Five days after Golden Guardians released their entire League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) roster, the team introduced an all-new lineup for the Spring Split that features two former collegiate esports stars.

Top laner Aiden "Niles" Tidwell and jungler Ethan "Iconic" Wilkinson arrive from Maryville University in St. Louis, where they were part of the 2019 college League of Legends championship squad.

Canadian mid laner Nicholas Antonio "Ablazeolive" Abbott was promoted to the LCS squad after playing for the Golden Guardians academy team in the 2020 Spring and Summer Splits. He previously was with Team SoloMid's academy squad for two years.

AD carry Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes of the United States was part of Counter Logic Gaming's 2016 LCS Spring Split championship side, part of a five-year stint with CLG.

Argentine Support player Leandro "Newbie" Marcos arrives from the Latin America League's All Knights. He was the Latin America League's MVP in both the Opening and Closing events this year.

The newcomers take the place of Turkish jungler Can "Closer" Celik, U.S. top laner Kavin "Hauntzer" Yarnell, U.S. mid laner Tanner "Damonte" Damonte, Australian bot laner Ian Victor "FBI" Huang and South Korean support Choi "huhi" Jae-hyun.

Golden Guardians placed sixth in the 2020 LCS Spring Split with an 8-10 record before dropping their only playoff match to tie for fifth in the postseason.

The club's LCS Summer Split results were very similar. Golden Guardians came in fifth with a 9-9 mark, then lost two of three postseason matches to tie for fifth.

Golden Guardians are owned and run by the NBA's Golden State Warriors.

--Field Level Media