League of Legends NA LCS offseason report cards

— -- The roster shuffle is over and the NA League of Legends Championship series is about to kick off its 2017 spring split. After going through tons of swaps, drops and player imports during the offseason, how did the league's 10 teams do in their quest to build a winning roster?

Team SoloMid

Grade: B

Welcome back, WildTurtle -- Team SoloMid fans have missed you. This move, after the announcement of Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng's temporary hiatus, comes as no surprise because of the existing relationship between WildTurtle and Team SoloMid management. The real question is: How well will Wildturtle and the team adapt to his return?

Frankly, if you want a temporary domestic talent with a history of working with the team, WildTurtle is the best you're going to get. In fact, he's probably the only option. He's not bad, but he's not great, as fans seemed to be expecting more. Team SoloMid won't be as dominant in North America as they once were, but they'll still compete for being a top team.

FlyQuest

Grade: F

FlyQuest overpaid for their roster, plain and simple. Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens purchased the spot previously owned by Cloud9 Challenger for $1.8 million and then later acquired contract rights to four of the players of that team for another $700,000. The roster of An "Balls" Van Le, Hai "Hai" Du Lam, Johnny "Altec" Ru and Daerek "LemonNation" Hart is manageable and likely won't come in last place, but frankly, $700,000 is a bucketload of money that could've been spent in better ways during the offseason if Edens and his team had moved earlier.

Then, to top off the overspending, the team waited until the last minute to acquire a jungler, initially going after Balls' cousin Andy "Chorong" Hoang. That deal fell through because of visa complications, leaving the team 24 hours to finalize its roster before the LCS lock on Jan 4. It ended up grabbing Galen "Moon" Holgate, who might not end up being a good fit for the team.

The mediocre roster, overall, will have to fight fiercely to avoid rock-bottom. Because of Hai's wits, they will probably end in eighth or ninth instead of last. But that doesn't excuse the fact that the Edens family's management of this team during the offseason was poorly executed.

Echo Fox

Grade: D-

This offseason, Echo Fox replaced three of its players after an abysmal 2016. It said goodbye to its previous top laner, jungler and support and added 2014 World Champion top laner Jang "Looper" Hyeong-seok, as well as domestic talents in jungler Matthew "Akaadian" Higginbotham and support Austin "Gate" Yu.

While Looper, at face value, is a good addition, the other two don't make for a championship-caliber team. They're not bad when it comes to domestic talent, but not pairing Looper with a South Korean support feels like a terrible idea and it will likely come back to bite Echo Fox. The question is whether this team will surpass its previous 10th-place finish in the North American League Championship Series in the summer. (Answer: simply, no.)

Echo Fox continues to have a lot of money but consistently fails to use it wisely.

Cloud9

Grade: B

Cloud9 made two small changes throughout the offseason: One of them was a promotion and the other was simply adding a substitute. The replacement of long-standing jungler William "Meteos" Hartman with a rookie in Cloud9 Challenger's Juan "Contractz" Arturo Garcia is probably for the best, as Meteos was never meant to be a long-term part of the team when he returned in 2016. However, while Contractz is arguably one of the best in the rookie league, it's hard to ignore the risk.

The addition of Jeon "Ray" Ji-won as a top-lane substitute is pretty clear in intention, especially since he signed a long-term contract. Like Contractz during his time on Cloud9 Challenger, Ray will likely become a protege to Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong before taking over the starting spot years down the road.

For investing in long-term measures, Cloud9 gets a B-plus; they could've done better, but these moves will continue to make them a top team. The team will need Contractz to show up to make it to the top during the spring, but overall good moves from Cloud9.

Team EnVyUs

Grade: C-

Team EnVyUs replaced two of its members in the offseason. First, the team said farewell to jungler Kim "Procxin" Se Young. Secondly, it traded LOD for Apollo "Apollo" Price, a trade which seems to be unfavorable for EnVy. It then added former Afreeca Freecs jungler Nam "LirA" Tae-yoo, who was originally slated to join Team Vitality before reneging on an agreement with that team.

