LoL: Why you should be a fan of every team in the LTA North

For the last several years, the orgs competing in North American League of Legends have felt like a revolving door. In the newly-formed LTA North, with new players from across the Americas, it can be hard to keep track of — or care about — every team in the league.

This year, though, more than ever, competition in NA is extremely close. Every team has the potential to clinch a podium finish, and every team has a massive contingent of fans cheering them on.

Here's why you should be a fan of all of them.

This team needs no introduction. In the modern era of LoL esports, no North American organization has ever performed as well as FlyQuest. At Worlds 2024, they took the LCK's first seed to five games with new strategies and unique picks, and earned fans around the world for it. At MSI, they could've (and probably should've) taken down BLG in the lower bracket.

Most people see FLY as the strongest team in the West right now, and that's not just because of superstar jungler Kacper "Inspired" Słoma. FlyQuest's young North American botlane, too, has become downright terrifying. When Fahad "Massu" Abdulmalek and Alan "Busio" Cwalina joined the team, few expected them to redefine NA LoL. Now, they're fan favorites.

If you're picking a team to root for, FlyQuest is the obvious choice — but not everyone loves the fairy tale heroes.

Cloud9 has been the second best team in North America all year. Since winning the LCS Championship in 2022 and competing at Worlds as NA's first seed, C9 has only failed to achieve a podium finish once. It's been brutal. Last split, they were a single backdoor away from glory.

Every split for two years, C9 has aimed for the trophy — and they've been outmatched, if narrowly, every single time. The team hasn't qualified for an official international event, or lifted a trophy, since 2023, despite consistently assembling title-favorite rosters.

Throughout all of this, the players have only gotten hungrier: The team scrimmed and bootcamped during MSI and even flew to Riyadh for a tournament in the offseason. Three of them — Robert "Blaber" Huang, Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen, and Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme — know what it's like to be feared: they've spent years with their competition nipping at their heels. All of C9, especially in the bot lane, is at the top of their game right now.

Individually, every C9 player could be the best in the region, or the West, on any given day. All eyes may be on FlyQuest, but that's only because C9 are right behind them — everyone knows better than to underestimate these two.

Shopify Rebellion finished in third place last split. On its own, that should be enough to earn them fans: the legendary Juan "Contractz" Garcia and Cristian "Palafox" Palafox duo are back in form, Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami is playing some of the best League of his career, and the team has genuinely incredible chemistry together.

The best part of their journey, though, might've been watching SR co-owner Ludwig Ahgren's costreams of their games. As he's grown increasingly attached to League as a game, he's become increasingly invested in the team's success. Costreams are at their best when the streamer has skin in the game — watching Ludwig lose his mind over SR's psychotic, outplay-heavy, late-game-focused playstyle was a treat.

It makes you want to watch them even more.

Team Liquid shouldn't be this low on this list. They were the best team in NA for most of 2024, challenged some of the best teams in the world at MSI and Worlds, then represented the region at First Stand after a title win in São Paulo. What went wrong? Also, where's Um "UmTi" Sung-hyeon?

If their Split 1 win was the LTA's Cinderella story, the clock struck midnight at First Stand. TL was unceremoniously eliminated from the tournament in last place, forced to return to LA and reconsider everything.

With UmTi's step back from competitive play, the chaos around TL's roster decisions and practice schedule has been mostly explained: The team, left reeling from their loss at First Stand, couldn't handle the pressure of integrating Ganbat "Yuuji" Ulziidelger, especially with the added uncertainty of UmTi's position on the team.

They couldn't grind their way out of the slump. They just desperately needed a break, and SR gave them one. This TL roster has always been greater than the sum of their parts; if this offseason was as good for them as rumors have claimed — and G2's scrim results have seemingly confirmed — TL will be a title contender once again.

Without his anime training weights, facing Sean "Yeon" Sung is a terrifying prospect. There are only two spots for the LTA North at Worlds, and he's never missed the tournament since his debut.

100 Thieves is leaving competitive League of Legends at the end of 2025. This roster — universally beloved for their all-in mindset, unpredictable playstyle, and ragtag, underdog chemistry — is coming to an end. Even if the new LTA team retains every 100T player, jungler Kim "River" Dong-woo is headed to Korean military service at the end of the year. He's one of the most storied, beloved players in the history of NA LoL. He deserves a happy ending.

Lim "Quid" Hyeon-seung, potentially the best midlaner in the league, has finally proved that the criticism surrounding his debut split was misplaced. When he's on, he seems unstoppable (unless Rayan "Sniper" Shoura starts singing Justin Bieber songs — that seems to grate on him no matter what).

This team ints in scrims and turns it on for stage. Half their comms are brainrot. They're a mishmash of personality and humor. Their vibes are incredible, even when they're losing. This split will end in heartbreak, but they have a chance — however small — to make it hurt a little less for 100T fans.

Dignitas, especially after the controversial benching of rookie toplaner Jett "Srtty" Joye, is the heart of every good narrative. The team has become infamous for constant roster changes. Mid-year and — occasionally — mid-split, players and rosters have been swapped out on a whim for years. That's what makes this roster, featuring DIG mainstay Jonah "Isles" Rosario and returning ADC Frank "Tomo" Lam, so interesting.

The team is full of known names and expected talents — they're not doubted, they're entirely overlooked. Everyone, in casting DIG as the villains of the story, ranks the team at the bottom of the list. Every time, the team punches above its weight. For the last few splits, it's been remarkably close.

The villains have had enough time to lick their wounds. Their results may finally quiet the haters.

LYON brought in two heavy hitters at the start of the year: LCK CL midlaner Kang "Saint" Sung-in and LCK botlaner Park "Hena" Jeung-hwan. Individually, both players lived up to expectations — everyone thought they'd be mechanically unmatched, and they were right. At their best, LYON's core carries looked international-class. And yet, the team still ended in 7th place.

That wasn't any single player's fault. Frankie "Zamudo" Lin is replacing Eric "Licorice" Ritchie, but LYON's problem wasn't a weak toplaner — the team just seemed to fall apart randomly. The whole roster has had flashes of genuine individual brilliance, and LYON is one of the most engaged, content-focused brands in NA. If they can start working together, they definitely have the raw talent to make their fans proud.

DSG was always going to have a rough time adjusting to Tier 1 League of Legends. The org is, after all, famously broke. Midlaner Felix "Abbedagge" Braun and ADC Jeremiah "ScaryJerry" Leathe — the two biggest weaknesses of the roster — have been replaced by Isaac "DARKWINGS" Chou and Cho "Rahel" Min-seong, respectively. On paper, it's an overall upgrade; Rahel should be a more consistent carry, though DARKWINGS should struggle about as much as ScaryJerry did, since the NA pool of midlaners is just as stacked as in ADC.

The moves are a gamble, but something had to change; the best NACL and LRN teams will face off against DSG at the end of the year regardless of how well the team performs competitively. With fans of Jeremy "Disguised Toast" Wang waiting for the team to finally make an impact, they've certainly got a lot of pressure on them. If it works out, though, the org will finally be able to build something in League.