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NRG eSports, new LCS team purchased by Sacramento Kings co-owners, announces roster

Former World champion top laner Impact and Korean mid laner GBM are among the team's signings.

By Pete Volk
https://twitter.com/lolNRG/status/666231720744583170

A group led by Sacramento Kings co-owners Andy Miller and Mark Mastrov has purchased Team Coast's spot in the North American League Championship Series ahead of the Spring Split. NRG eSports's League of Legends team will compete in the NA league this upcoming season and has already signed a pretty star-studded roster.

The big highlight signing is former world champion top laner Impact, most recently in the LCS with Team Impulse. Impact won Season 3 Worlds, while with Korean superpower SKTelecom T1 and had been with TIP since January 2015. He has the reputation as one of the best top laners in the region, and led all players at the position in KDA (5.4) and average earned gold per minute (226.5) in the NA LCS last split.

Impact will be joined by long time Korean mid laner GBM (which stands for "Ganked By Mom," a name he coined after his mom frequently caught him playing League late at night). After spending the last three years with CJ Entus and Jin Air, he will make his Western professional debut this split. He ranked second among qualifying LCK mid laners with a 5.8 KDA last split and third in kill participation (72.2 percent).

NRG will have Altec at AD Carry, adding a second LCS veteran to the roster. Altec was a part of Gravity's surprising fourth place finish during last regular season, ranking third among North American AD Carries in KDA (7.3) and first in damage participation (31.1%).

At support, NRG will start former Coast starter KonKwon. KonKwon led all Challenger Series supports last split with a 7.7 KDA and 1.37 wards placed per minute. At jungle, NRG will play Moon, who spent the summer in the Challenger Series with Team Imagine. In six games, he posted a 5.0 KDA (third among junglers in the series) and ranked in the top five in nearly every category.

NRG's staff includes former Team8 head coach History Teacher (general manager), former Cloud9 analyst Charlie (head coach) and former Origen head coach Hermit (strategic coach).