SR Damonte on Shopify Rebellion’s 2026 ambitions and Zinie’s arrival

2025 had a bittersweet ending for Shopify Rebellion. The organization fronted by popular content creators “Ludwig” Ahgren and Charlie “MoistCr1TiKaL” White kept most of their pieces for the return of the LCS. In an interview with Sheep Esports, SR’s Assistant Coach, Tanner “Damonte” Damonte describes his promising new mid laner, Yoo “Zinie” Baek-jin, as having a deeply analytical gameplay style, the lessons they’ve taught each other, and his partnership with Head Coach Seong “Reven” Sang-hyeon.

Tanner "Damonte" Damonte: "I mean, every single person who participates on the competitive side of our team. I want everyone on the team to have ownership of our results. It’s very common in esports for people to be really passive, especially when you see veterans who coast. I want everyone to feel like their effort will make a difference within the team. That’s what ownership means to me.

Damonte: Reven is a strategic mastermind, where I think I am more well-rounded. We balance each other quite well, where I provide organization, structure, and define our process throughout the weeks, months, and splits. It works really well. Our personalities are similar. We share fantastic humor, and we enjoy each other as people. This opened our communication for any feedback. Reven has progressed as a human coach in the last six months, which is awesome to see. It’s helping us both grow.

Damonte: In the big picture for 2026, we plan to be a top 4 team. Everyone on our team is a veteran, except for Zinie, who is the new, young hot guy. For this first split, we don’t have him in America yet. Six out of eight rosters are struggling with visa issues. Our goal is to use this time period with our substitute and achieve something without being negative.

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EDIT: Zinie has arrived to NA according to Damonte himself!

Damonte: We spent three weeks with him in Korea. He is outspoken with the team and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. I’m impressed by how strategic his gameplay is. During our conversations about the 2026 season, he gravitated towards more advanced concepts, like 'how does the midlane quest affect the quest in the top or botlane?' Many young players are hyper-focused on the laning phase and mechanics, but his coaches at KT Challengers did a tremendous job expanding his horizon on how to win a League of Legends game. That’s not saying he is bad at the laning phase, but he thinks deeply about the game.

Damonte: Zinie has taught me extensive intricacies of the laning phase. He has profound knowledge of when to take what [runes] and what to do [during the game]. From my end, the designation of vocabulary to help him succeed within the team. We need more time with him for more impactful lessons.

Damonte: The offseason was quite long, and we had much time to prepare. We interviewed a vast number of players and coaches to determine what our coaching staff would look like. It involved meticulous planning and meetings. We have big plans for Zinie's first day in America.

Damonte: I worked closely with MindBodyEsport (Edward Cleland) during my time as positional coach in NRG. He taught me that avoiding monotony is important for players. I come in 15 minutes before the team, lay out the yoga mats, change the whiteboard, open the blinds, and then the players come in, and they’re like: “Nice. My coach is ready to go.”

Damonte: I'm excited.

Damonte: Trying to create more love within our team.

Damonte: Yes, 100%. I think everyone is on board. We have these veterans who are ready to reclaim the trophies they have gotten before.

Damonte: It's always Tanner Time, baby!"