Jungler Tomio Phanlith "Tomio" Chan is set to be promoted as new starting junger for Shopify Rebellion in the LCS as announced by the organization.
NACL Champion on two teams
Tomio has spent several years in the second tier of North American League of Legends. Initially playing for EG Academy, Tomio garnered attention in 2023 after joining C9 Academy, where he helped the team secure first place in the playoffs.
The following summer, Cloud9 decided to disband their academy team due to Riot's decision to remove the requirement for LCS teams to field sister teams. Consequently, Tomio joined Disguised along with his teammates, top laner Aaron "FakeGod" Lee and support Tristan "Zeyzal" Stidam. Disguised went on to win the Summer 2023 NA Challengers in their first split, allowing the trio to lift the trophy once again with a new team.
Road to LCS
Following their success, three players from Disguised moved up to the LCS. FakeGod and Zeyzal both joined Shopify Rebellion, while AD carry Brandon "Meech" Choi was acquired by 100 Thieves.
This year, Tomio also joined Shopify Rebellion, but initially as a substitute. With his promotion, he will reunite with his former teammates on the biggest stage in North America. As a result, jungler Lee "Bugi" Seong-yeop will move to the substitute position.
Shopify Rebellion finished seventh out of eight LCS teams and will need significant improvement, potentially through this roster change, to compete for a spot at Worlds.
