Season 2023 for the League of Legends Circuit October is set to begin and will be like no other. A new format for qualification and new faces, both in terms of teams and players, are set to join the competition.
Team Bliss is one of these new teams, having acquired the spot previously owned by Gravitas shortly before DreamHack Melbourne last September.
The established organisation, most prominently known for their presence in Rainbow Six Siege and PUBG: Battlegrounds, will make their first foray into MOBA’s with League Of Legends this January.
Despite being new to the league as a team, their playing and coaching staff consist primarily of previously-established talent to the LCO and Oceanic League of Legends.
Head coach Calvin Lee heads up the coaching staff. The veteran journeyman starts his seventh year as a coach in Oceania, previously a part of Kanga Esports in 2022. Joining him as an assistant coach is Julian “Bloodline” Mora.
The playing roster sees a score of established talent returning to competition, as well a number of relative rookies. Tristan “Lived” Fulcher joins as the top-laner for his fourth competitive season, having played with Kanga for the 2022 campaign.
The veteran top has also played with The Chiefs and Mammoth, as well as being a unused loanee to Peace for the 2020 World Championship.
Raaz “Whynot” Alfassi Berman joins the team as the jungler. The New Zealand native will get his first chance to be a starter after spending his 2022 competitive season as a substitute for Pentanet, and seeing some brief cameos in the jungle in 2021 for Legacy.
Joining the team in the mid-lane is international rookie Ji-Myeong “Daystar” Yoo — previously competing under the name Sirius.
Daystar has been a part of the LCK team Kwangdong Freecs and their amateur training system, as well as competitive stints in the Kespa Cup, KeG Championship and the LCK Academy Series under various organisations and teams.
Wrapping out the team is the botlane duo of Samil “leemas” Kip and Ben “Benvi” Moore. Both players made their professional debut in 2022 with Kanga, with bot-laner leemas joining the squad at the start of the year, whilst support benvi, who had previously spent time coaching under the alias fruitcake, joined the squad part-way through Split 2.
The duo linked up at that point and have never looked back, then leading the Kanga resurgence which saw that team become playoff contenders, then participants in their fourth place finish for Split 2.
David “Beats” Nguyen-Dang also joins as a substitute. He most recently played support for Peace, but also had prior experience playing mid-lane back in his rookie season.
Despite this being their first season under the Bliss organisation, this squad has what it takes to contend for playoffs.
They have taken a solid proven core and tweaked it into what should be an even stronger overall composition. The pieces are in place to make a well oiled machine that should be able to challenge in every game they play this season.
The 2023 LCO Split 1 approaches, and over the coming weeks Snowball Esports will introduce each and every time ahead of the season opener. Follow Snowball Esports for the up to date details and predictions as season 2023 begins.