These moves for EnVy are not good. Apollo is mediocre compared to the other AD carries in the league and LirA isn't a superior jungle upgrade, just a minor one. Team EnVyUs could've made much better changes had it been more proactive.

Team Liquid

Grade: C

While Team Dignitas and the Philadelphia 76ers demonstrated the way sports money could be used well for player acquisition, Team Liquid are the opposite. This team has some of the most money of its LCS peers, having been purchased by Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber and Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, but it failed to convert that cash influx into a good roster.

TL replaced four starters in the offseason, upgrading its bottom lane and jungle, but not its mid-lane. The team won out in a bidding war for Reignover, but failed to capitalize elsewhere. It then promoted its Challenger AD carry and 2013 World Champion Chae "Piglet" Gwang-jin and mid-laner Greyson "Goldenglue" Gilmer to its main lineup. Not terrible moves by Liquid, but they could have done so much better if the situation had been handled differently. Don't expect them to be a top team right off the bat.

Team Dignitas

Grade: A

Hopeful Philadelphia 76ers fans often say, "trust the process" when their favorite NBA team seems to tank during the season in order to position itself well for early draft picks next time around. Well, their processes might not be that bad, given that Team Dignitas planned and executed the best moves in the offseason in comparison to its North American LCS peers.

The team signed South Korean stars Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho and Lee "Chaser" Sang-hyun, who have had prolific moments during their time in League Champions Korea. It also was able to make a trade with Team EnVyUs for AD carry Benjamin "LOD" deMunck.

These three pickups show strength behind the 76ers' money after their purchase of Team Dignitas and Apex Gaming in September. This will be the best Team Dignitas lineup the world has seen since 2012, bar none, and will be a strong contender in the North American League Championship Series.

Phoenix1

Grade: A

Another team that demonstrated strength during the offseason, like Dignitas, is Phoenix1. Unlike Dignitas' plan-oriented style, P1 relied on agility and decisiveness to take advantage of unexpected opportunities. This team was ready for action, signing Adrian just one day after Riot allowed teams to start signing players for 2017.

Then they went to South Korea, where they picked up mid-laner Yoo "Ryu" Sang-ook right after he parted ways with H2K and then-AD carry Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon. The team had had plans to retain mid-laner Choi "Pirean" Jun-sik in a starting position at the beginning of the offseason, but managed to find a valuable upgrade in Ryu by acting very quickly and decisively.

Simultaneously, the team retained two of its players, Derek "zig" Shao and Rami "Inori" Caragh, the latter having showed to be phenomenal at times during the summer.

Phoenix1 went from a bottom team in relegations to having a lineup that on paper can challenge the best teams at the top. It used its funding from the entertainment world very wisely to acquire veteran South Korean talents and solid domestic talents.

Counter Logic Gaming

Grade: C

The team didn't make changes, but that isn't the end of the world for them. Its weakest link is mid-laner Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun; however, CLG still proved to be a top four team in North America last year with Huhi on the roster. While competition will certainly get harder this year, Counter Logic Gaming seems to be prioritizing structure and consistency over going after big players like their peers.

Not much to say here. They get a C for not trying to upgrade their weak parts, yet retaining a solid core, including the likes of one of the region's best supports, Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black.

Immortals

Grade: A

Immortals' starting roster changed significantly during the offseason with the self-initiated departures of top laner Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon and jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin along with the mutual parting of ways between the team and Adrian "Adrian" Ma and Jason "WildTurtle" Tran. The team's decisions after this point made it apparent that Immortals understand League of Legends offseasons just as well as, if not better, than the likes of the longtime endemics Cloud9, Team SoloMid and Team Liquid.

The team has picked up a solid veteran in Lee "Flame" Ho-jong, who -- despite some rough seasons in China recently -- still has proven himself able to rank among the best top-laners in the world. They also added young and promising talent, including Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett and Cody "Cody Sun" Sun, and an English-speaking South Korean player in Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung. This roster, while unproven, has potential to be good if things mesh well between the players.

This roster will certainly fight for the top in the spring; hats off to Immortals' management for doing well throughout the offseason.