Image credit: LoL Esports
German mid laner Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage is reportedly joining Team SoloMid's 2021 League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) lineup for 2021, according to investigative journalist Jacob Wolf.
Should the move come to fruition on Nov. 17, Team SoloMid would have found a strong replacement to recent retiree and current head coach Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg. Indeed, following the latter's retirement and Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen's return to Team Liquid, PowerOfEvil found himself as the strongest mid laner available through free agency in North America.
PowerOfEvil emerges from his strongest season in North America in terms of team results as his team, FlyQuest, scored back-to-back LCS finals in the spring and summer splits, losing both. As he developed great in-game chemistry with jungler Lucas "Santorin" Larsen and support Lee "IgNar" Dong-geun, the team was able to reach the 2020 World Championship, finishing third in Group D behind TOP Esports and DRX with an honorable 3:3 record.
Before then, PowerOfEvil reached the World Championship quarterfinals in 2017 as Misfits Gaming's mid laner, with the team nearly eliminating SK Telecom T1 in a tense 3:2 showdown. Since then, the mid laner chose to play in North America, initially as a member of OpTic Gaming in 2018, then as a member of Counter Logic Gaming in 2019. His initial lack of team success on OpTic was quickly eclipsed by his strong effort on CLG, which he nearly willed to the 2019 World Championship had Clutch Gaming not mounted a miracle run of their own.
Team SoloMid has also reemerged from a slump that saw them miss the World Championship in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, they returned to the top of the North American competitive League of Legends with a summer split victory, lifting their first LCS trophy since the 2017 summer split. However, they fared worse than fellow LCS teams Team Liquid and FlyQuest at the World Championship, dropping out after losing all six games.
As for FlyQuest's roster, uncertainty has ramped up decisively after PowerOfEvil's departure. With Santorin's contract expiring on Nov. 17, the team would be hard pressed to find fitting replacements at their position should both players leave the organization.
