Veteran League of Legends player and 2010 Worlds finalist sOAZ is taking a year break from competitive play, the top laner announced.
Immortals terminated the contracts of sOAZ, ADC Altec, support Gate, and mid laner Eika, along with coach GotoOne, earlier today following a lackluster year for the LCS team. They failed to make the playoffs in either the Spring or Summer Split and came in last place in the summer.
In his tweet, sOAZ said “the past two years have taken a toll on me,” citing the recent global pandemic keeping him in a foreign country as one of the key reasons for a decline in his mental health. He also mentioned the idea of potentially returning to the scene in a coaching capacity, saying he has had “countless discussions with people over the years telling me that I could be a good coach” and that we could possibly see his coaching debut when he returns.
As one of the few remaining players from the first competitive season of League, sOAZ boasts a career spanning multiple regions and almost 10 years. He made it to the finals of the League World Championship with two separate teams in 2010 and 2018.
His departure from the competitive scene follows a decline in performance after moving to North America from Europe. But the longevity and consistency he’s shown across his career has been nothing short of remarkable.
No further plans have been announced by any of the other ex-Immortals players, many of whom will be actively looking to join teams during the 2020 offseason.
Now, Immortals is left with Apollo and Hakuho in the bottom lane, Insanity in the mid lane, Allorim in the top lane, and both Xmithie and Potluck in the jungle. It’s unknown if Insanity will be the team’s starting mid laner or if the org will sign another player to take over the role.
It’s also unknown if Xmithie will be sticking with the team after being relegated to Immortals’ Academy squad last split. The seven-year pro might want to start for another LCS team next year and could opt for a transfer to another roster.
This also leaves the team without a head coach. It’ll be imperative for this organization to pick up a good leader for this squad moving forward into a new year if they want to reverse their fortunes in 2021.
Earlier this split Schwartz said that the team had to make some difficult decisions over the past week, namely letting go of former GM Keaton Cryer and head coach Zaboutine. All of these moves, however, were all made in preparation for the future of the team.