Hi everyone,
I provided you with an update following our Spring Split and given our recent roster changes, I’d like to provide our fans with some context regarding our decisions.
As previously mentioned, our performance during the Spring Split was disappointing. It was not up to the standard that we expect for ourselves or that our fans expect of the team. Our direction from the organization is to build and deliver a consistently top-performing team, to win the LEC title and to compete at the highest levels in the World Championships. At MAD Lions, our philosophy as an organization is that “we build teams that win,” with the focus being on the “build”. Talent development and high-risk roster moves have been key to our success and working with rookies has widened the availability of players. This approach allows us to focus on building rosters that coordinate well together, a key factor that has helped us reach Worlds every year since the LEC started. We are going to continue to make roster decisions that we feel are best for us as a team, that take into consideration performance, culture, communication and the human aspect.
Heading into the Summer Split, I committed to doing everything in my power to fix things going forward and to position ourselves strongly for the rest of the season. In speaking with the team, it became clear to us that continuing with the current roster would not give us the best chance of achieving our goals. Something within the team wasn’t “clicking” leaving us disconnected from each other in decisive moments when team chemistry matters the most. And, while some of this was evident from our gameplay, many other factors weren’t visible from the outside, leading me to believe that our team simply wasn’t strong enough to reach the top. Even with all of this, we fell short of the playoffs by just one win.
As a result, we said goodbye to Reeker earlier this week. Reeker does have the work ethic, talent and potential to be a very good player and we wish him all the success in his career ahead. Let me be clear, our Spring Split performance reflects the team, not one individual. If we fail, we fail as a team. The changes we are making are to address the internal balance of the team so that we can become a team that is greater than the sum of its parts through unity, rather than a team of individuals which is how many of us felt this past split. In light of this, we have brought in Nisqy who we believe will complement our team’s internal structure.
On behalf of the coaching staff, players, and the organization, I would like to thank all of our fans for your continued support, especially through times of transition. We’re focused on looking ahead to the Summer Split, applying learnings from the Spring Split to get our performance to a level expected from us and from MAD Lions fans.
Thank you very much,
James “Mac” MacCormack