These 3 Former LCS Pros Proved They've Still Got It
The 2023 League Championship Series season has come to an end, but that doesn’t mean LoL esports competition has ceased in North America. Streamer and Disguised owner Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang hosted the inaugural NA Legends Invitational last weekend. The online event was hosted by Disguised Toast on his Twitch channel, and featured LCS casters Clayton “CaptainFlowers” Raines and Isaac "Azael" Cummings-Bentley casting matches for the four-team tournament. The four teams all had one thing in common: a roster comprised of three streamers, one LCS pro, and one North American Challenger League pro.
While the active players were the clear standouts throughout the tournament, a few of the former LCS pros competing in the tournament showed that their skills are still pretty sharp for being out of the competitive space. Let’s take a look at three that stood out in particular.
Photo by Tina Jo/Riot Games via ESPAT
Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black
It was aphromoo’s Watchmen who won the NA Legends Invitational in dominant fashion. They went undefeated in the round robin, triumphed over William “Scarra” Li’s Water Boys in the semifinals, and defeated Moe “Yassuo” Abdalrhman’s team, Yassuo’s WildTurtles, in the final 2-1.
Through the 10 years of his LCS career, aphromoo was remarkably consistent. Aside from an off year in 2019 on 100 Thieves, aphromoo provided many teams with strong shotcalling and reliable leadership in addition to selfless, confident play from the support position. Jungler Perry Chen “Perry” Norman and mid laner-swapped-bot laner David “Insanity” Challe were the standouts of aphromoo’s Watchmen, but the captain himself proved that his retirement at the beginning of this year was not paired with a decline in ability on Summoner’s Rift.
Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi
Sneaky was remarkably consistent across his seven-year LCS career – with him at the AD carry position, Cloud9 did not miss a single World Championship from 2013 to 2019. After being replaced by C9 for the 2020 season, Sneaky opted to pursue a full-time career as an independent streamer, but never officially ruled out a return to professional play.
Photo courtesy of Riot Games
While Sneaky’s Beakies did not win the NA Legends Invitational, Sneaky himself was at the center of his team’s success at nearly every turn and showcased impressive individual play regardless of his team’s results. Sneaky’s career as a streamer has been nothing short of successful, but if he ever wanted to make a return to the competitive scene, it’s clear that, with a bit of practice, he could still play at the LCS level.
Greyson "Goldenglue" Gilmer
Goldenglue came fresh off of a NACL Summer Playoffs championship victory as the head coach and general manager of Disguised to return to a player role for the first time since his stint as the substitute mid laner for Evil Geniuses in the summer of 2020. Since then, Goldenglue spent two years as the head coach of 100 Thieves Academy, then took a break for the first half of 2023 before accepting his most recent position at DSG.
Photo by Stefan Wisnoski/Riot Games
As the mid laner for aphromoo’s Watchmen, Goldenglue showcased an impressive level of play on Jayce and champion flexibility highlighted by a pocket pick Fizz.
Goldenglue certainly benefitted from the amazing performance of Watchmen jungler Perry, but for someone who has completely transitioned to coaching in the last three years of his career, Goldenglue certainly exceeded expectations.
