League of Legend Atlas: Japan

Welcome to our next stop on the Lineups League of Legends Atlas. Our previous destination was Sweden.

Japan is something of a technological anomaly. The nation has been groundbreaking in all aspects of electronics and gave birth to the globally beloved Nintendo corporation. Japan is more involved in eSports than others might think. They are not the leading nation in participation, but they do participate a lot. This time, we’re exploring its teams for the League of Legends eSport. If you’re unfamiliar with eSports, try beginning with this introduction. If you’re interested, check out these articles on the top 10 League of Legends players of all time, the biggest live events of all time, and the history of eSports. Japan has a long history with videogames, so it more than certainly should have a history with the game like League of Legends.

Teams

AKIHABARA ENCOUNT

Team Status: ACTIVE
Although this team was created in 2016, it was not populated for two years. On February 25, 2018 the LJL CS 2018 Spring Qualifier was announced. Arumik (Top), Polyp (Jungle), Arora (Mid), Masyo (ADC), and Lago (Support) all joined the team. This team’s record has a placement of first at the LJL CS 2018 Spring and Summer Qualifiers.

At the moment, there are no named leaders of this organization. There aren’t even any coaches, nor sponsorships. Given that information, this team is not one to keep an eye on for now. In the future, there might be more to see—this team has performed adequately for the tournaments that it has attended. Otherwise, wait until AKIHABARA ENCOUNT pulls together some management, coaching, and sponsorship.

AXIZ

Team Status: ACTIVE
AXIZ came into being on December 26, 2018. This came with the announcement that the team would be participating in the LJL Spring Season. It wasn’t until January 15, 2019 that this team announced its official roster. This line-up was complete with Gariaru (Mid), uinyan (Top), iSeNN (Jungle), NoA (ADC), ThintoN (Support), and Day1 (ADC). This team is sponsored by Mouse.jp, chill-tv, and Tipness.

Under the coaching of Ryu “Ping9” Jae-keon and Ha “Jerophilip” Jae-pil, this team is working its way into competitive League of Legends. Nevertheless, there is not much glory to be had for this team. The only tournament it has competed in was LJL Spring 2019 in which it placed eighth with ending results of three wins and eighteen losses. This team is starting slowly and not with ease, but the prospect of this team is not as out-of-sight as it may be for other teams.

Burning Core

Team Status: ACTIVE
This team began with the acquisition of Detonation Rising’s LJL spot and roster. The players that came with that transaction were BCAN (ADC), Astarore (Top), Hollis (Mid), Akasi (Jungle), and LegatoXD (Support). The date of the formation of this team was May 15, 2017. There have been plenty of players that have come and gone, all giving their part for this team.

Today, the team is comprised of RayFarky (Top), Once (Jungle), Roki (Mid), Yuhi (ADC), and Medic (Support). Flaw (Sub), Akabuff (ADC), and broooock (Mid) are the substitutes. The current coaches are Shogo “Legato” Narita, whose official title is Manager, and Kim “34” Dong-hun, who is the Assistant Coach, as of November 26, 2018. This team currently does not have any sponsorships, so don’t hold your breath waiting for this team to make stunning appearances at any upcoming events.

Crest Gaming Act

Team Status: ACTIVE
Crest Gaming Act officially formed its team in July, 2016. The roster of this team has undergone so many changes that its difficult to pin down who was on the initial line-up. Today, however, we know that the team is comprised of Grendel (Top), hachamecha (Jungle), Luna (Mid), ART (ADC), and Atyamomo (Support). The current staff is Tatsuo “Qoo” Narita as Coach and Song “Shield” Ju-yeong as Assistant Coach.

The record for this team is a rather decent one. For both 2018 and 2019, Crest Gaming Act placed in the top two with 3:1 and 3:0 results, respectively. The team has performed very well this past Spring season. It’s also begun the LJL Summer season undefeated. Interestingly, this team currently has no sponsorships. Now, a sponsorship doesn’t determine whether or not a team will play well (and therefore be worth betting on). A sponsorship illustrates that the team is recognized as worthy of business investment, which in our business world is a good sign. It might not be long at all before Crest Gaming Act acquires one.

DetonatioN FocusMe

Team Status: ACTIVE
The original date of creation for this team goes back to April of 2013. Its first member, Sid, did not join until December. This team has been around for a while, much more mature than some of the other teams—especially those from our previous stop on the League Atlas, Sweden. DetonatioN FocusMe’s record has pulled in $157,925 of total winnings.

