge vacancy at mid. Other teams like Clutch Gaming, Echo Fox, Golden Guardians, and OpTic Gaming are all in need right now. They may have to reach into the Scouting Grounds rosters for a possible diamond in the rough in 2019.
FlyQuest and their 2018 troubles
The North American organization would struggle immensely in 2018, due to a straight-up lack of talent on the roster. In fact, they would perform worse than their inaugural season. In 2018, the team would finish in eighth place in the Spring Split. For the Summer Split, they wouldn’t fare too well either, finishing in sixth place. There just wasn’t much cohesiveness within the lineup, and their performances would suffer because of it.
As a result, FlyQuest would make a few changes to the roster, letting go multiple members of the team. Now, the only three players who they have under contract are Lucas “Santorin” Tao Kilmer Larsen, Jason “WildTurtle” Tran and now Pobelter. They still need to fill their support and top laner positions, as their current top laner, Lee “Flame” Ho-jong, has been allowed to explore his options for 2019. With the talent they have signed, they may need another big name to push them into the top half of the NA LCS ladder.
Pobelter and his 2018 struggles
Pobelter has been in the NA LCS since 2014 and has been a recognizable face of the region. Also, he would remain one of the more consistent mid laners throughout his years. From 2015, he would play for Counter Logic Gaming, Immortals and finally Team Liquid. However, 2018 would be a difficult year for the veteran NA resident. He would find a bit of difficulty adjusting to the meta, especially in the Summer Split. The team would be forced to lean on superstar ADC, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng for a majority of that split.
The four-time NA LCS champion would find himself outmatched by multiple mid laners, such as Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and Jensen. He would become a glaring weakness for other teams to exploit. This year would culminate in their Worlds 2018 run, where Team Liquid would be run over by the other teams in their group. Mid laners like Lee “Scout” Ye-chan and Son “Ucal” Woo-hyeon would dominate, but overall, Team Liquid did not play well at the tournament.
Final Thoughts
Although Pobelter did struggle in 2018, we hope that the upcoming year is a better one for him. However, FlyQuest needs to build a lineup where he can flourish. If we look at every other team Pobelter has been on, he was never the number one option. On CLG, they had Doublelift to carry games. On Immortals, there was Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon and Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin. On Team Liquid, there was Doublelift and Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong. If FlyQuest is going to make this work, they need to pick up a big name top lane free agent.
What are your thoughts on FlyQuest picking up Pobelter? Let us know what you think in the comments below! If you want more League of Legends coverage, check us out here!
