Before the split even started, OpTic’s lineup was one that seemed strange and hard to pull off. Finishing in ninth place has helped confirm that the already troubled start hasn’t gone well. According to ESPN, now that OpTic Gaming has realized this, they are benching two of their starting players. Toplaner Zig, previously of Phoenix1, and LemonNation, previously of Cloud9 and FlyQuest, are both being removed from OpTic’s starting lineup.

While the news of LemonNation’s benching might come as a surprise, Zig shouldn’t. He has consistently performed as one of the worst toplaners in the standings and hasn’t had any of the moments or plays that teams rely on from toplaners. He may have brought Kled into the meta with Phoenix1, and many of us loved him as a part of that team, but it simply hasn’t worked out for him since joining OpTic. His laning power has been weak, and his decision making in team fights and with engages has been subpar.

LemonNation, on the other hand, has performed about as well as he ever has. Despite his prominence on the original Cloud9 lineup, he has never been a top tier support. His strategizing brought a unique element to competitive League of Legends that wasn’t present, but mechanically, he has always suffered, and his ability to read opponents and plays during the game has never been stellar. In that regard, it’s a little confusing to see him benched. He is playing at the same level he has nearly always played at. If OpTic has a pick in mind, then perhaps this move makes sense, one they had planned on transitioning to early on, but from the start the team should have known what they were getting into. Seeing that OpTic won’t be able to sign new players until May 28th, it seems more like a panicked move than a calculated one.

And this is really the crux of OpTic’s problem. Individually, no one on OpTic has been a star, but there was little chance of that ever happening. PowerofEvil is the closest thing to an all-star the team ever had, but he hasn’t been able to perform as a carry, probably because the meta simply isn’t designed that way. Akaadian is another that showed great power last year with his aggression, but the 2018 meta has been about passivity, which naturally plays against his style.

However, the biggest problem OpTic has is that they don’t seem united. AnDa showed great synergy with Fly the moment he took over for Keane. Hauntzer and Bjergsen have been on the same page since day one. LirA, Hakuho, and Apollo all brought the synergy from EnVy to Clutch Gaming. OpTic is a combination of players that never quite had synergy and never had it organized in any proper way.

With PowerofEvil, Misfits were able to progress deeper than anyone expected into Worlds, even beating TSM and forcing SKT into a 5 match game. This wasn’t simply luck. In an interview after beating TSM, PowerofEvil commented that they drafted for a strategy – that he would roam and make plays in the sidelanes – and that that was instrumental in their success. Misfits didn’t simply rely on PoE’s prowess to win them games but strategized how to use his strengths to get them there.

By comparison, OpTic seems have no such strategies. Every member of the team feels underutilized to their specific strengths, and PowerofEvil in particular, who went toe-to-toe with the best midlaners in the world and defeated them, feels like he has been left out to dry by his team and his coach.

Hopefully this move reinvigorates the OpTic lineup and strategy, but if they continue to fail to create a style of play and a way to emphasize strengths, then all the top lane and support changeups in the world won’t help them.