The current CEO is Nobuyuki “LGraN” Umezaki. The current General Manager Toshikazu “ENZA” Senzaki. Kazuta “Kazu” Suzuki is the official coach as of 2018. The roster today is comprised of Evi (Top), Steal (Jungle), Ceros (Mid), Yutapon (ADC), and Gaeng (Support). This team has done some notable things in the past. For example, it placed first at the Rift Rivals 2017: GPL vs LJL vs OPL with a 3:1 in the results against GPL. There is no named sponsor for this team at the moment; the success of this team would naturally draw in investors, so maybe it is worth investigating why that has yet to happen.

DeToNator

Team Status: ACTIVE
This organization is known for its career on Alliance of Valiant Arms and was founded in 2009. In spite of this, DeToNator did not enter the League of Legends competitive scene until this very year. This beginning came with the acquisition of The Natives. With Cameron “Mon” Fletcher as the Head Coach, this team was populated by players Potter (Top), Sek (Jungle), Archeny (Mid), KazeTAR (ADC), and Rich (Support). The various other branches of this organization have enabled this team to have many sponsorships.

These sponsorships include: Nihon Forest, Republic of Gamers, Twitch, @Sycom, HyperX, PC Matic, DXRacer, and SteelSeries. All of those big names in eSports certainly place high expectations on this team, and the record supports this team’s ability to meet those expectations. At the LST Spring 2019 Thailand National Minor, DeToNator placed second after a 0:2 loss to MEGA Esports. Keep an eye on this one.

HANAGUMI KAREN

Team Status: ACTIVE
This team was put together on January 17, 2017. After its founding, the first players to join were Rusalka (Mid), atsuna (Jungle), and Sir1000 (Support). Later, strider (Top) and Ame (ADC) joined. Rusalka went on to become (and now is) the Head Coach. For atsuna, Coach/Analyst.

Today, the team composition is strider (Top), agent (Jungle), aripo (Mid), and Sir1000 (Support), with BullchaN (Mid) and Eclair (Jungle) as substitutes. This team is a newer one, there is not much experience to base any opinions off of yet. Furthermore, there are no sponsors listed for this organization. The performance in recent matches has been decent, but nothing eye-catching.

PENTAGRAM

Team Status: INACTIVE
The exact date of creation is not listed, but we do know that this team was founded sometime in September 2012. It originally was called ‘Rampage.’ The original players were Harakiri Boy (Jungle), Meromeron (ADC), Ponichan (Mid), Rainbrain (Top), and Yuansama (Support). This team had multiple partnerships during its career. The first of these partnerships was with myRevenge, which caused the team to be renamed ‘myRevenge Rampage.’ Then, when that contract was terminated, Ozone Gaming Gear announced a partnership with Rampage. The name then became ‘Ozone Rampage.’

It wasn’t until January 12, 2018 that Rampage was changed to PENTAGRAM. The final roster of the team consisted of Paz (Top), Once (Jungle), Ramune (Mid), YutoriMoyashi (ADC), and Gaeng (Support). The team found success with $57,588 in total earnings. Additionally, the sponsors of this team included: G-Tune, AKRacing, MSY, YAMANI, THE BAGMANIA, BATTERY, Chunnam Techno, University, and Twitch. Those names are added, of course, to the accolades of this team. Although the team is disbanded, some of the staff remain. Hiroki “MizuRussian” Nakamura remains the Owner and Takuya “Aotaka” Fujita remains the Manager.

Rascal Jetser

Team Status: ACTIVE
December 10, 2013 brought the founding of this team. It began as PeachServer Allstars but renamed to Rascal Jester. The original roster was comprised of cogcog (Top), Rainbrain (Jungle), apaMEN (Mid), Scotty (ADC), and Lillebelt (Support). Lillebelt is currently the Head Coach of the team. This team is not a prominent name in eSports, but it certainly has been around for a substantial amount of time.

The current line-up is of cogcog (Top), WyverN (Jungle), Ninja (Mid), Zerost (ADC), and alleycat (Support), with scottlyk (ADC) as a substitute. This team has been around for a long time yet has not really broken through whatever ceiling is above them. So, it might be a bit of a waste to watch it closely. However, the promise and prospect of the future are just as bright for this team as any. We may see them pull off some great things in this season.

SCARZ

Team Status: INACTIVE
This team was created on May 17, 2015. The team’s latest roster was comprised of Kazu (Top), Roki (Mid), nororin (ADC), Mei (Support), and Ivy (Jungle). This team did not participate much during its run, but it was a League of Legends team from Japan, so it does earn a place on this list. It placed fourth in LJL Spring 2018 Qualifier, 2:3 against Rascal Jester. That was on August 15, 2017. The end of this team came when it merged with Burning Core in February 7, 2018.

