Titans, Scarabs Make Mid-Phase Roster Changes
Reacting To The Surprising Week 4 Shakeup
CycloneSpin with Splyce at the Season 6 SMITE World Championships. Courtesy of Hi-Rez Studios.
The longest tenured duo-lane in SMITE has parted ways.
Early Wednesday morning, it was announced that CycloneSpin would no longer be on the Titans. Replacing him would be sophomore Hunter Stuart, who previously played with SoloOrTroll on the Scarabs during their exciting semifinals run at the season 8 World Championships. CycloneSpin, who since season 5 has been a duo-lane mainstay along with support Aror, will now be out of the league for the first time since its inception, and his stated plans to take a break from competitive means that season 9 will conclude without one of SMITE’s most iconic players. The Titans have not spoken on the reasons for the change, including whether it was initiated by the team or by CycloneSpin himself. However, the Titans have struggled mightily in phase 3, only managing wins against the Valkyries and Bolts—two of the league’s bottom three teams—while failing to take a game off three of the top four teams. The Titans are on the outside looking in.
Still, the move is surprising, as it would be any time such a long-time player suddenly finds himself without a seat in the SPL, and his replacement Stuart, while making the most of a tough position on a lowly Scarabs team, has been far from a top player. At best, the move looks lateral, but perhaps the Titans hope that a fresh talent will breathe new life into their roster, and Stuart, now surrounded by an overall stronger team, should be better situated for success. In any event, the Titans need results now, as they have a lot of ground to cover chasing the top teams.
For the Scarabs’ part, they lose yet another player to fill the roster needs of a higher-seeeded team. Since their inception last year, the Scarabs have had four players (Zapman, Layers, Screammmmm, and Stuart) leave to fill roster spots for higher-seeded teams mid season, and another player (SoloOrTroll) depart during the off-season. Aside from Stuart who has yet to play a game with the Titans, each of those players have gone on to win a tournament with their new teams.
Meanwhile the Scarabs languish at the bottom of the league, unable to find a win despite a handful of competitive performances—a fall from grace so dramatic it can only be described as meteoric. In the crater left behind is a Scarabs roster that features only one player, oBoronic, from their semifinals run a season ago. The four new faces—Sam4Socccer2, Jarcorrr, ScaryD, and latest addition Hurriwind—are no strangers to SMITE success with four World Championships between them. The change also sees Jarcorrr end his short run in support, as he returns to ADC where he briefly excelled last season. With a Worlds MVP in a carry position and a support with more time in the role in Hurriwind (though, in fairness, still less than a year), it is hard to say the Scarabs got worse. If nothing else, the Scarabs can’t get worse than their 0-5 start.
The Scarabs will have a tough-but-winnable match up this weekend against the Valkyries before facing Stuart and the Titans. It is not uncommon to see teams in the SPL take time to acclimate to new players, but the Scarabs have struggled enough where it is possible to imagine immediate results. Their duo lane suddenly seems more capable, even though both players have largely played other roles for most of their career. If the Scarabs find a win this weekend against the Titans, I am comfortable saying it will be one of the most exciting moments in the SPL to date. And I won’t lie: I am rooting for them.
For CycloneSpin, it will be strange watching the SPL without him in it. He won worlds in season 5 with Splyce. He is thus far the only player to get a penta kill in the SPL on two different roles. He is the original multi-role player, being considered a top player both in solo and in ADC, and since season one he has been a force for whichever team has been lucky enough to have him. If he wants to play in season 10, it is hard to imagine there won’t be a team waiting for him.
In the meantime, the Titans and Scarabs will each try to reload heading into week 4. They play each other on Sunday, October 23rd at Twitch.tv/smitegame.
