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Xmithie to Immortals, Dardoch to CLG in NA LCS jungler swap

Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett with Immortals in 2016 NA LCS Spring (Riot Games/lolesports)
Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett with Immortals in 2016 NA LCS Spring (Riot Games/lolesports)

While the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational continues, League of Legends roster moves are well underway in the North American League Championship Series offseason.

Counter Logic Gaming have announced Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett as their new starting jungler for the 2017 Summer Split. Dardoch came into the LCS in 2016 with Team Liquid, and was the starting jungler for Immortals this past spring.

A team that prides themselves on their strong communication and synergy, CLG signing Dardoch is the first roster move the org has made since bringing on AD carry Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes and moving mid laner Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun into a starting position prior to the 2016 Spring Split.

“Dardoch is a young and very talented player that will help add more depth and fire to the team. The decision to bring in Dardoch was made after a series of evaluations since our run in the Spring Split ended. Over the course of the past several weeks, the coaches and staff have been working hard to prepare for the upcoming split. Much of the time was focused on creating better systems for both the players and the team. During the evaluation of challenging current systems, the staff took a hard look at the roster as well. In the end, it was decided that Dardoch would be the best fit for the team,” CLG said in their official statement.

Moments later, Immortals announced the acquisition of former CLG veteran jungler Jake “Xmithie” Puchero, effectively trading junglers with CLG.

“We are making the difficult decision to focus on improving as a unit, and prioritizing building a cohesive, single minded team. We’re confident that our new jungler will be more than capable of filling that role. We’re pleased to welcome Jake “Xmithie” Puchero to the #IMTeam. Xmithie is a true veteran, having played since Season 1. He is, of course, best known for his time on Counter Logic Gaming, where he was the perennially underrated jungler who served as the backbone of the team. On CLG, Jake took a leadership role both on and off the Rift, and he’ll be bringing those skills to IMT. We knew that we needed someone to take a vital, vocal role in Immortals, and Xmithie fits the bill perfectly,” Immortals said in their statement.

Counter Logic Gaming finished in fourth place in the 2017 NA LCS Spring regular season, but fell to FlyQuest in the quarterfinals. Immortals finished in seventh place, retaining their LCS spot, but falling out of playoff contention. Through their new jungle acquisitions, both teams look to improve their teams for the 2017 Summer Split.

In other NA LCS roster news, Team SoloMid announced the highly-anticipated return of AD carry Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng to their summer roster, and Immortals released coach David “Hermes” Tu.

Emily Rand’s love of the 2013 KT Rolster Bullets will never die. You can follow her on Twitter.