LoL Roster Moves: ROCCAT sign Blanc and Profit

The news that Jin "Blanc" Seong-min and Kim "Profit" Jun-hyung signed with Team ROCCAT was announced on Inven Global. So far, it’s not clear who will be joining them in the 2018 EU LCS season. Still, is getting two Korean solo laners a good decision for a European team?

Through thick and thin

It’s hard to deny that ROCCAT’s EU LCS run has been underwhelming.

Even though the organization had a few strong showings, most notably against the powerhouse G2 lineup, it failed to translate them into actual playoffs runs. Over the course of 2 years, ROCCAT have been regarded as a textbook example of a bottom-tier team and struggled to make their presence known in the league.

For the story to change, the roster had to too. Still, we can’t help questioning whether these roster moves are the steps in the right direction.

On paper, Blanc and Profit are very promising prospects. The former started his career as the Jin Air Green Wings mid laner before moving to Europe to represent Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). There, he showed up as one of the best mid laners in the EU CS, and fans could even see him hold his ground when he subbed in for G2 Esports in the 2017 Summer Split. However, everyone else on Blanc’s team struggled to support the superstar mid laner, which led to PSG falling apart in the Challenger Series. 

Profit followed a similar storyline. After spending a split on SKT T1’s bench, he went to look for greener pastures in Europe. Unfortunately, he joined the Ninjas in Pyjamas lineup and was relegated from the EU LCS without getting a chance to prove himself. During this time, Profit had several strong performances, but the distinct lack of synergy with his teammates prevented him from unlocking his potential. 

So what’s the problem? Can’t ROCCAT take two good players and make them work?

Well, we would certainly hope so, but the odds are stacked against them. Team ROCCAT have already had issues translating talent into actual results, and that was with European rosters. With Koreans, they’ll have to develop a new communication framework from the ground up, and nothing about ROCCAT’s past shows us that they’re actually capable of accomplishing such a feat. 

Then, they also need to sign three more players that will be comfortable playing with imports. And while this isn’t a huge challenge on its own, there are far too many things that can go wrong here with so much on their plate. And in ROCCAT’s case, they probably will. 

What do you think about Team ROCCAT signing Blanc and Profit for the 2018 EU LCS season? Share your opinion in the comments below!