Sources: The LCS roster changes that could have happened

The League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) had a relatively quiet offseason ahead of the start of the Summer Split. A total of five player changes, one of them being a temporary substitution, happened before the third split of the season kicks off this Saturday. FlyQuest and Sentinels will continue to bet on consistency, Dignitas will give the keys to a rookie, and LYON is the team with the temporary player. Cloud9 was the most active in the offseason and brought two familiar faces back to the league. However, behind every done deal hides a wide array of potential possibilities that couldn’t materialize.

In addition to official videos shared by the organizations, various sources across the LCS, including team representatives, agents, and players, anonymously shared with Sheep Esports several roster changes that were considered but not formalized.

Dignitas is one of the three teams that made a permanent roster change. After failing to win a series, the team finished the Spring Split in eighth place. The team chose to let top laner Kyeong “" Gyu-tae go. The American organization decided to pick from the wide talent pool the NACL and the CLoL have to offer by promoting Noah “

Denathor

" Erikson as their new top laner. According to our information, the team could have jumped from one Korean top laner to another, as Cho “" Hyeon-seong was an option explored by the team.

Another option explored involved bringing back Victor Alexander “" Chea to his home region. Dignitas couldn’t agree with the American mid laner’s current team, Prime League’s G2 Nord, and retained Cristian “" Palafox as their starter.

In the literal definition of the word, Disguised didn’t really make a roster move. After the Castle was sold during the middle of the Spring Split to LYON, the team brought in Jett “Srtty" Joye as a temporary fit to finish the split. The team barely missed the playoffs, but the organization founded by streamer Jeremy “DisguisedToast” Wang chose to bring him back for the Summer Split.

However, there was a world where Castle would have returned to his former team but in a different role. The Korean top laner would have returned as a coach to help and squeeze every ounce of potential from the 2024 NACL Summer 1st All Pro Team.

When Shopify Rebellion revealed to the fans that Denilson “Ceos" Oliveria was leaving the team and Tristan “Zeyzal" Stidam would make his return, the team faced notorious backlash from the community. Head coach Seong “Reven" Sang-hyeon shared in a video uploaded to their social media the Rebels’ selection process and why they decided to choose the Best Beard in Esports.

According to their video, two of their options, Australian Bill “" Nguyen and Brazilian Gabriel “" Donner Vieira, were impossible because of their nationalities. The former’s visa application would delay his debut to at least Week 3, and the latter, even if he had just won the most recent NACL split, his residency is Brazilian, and the Rebels have their import slots filled. Mingyi “" Li was another name considered, but he expressed his commitment to his current team, NRG.

The last two options involved Ryan “" Jung and Ryan “" Keel, two staple players from NA’s Tier 2 ecosystem. “We felt that, not only the timing within this year, because it’ll only be in Split 3 for the most part,” Reven said on why Shopify didn’t choose the NA talent. “Not only is Ceos a good player, but he also laned with Bvoy for 18 months, so we’re going to lack synergy there.”

If we compare this offseason to the one between the second and third splits of the LTA, the 2026 iteration saw fewer roster changes. Teams are less eager to make changes before the start of the third split of the season; thus, there are fewer players available before the start of the Worlds qualifying split.

However, we’re always welcome to speculate how much the landscape will change when the current season ends. The contracts of eighteen players from six different organizations will expire as Worlds 2026 draws its last breath, or a couple of days after the conclusion of the tournament’s final.

Disguised and Shopify Rebellion are the two teams that could start the 2027 season with a completely new slate. The threat of relegation explains why the former only have one-year contracts, and the latter brought in a new general manager, who could potentially shape next year’s roster to his liking.

Six Korean players could potentially leave the league. 2026 was SEN Ham "" Yoo-jin and TL Park "" Ru-han maiden LCS split, but they were only contracted for the current year. LYON Kim "" Min-cheol returned after a year in the LCK, but has a similar situation with the jungler and the top laner.

FLY Song "" Su-hyeong, LYON Kang "" Sung-in, and TL Jo "" Yong-in have all won titles recently, and are considered part of the backbone of their respective teams. However, their contracts with their current teams expire in 2026. Finally, the two best native bot laners, FLY Fahad "" Abdulmalek and TL Sean "" Sung, have their contracts expiring this season. Could either of them join another team and create a North American super team?