Photo courtesy of Riot Games
Update — November 28
According to Travis Gafford, Zaqueri 'aphromoo' Black is going to join Dignitas botlane! Nothing has yet been confirmed, neither by Black or by Dignitas.
Original Article
It's a sad day for aphromoo fans. League of Legends Championship Series side 100 Thieves have announced the departure of their veteran support player after two years at the organization.
Roster shuffle is in full swing now that the official transfer window has opened, and several supports have seen themselves on the move. But where does this leave aphromoo?
CLG have already made moves in this transfer window, trading Andy "Smoothie" Ta for TSM counterpart Vincent "Biofrost" Wang.
Immortals' roster is already complete, Evil Geniuses have brought in Tristan "Zeyzal" Stidam from C9, and FlyQuest have announced that Lee "IgNar" Dong-geun will replace Juan "JayJ" Guibert.
It's also highly unlikely we'll see Team Liquid replace Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in.
However, the transfer window isn't over yet, and some spots are still open. Neither Dignitas nor Golden Guardians have confirmed their supports, so Black might eventually find himself joining one of these teams.
However, it would be quite surprising to see him join the Guardians, since the team already owns three different support players — Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung, Yuri "Keith" Jew, and Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun.
Dignitas is rebuilding their entire roster following their acquisition of Clutch Gaming's LCS spot, and Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme has already been traded to Cloud9 — which means the team will have to scout elsewhere to find someone.
For this main reason, aphromoo joining Dignitas is the most likely possibility at this moment in time.
Could we even see Black make the move to another region, such as the LEC?
Of course, this is if, and only if, he decides to keep playing.
After all, aphromoo has played League of Legends competitively since 2012. A former ADC, he embraced the support role in 2012 to play alongside Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng in the CLG botlane.
Their duo became incredibly famous, nicknamed "Rush Hour" by fans and widely known as the best NA botlane of that season.
Doublelift left CLG in 2015, but aphromoo stayed in the team until 2017 — eventually joining the newly formed 100 Thieves. Alongside William "Meteos" Hartman, Ryu "Ryu" Sang-wook, and Sun "Cody Sun" Li-Yu, aphromoo shone as one of the best NA support players.
100 Thieves made a big impression in their NA LCS debut, ending the Spring Split in first place and finishing third in Summer Split — with aphromoo receiving the Spring Split MVP title in the process.
After ending NA Playoffs in fourth place, 100 Thieves qualified for Worlds as America's third seed. However, they didn't manage to get past the Play-in phase.
100T declined after that, with this season's results testament to their poor form. Ranking tenth and eighth respectively at the end of the 2019 splits, it just felt like the 100 Thieves roster couldn't keep up with the rest of the League.
Now, Black finds himself searching for a new team. Will we see him return to the LCS stage in 2020?
Of course, this is if, and only if, he decides to keep playing.
After all, aphromoo has played League of Legends competitively since 2012. A former ADC, he embraced the support role in 2012 to play alongside Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng in the CLG botlane.
Their duo became incredibly famous, nicknamed "Rush Hour" by fans and widely known as the best NA botlane of that season.
Doublelift left CLG in 2015, but aphromoo stayed in the team until 2017 — eventually joining the newly formed 100 Thieves. Alongside William "Meteos" Hartman, Ryu "Ryu" Sang-wook, and Sun "Cody Sun" Li-Yu, aphromoo shone as one of the best NA support players.
100 Thieves made a big impression in their NA LCS debut, ending the Spring Split in first place and finishing third in Summer Split — with aphromoo receiving the Spring Split MVP title in the process.
After ending NA Playoffs in fourth place, 100 Thieves qualified for Worlds as America's third seed. However, they didn't manage to get past the Play-in phase.
100T declined after that, with this season's results testament to their poor form. Ranking tenth and eighth respectively at the end of the 2019 splits, it just felt like the 100 Thieves roster couldn't keep up with the rest of the League.
Now, Black finds himself searching for a new team. Will we see him return to the LCS stage in 2020?
The 2020 Spring Split window transfer officially begins on November 18! LCS, LEC, LCK, LPL — we gather all upcoming changes and transfers for the next League of Legends competitive esports season!
