Diplex for EMENES: Cloud9 swaps mid laners for LCS

Cloud9 swap out Diplex for EMENES, an extremely mechanically gifted Korean mid laner who got his start on Gen.G Academy. EMENES will be starting in Week 5 of the LCS, while Diplex will be going to the academy roster.

Diplex for EMENES

Cloud9 (C9) ended the LCS superweek, the first round-robin, at an impressive 7-2. With their recent loss against Evil Geniuses (EG), C9 are third in the standings, with FlyQuest (FLY) and EG above them at first and second.

All things considered, C9 is at a comfortable position in the standings. Although, swapping Dimitri "Diplex" Ponomarev for Jang "EMENES" Min-soo for a trial-run in the LCS is a decision the organization made. This is likely the best time to swap in EMENES from Cloud9's perspective. Being 7-2, you can afford some losses with the newly gelling EMENES, if it means improving the Korean-hopeful's performance on-stage.

Diplex is the only piece of the current C9 roster to not win the most recent LCS title last Summer. Because of this, Diplex was the only question mark leading into how C9 would perform during this Spring Split. With the first round-robin completed, Diplex is tied for the lowest DMG% among mid laners in the LCS so far. At 24.4%, Diplex and CLG's Cristian "Palafox" Palafox have the lowest DMG% share among active mid laners in the league.

The low DMG% makes sense, seeing as Diplex is often a facilitator for the carries on his team. Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol or Robert "Blaber" Huang are more often the carriers for C9. Likewise with Palafox, Fatih "Luger" Güven or Niship "Dhokla" Doshi are typically the carries for CLG.

Importantly, this EMENES move is deemed as a "trial" in the LCS. It's possible we will only see EMENES for just week 5 of the LCS, or longer, if he shakes up the competition.

EMENES' Past Troubles

While EMENES is undoubtedly a gifted player, he has been a notorious player with behavioral issues. Excel Esports' now defunct academy team, JDXL, shared a statement this past Summer regarding EMENES' immediate departure from the organization.

Although mired in attitude issues, Cloud9 has seen success with EMENES on their academy roster, going 7-8-3 so far this academy season. Cloud9 Academy remain second in the standings, just below CLG Academy. In an official roster update on the Cloud9 League of Legends Twitter, the Diplex for EMENES move was shared to the public.

Now, it remains to be seen how EMENES will compete on the LCS stage. C9 play Golden Guardians (GG) and Team SoloMid (TSM) in their upcoming Week 6 matches. Both GG and TSM have exceeded expectations so far this split, making EMENES' debut LCS games even more crucial.

Stay tuned for EMENES' debut on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7:00 P.M. EST, where Cloud9 face off against Golden Guardians!

Image credit to Riot Games, stats provided by Games of Legends eSports.