After franchising introduced new lineups and organizations to the NA LCS, several teams struggled to find their footing with their respective lineups. A few teams were able to make comebacks, whereas other teams still struggled with their rosters as they ended the year toward the bottom of the standings.

 

Here are three North American League of Legends teams that need roster changes prior to the 2019 season.

3. OpTic Gaming

OpTic Gaming struggled to find a common play style before finally settling on the split-push approach. Halfway throughout the year, the team removed both its top laner and support player from its roster after ending the spring season in ninth place. These changes helped the team end the summer split at seventh but the team still lacked the roster talent it needed to rise to the top of the standings.

With ​Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon's departure from the team, OpTic will need to find a new AD Carry in his place. Likewise, Tristan "PowerofEvil" Schrage has announced his ability to explore other option for the upcoming 2019 season, so the team could need to find a mid laner for the new season. 

2. 100 Thieves

A number of players for 100 Thieves, including Cody "Cody Sun" Sun and Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho, have announced that while they are still contracted with the team, they are allowed to explore other options for the upcoming 2019 season. 

It's unlikely Cody Sun will remain on the roster given his benching toward the end of the summer season and his replacement with Richard "Rikara" Samuel Oh for the team's entire Worlds run. The team suffered with a lack of chemistry in the bot lane toward the end of the year both in its home region and on the international stage and will need to find replacements to fix its cohesion problems.

1. Golden Guardians

Golden Guardians ended both the spring and summer split in dead last. The team attempted to turn its standings around following the spring split with its single roster change from Hai "Hai" Du Lam to Son "Mickey" Young-min in the mid lane. With Mickey's departure from the team, Golden Guardians will need to at least find a new mid laner.

The team has already begun making new changes to its staff by naming Nick "Inero" Smith as head coach in October. Inero previously led the Echo Fox roster in several of its victories throughout the year and could do the same for Golden Guardians with the right roster.

Photos courtesy of Riot Games