It hasn’t been a great year for Optic Gaming. They made a late surge in summer and almost nabbed themselves a playoff spot, but couldn’t quite close things out when it really mattered. While they improved from Spring to Summer, there’s no denying that they still have a long way to go.
Unless they want 2019 to be a repeat of 2018, they’ll need to make some considerable changes in the offseason.
Get PowerOfEvil Some Help
Going all the way back to PowerOfEvil’s tweet about carrying his entire team, Optic desperately needs to get POE some help and everyone knows it. He’s by far and away the best player on Optic and one of the best mid laners in the NA LCS, but that’s not enough these days.
Solidify the Jungle and ADC
Jungle and ADC are the weakest points for Optic. Big is a good support and Dhokla is a solid top laner, but they’re not enough. Optic need to find a star for either the jungle or ADC. Ideally, the team would be able to land a star ADC that could take some weight off of POE’s shoulders. But a top-tier jungler that could play alongside POE would help them considerably as well.
The bottom line is, Optic either need to add one star player or two better than average players if they want to compete for a top playoff spot next year.
Find a Team Identity
Lastly, Optic need to find a team identity. Right now, they’re simply PowerOfEvil and friends. Most of the time, either he leads the team to victory or they lose. While POE is good, he’s not good enough to be a team’s primary win condition.
Optic needs to figure out who they are as a team and find more strengths to play towards. After dealing with any personnel changes they plan on making, this should be their top priority. If they can become more than a one-dimensional team in 2019, then they’ll surely be able to improve on their 2018 record.