The level of play in the [LCS](https://stacked.gg/lol/league/lcs/stats) heading into the 2021 season is going to see a massive upgrade. North America as a whole added some premiere talent with blockbuster moves like Cloud9 signing Perkz, TSM adding SwordArt, and Team Liquid acquiring Alphari. While C9/Perkz stole the headlines and TSM/SwordArt set contract records, I see [Team Liquid](https://stacked.gg/lol/team/tl/stats) as the team that won the offseason. TL made just two changes to the roster, but they were exactly what the team needed to take them to the next level.  

First, Team Liquid let go of [Impact](https://stacked.gg/player/impact/stats), their long-time toplaner who had been on the roster since 2017. Despite being a quintessential fan favorite and consistent performer, Impact unfortunately wasn’t enough to get Team Liquid to the next level of competitiveness. If they are going to not only make it to Worlds, but also escape the Groups stage, the toplane needed an upgrade. Impact is a quality LCS toplaner, and has had quite the career for himself, but Alphari stands in a league of his own.  

Team Liquid signed [Alphari](https://stacked.gg/player/alphari/stats) to a three-year deal worth over $3 million. TL is one of the highest valued Esports clubs on Earth, ranking [third](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2019/11/05/awful-business-or-the-new-gold-rush-the-most-valuable-companies-in-esports-are-surging/?sh=c35e4d2324d6) in Forbes’ recent list at over $300 million, presumably with cash on hand. Luckily for TL fans, Alphari is the real deal. He dominated the LEC 2020 Spring split, leading Origen to a second place finish and ranking 1st amongst all toplaners in KDA (4.28), CS per Min (8.49), and Gold per Min (280). He did it through having a wide champion pool that will open up drafting phase opportunities for Team Liquid next season, as well as an ability to dominate laning phase early, crushing opponents in @10-minute differential stats (ranked 1st in [CSD@10](https://stacked.gg/topcharts/csDiffAt10/lec/top), [GD@10](https://stacked.gg/topcharts/goldDiffAt10/lec/top), and [XPD@10](https://stacked.gg/topcharts/xpDiffAt10/lec/top) amongst Summer 2020 [LEC toplaners](https://stacked.gg/charts/lec/top)).  

### “This team is something that we haven’t seen in North America before. Where it’s so flexible, where every single lane can carry. You can play strong side top. You can play around the mid lane. You can play towards the bottom lane.”
#### Tyler Erzberger

Signing such a quality toplaner allows TL to win through all three lanes now. In a [podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThsRXXHnr2M) released back in November, former-ESPN journalist Tyler Erzberger said on the network’s now- defunct Esports podcast that “This team is something that we haven’t seen in North America before. Where it’s so flexible, where every single lane can carry. You can play strong side top. You can play around the mid lane. You can play towards the bottom lane. We’ve seen a lot of these North Americans teams invest a lot of money and you have a very specific playstyle... They can play through all three lanes.” That was said before Team Liquid announced the changes made in the jungle, and it’s even more true now.  

Team Liquid moved on from [Broxah](https://stacked.gg/player/broxah/stats) as their jungler after just one season. Last season was tumultuous for Broxah, having made the move from Europe to NA, carrying all the memeing and criticism that always comes along with the transition. Broxah had his struggles, but TL still had the best LCS record in Summer split and ended up taking games off the likes of Suning and G2 in the Groups phase at Worlds. There are no medals for better-than-expected performances, but TL was certainly no slouch and far outperformed fellow NA-qualifier, TSM, at Worlds.  

Having said that, the move to sign [Santorin](https://stacked.gg/player/santorin/stats) is an absolute win. Broxah’s champion pool was incredibly limited, having only his Lee Sin and Graves to rely on. Santorin doesn’t have this issue, further expanding TL’s drafting phase options on top of Alphari. Santorin also brings some early game aggression that Broxah lacked, leading LCS Summer 2020 junglers in [First Blood%](https://stacked.gg/player/santorin/stats) at 61.11%. He dominated in one of my favorite [LCS matches](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujx0tqZmbYA) in the Summer Playoffs when he brought out Lillia and completely stomped Cloud9’s Blaber, showcasing his elite early game aggression.


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Team Liquid won the offseason by improving an already-impressive roster in the areas it needed most. It was already packed with top-tier talent with stars CoreJJ and Jensen, further bolstering it with world class talents in Alphari and Santorin. Before they were good; now, they’re great. And the 2021 season will show that.

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Why Team Liquid Won The Offseason

younglawrence

@younglawrence

6:17AM on Jan 12, 2021

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