One of the stories of this summer was the signing of Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi by Sandbox Gaming as head coach. His arrival in the LCK made him the first Western coach to take the reins of a top-ranked South Korean League of Legends team.
After a terrible losing streak, Yamato's arrival after serving a period of quarantine served as a turning point. Although Playoffs were an unrealistic dream, SANDBOX strung together several consecutive wins, finishing with a creditable 7-11 record for the season — tied for sixth with KT Rolster.
"It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I'll no longer be the Head Coach of SANDBOX," Yamato said in a statement on the org's YouTube channel. "I've chosen not to re-sign due to personal reasons, and it's very bitter because I know the story, and what we began, it is far from finished."
He went on to pay tribute to the Korean team.
"I know that the structure and the players that are within SANDBOX are very, very capable. SANDBOX's future is going to be bright."
While the future is unclear for Yamato, he did mention in the video that he would go more into details regarding his situation at a later date. As comfortable on camera as he is as a coach, he has collaborated with Riot Europe again during Worlds as an analyst.
In a surprising move, former Team Vitality head coach and LEC analyst Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi has joined Korean LCK side SANDBOX Gaming as their head coach for the Summer 2020 split.