Sengoku Gaming

Team Status: ACTIVE
On October 25, 2017 this team was founded. The original name was Sengoku Gaming Legends. The roster at that time was made-up of Reverse (Top), Ivy (Jungle), kunisu (Mid), Lunah (ADC), and Yoshiaki (Support). The team did not change names until December 1, 2018. Today, the named staff include: Ryosuke “Iwamoto” Iwamoto as the Owner, Lee “PoohManDu” Jeong-Hyeon as Head Coach, and Ainslie “Maplestreet” Wyllie as Coach.

The current roster is made-up of Japanese, South Korean, and Australian players. Daiki “DonShu” Yoshimura plays Top. Shin “Raina” Okubo plays Support. Kang “Blank” Sungu plays Jungle. Song “OdduGi” Kwang-ho plays ADC. Takahiro “Mid” Iwata plays Mid. This team currently does not have any sponsors, but that’s likely to change soon. Given the solid performances in the LJL Spring tournaments of 2018 and 2019, this team should definitely be on your watch list for the future.

Smash It Down

Team Status: INACTIVE
Smash it Down was formed on July 10, 2018. It has been around for only a short period of time. The initial roster was SatoRy (Top), Rui (Jungle), Ninja (Mid), Kano (ADC), and HW4NG (Support). One LJL CS Summer 2018 in fourth place later, the roster has actually disbanded. The date was December 26, 2018. The team had functioned for only a year.

In that time, they had sponsorship from ROX Gaming. That increased budget was likely able to afford them better players, coaches, strategists, and whatever else that could give a team an edge. So, with their fourth-place finish at the Summer season, their financiers probably were very disheartened and chose to move on with something else. The Korean sister-team of Smash It Down is ROX Tigers.

SunSister ReUnion

Team Status: ACTIVE
This is another young team. It was founded on January 30, 2018. This was when Team ReUnion joined SunSister, hence the name. Today, it is managed by Kyoji “Kyon” Tanaka, and the owner is Katsura “Moru” Ota. There is no sponsor listed for this team yet.

As of now, the line-up for this team consists of tetras (Top), Real (Jungle), mandioca (Mid), Nenogi (ADC), and Polyp (Support). There are four subtitutes, too: awamura (Top), luciole (ADC), meraka (Support), and satpyy (Support). This team has nothing very substantial on its record, nor is it sponsored by anyone. Nevertheless, the union of those two organizations may lead to a special story in the eSports world.

Two-eyed Monsters

Team Status: ACTIVE
This well-logo’d team’s story began when it was founded on March 27, 2018. Since then, people have only joined; nobody has left. The roster of players has RayFarky as Top Laner, TETE as Jungler, Taka as Mid, Doku as ADC, and Larc as Support. Noface serves as an ADC substitute. The organization has kgbbb as Owner, DensiRange as General Manager, atsuna as Coach, Merryday as Analyst, and mai as Manager.

Today, there still is no sponsorship for the team. It has not performed outstandingly well thus far, which might explain the absence of investment. That is not to say that there is an absence of investment among those involved—afterall, not a single person that joined has left! So there clearly is a commitment and chemistry here that may be just the right elements for long-term success.

Unsold Stuff Gaming

Team Status: ACTIVE
This team was officially formed on October 14, 2015. Its original players were apaMEN (Top), Clockday (Jungle), Enty (Mid), isurugi (ADC), and Haretti (Support). By October sixth of the following year, Unsold Stuff Gaming became sponsored by e-SportsCafe. This only increased the attention and exposure of this team.

The active roster is comprised of Arumik (Top), Tussle (Jungle), Dasher (Mid), Keymaker (ADC), and Enty (Support). This is complete with apaMEN (Top) as a substitute. The list of sponsors for this team goes on to incorporate G-Tune and CyberZ. The total earnings of this team is $4,000. The record of this team has a first-place at Rift Rivals 2017, second-place at LJL Summer 2018 and LJL Spring 2019, and third-place at LJL Spring 2018 and Rift Rivals 2018. There clearly is something here to keep track of.

V3 Esports

Team Status: ACTIVE
On May 25, 2017 V3 Esports was founded. The original members of the team were Kazu (Jungle), cogcog (Top), KEYMAKER (ADC), Mad Emperor (Support), and recap (Mid). This team has yet to acquire a sponsor, but that’s admissible because of how young it is. V3 Esports and its sister, V3 New Generation, are not very embedded in the league.

The current team is comprised of Paz (Top), Baby (Jungle), Ace (Mid), YutoriMoyashi (ADC), viviD (Support). There are also Neo (Jungle) and Recap (Mid) as substitutes. Under Hwang “HW4NG” Young-sik as Head Coach, this team has a decent amount of promise for the future. What they might accomplish and how far they might go? None can say. Keep an eye on the sponsorships that swing this team’s way, if any do.

And that’s our adventure. The next destination on this Lineups League of Legends Atlas will be Germany, one of the most industrious nations of them all!