Bringing a new flair to Europe's yellow snakes. Peter the new head coach of Splyce rebuilt the whole roster coming into 2018. Potential is a good way to describe this new lineup. A mix of veterans and fairly unpolished talents from the past year build the new generation of the golden snakes. Behind all that process is a maestro, their coach Peter.

Peter coached the Brazilian team INTZ before joining Splyce for the 2018 season. He started in 2016 as their analyst when the roster was the still the dominant five with Yang, Revolta, Tockers, Micao and Jockster who now are reunited in Keyd Stars for the 2018 CBLoL split. They were in many aspects the best team in Brazil even before Peter joined the team. However they were not successful internationally, so the team brought in Peter to advance their expertise in macro play and help scouting enemy teams. He would not only bring a level of knowledge towards map movement and the use of power spikes that wasn’t very common in Brazil during that time. INTZ was already played from the jungle, creating pressure around the mid lane and timing the waves for their advantage. It was a team that built this concept for them with their former coach Abaxial. However the team disbanded after their worlds appearance and despite a fairly successful year in 2016, Peter had to rebuild their lineup from scratch. He used a similar approach already with INTZ in 2017 as he used here with Splyce.

So let’s understand Peter’s INTZ. He built around their bot lane Micao and Jockster, as they were the only ones left from the 2016 roster. Leaving him with one shot caller in Jockster and one solid and always consistent performing ad carry in Micao. Most important he had already two veterans.

Peter looks when building a team the possibility to shape them around coordinated map play. Nothing is done without preparation and for that, he needs experienced shot callers. So he already has a consistent bot lane, that until this point played already for a long time together and at that time the best support in Brazil. They were not without their flaws, but they can be the pillar to build the team around. Anyways, what he needs now is a carry player. So he looked for two players from INTZ’s b team and he found Shini and Envy.

Shini was a veteran jungler that had a break due to a boosting ban and was fighting his way up through the challenger series and Envy was a newcomer and mid laner that showed great individual mechanics and lane control over the year. With that, he not only found an already synergized duo, but also two players with the huge individual potential to grow. So the team could continue to play mid-centric as the 2016 INTZ used to play. Also finding high-level jungle and top laners in Brazil is a bit difficult as the talent pool in these two roles is a lot smaller than mid laners and ADCs for example. So he rounded up the roster, with possibly one of Brazil’s most underrated top laners because he was only known for his unusual champion pool, the top laner Ayel. Ayel was the most interesting pickup of the team, a player that already had some CBLOL experience, didn’t shine on meta champions but if he would be able to pick his Zed top lane, he would be able to carrsingle-handedlyly out of the lane. He was the highest-ranked player in Brazilian SoloQ several times and talent was definitely not the problem here.

Peter would not only show him how to play the meta champions on an acceptable level, but he would use his top laner's strengths to force out bans and also use creative strategies around his top laner to win some matches. He saw was the talent of a player and he knew how to use it. Even if the INTZ of 2017 dropped out in the semis against Pain Gaming wasn’t considered a success for the organization, he definitely had built a team, that was capable of playing good League of Legends. And if the meta didn’t shift towards long and late team fights that were the strengths of Pain Gaming, the team might have even made it through to the finals. Anyways when it came to game plan execution and map rotation they maintained the prowess of the previous roster, even with the new players.

This is the same approach used to build the new Splyce. Peter looked for players with the right mindset, players still able to learn and grow around a solid pillar of veterans.

Even if Kobbe was the only Splyce member that stayed on the roster, the team was built around their two shot callers, Odoamne and Kasing. The two veterans have a lot of experience and are some of Europe's best in their positions, or at least were at some point in the past two years. They have flexible champion pools and play whatever it is necessary for the team to succeed, while also being leaders for the team. Kobbe rounds up a solid bot lane with Kasing. A bot lane that can play consistently without having to risk winning the lanes in order to do their part for the team. Their mid to late game positioning will be much more key than going ahead of their opponents on the bottom side of the map.

So they can focus on their mid and jungle duo Xerxe and Nisqy. Two players with some experience, talent and still a lot of room to grow. Xerxe showed what he is capable of with UoL in 2017. Although the team hit their potential really quickly and wouldn’t grow as much in the long run. He can play aggressive and he can play to scale. Xerxe can lead the team and set up for Nisqy during the early game. Nisqy is yet still to be proven as a talent. Despite good showings in his time with Fnatic Academy, his time at Envy was more lackluster and the team didn’t perform too well until the end of the summer split. However, he brings individual talent and a good lane control to build around.

Comparing this Splyce and the 2017 INTZ there is a significant similarity. Peter thinks of everybody being able to assist and compliment each other. Everybody brings in something for the team that another player wouldn’t and making them all to important pieces of the puzzle. Splyce might not have the best of the best right now, but they can be the best as a unit one day. They have to understand their work as a team and also understand each other. It wouldn’t surprise me if the team plays just like the 2017 INTZ roster around coordinated side lane control and manipulating their power spikes. The downside of this strategy is that it requires on-point communication and the team might need some time to get used to it. With that a slow start might be very realistic for Splyce in the season, but for that their long-term plans might be exactly what they will need to succeed in the summer split.

The system is fairly logical and the approach very similar to previous works of Coach Peter Dun. It is said that coaches leave their mark and you can see the coaches style in the way the team plays just like you can see the style of a painter in the way he uses the brushes. Splyce will definitely be a team to keep an eye on, as they grow and possibly become one of Europe’s new powerhouses.

Photo Credit : lolesports Flickr

Disclaimer: The following article was written freely based on the author's opinion, and it may not necessarily represent Inven Global's editorial stance. 

About the Author: 
Hello guys, Alexandre Weber also known under the ID: DrPuppet. I'm a Brazilian professional Coach and content creator since 2015, mostly focused on League of Legends. I worked with many teams throughout the years in major and minor regions, but my most known work was with Kaos Latin Gamers from Chile in 2015, where we played the International Wildcard Finals against Pain Gaming. Since then I have been studying Cinema in Hamburg and creating content on youtube and twitch, besides writing for respected sites in Esports. You can find me on the social networks under @drpuppetlp and on Twitch under DrPuppet.
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