S5 Gaming
 | |
| Full name | Samorspi 5 Gaming |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | Samorspi Bears |
| Founded | March 18, 2016 |
| League | WEAL |
| Region | West Euclea |
| Based in | Samistopol |
| Location | Soravia |
| Colors | Green and Brown |
| Head coach | Cheslav Ungern |
| Manager | Kiril Narov |
| Mascot | Brown Bear |
| Members | 5 |
| Parent group | Samorspi |
S5 Gaming, officially Samorspi 5 Gaming, is a professional esports team based in Samistopol, Soravia. It was one of two teams founded by a joint Samorspi endeavor to create professional level Avatar teams taken from the member countries in 2016, alongside its regional rival Team Ace. Overseen by a commission appointed by the Samorspi, it holds tryouts to draw the best players from the consituent countries in Samorspi, but in turn has high performance expectations. It has been a strong competitor in the Avatar gaming world, having Avatar World Championships every year since their founding, qualified for the final portion three times, and winning second place in the 2018 championships. It will be participating in the 2021 Avatar World Championship. In addition to Avatar, S5 Gaming also oversees teams for other major esporting games.
History
Formation and Early Years (2016-2017)
S5 Gaming was founded in March 2016 by a agreement between the countries in the diplomatic bloc of Samorspi to create and fund professional esporting teams, alongside Team Ace. Both teams hosted tryouts in early April from the various West Euclean Avatar communities, selecting the best players from each team. The first team saw players from five countries, Soravia, West Miersa, Kantemosha & Ambrazka, Vedmed and Tengaria, make the final cut. Cheslav Ungern, known by his username Underd0g, was already a well-known player on the international level for Avatar, and became the team's leader and guide. After the team was formed the players began to work in order to work well as a team and to improve their skills, and is overseen by a Samorspi commision. Besides for minor preparatory tournaments, S5 Gaming made its first major tournament appearance in September of 2016 in the West Euclean Regional Finals, where it proved quite successful, beating every team it played against and securing the victory and a garunteed spot at the 2016 Avatar World Championships. In the first year of its existence, it managed to score enough victories in the Round Robin to qualify for the it reached the final five competitors in the tournament, although it lost in the first round and thus placed fifth in the championship as a whole. Despite not winning the championship, the team had already proven quite successful in its first year.
The 2017 season saw S5 compete in more tournaments and training activities throughout the season. The team's requirements and playing level were high, and during the course of the season both roamers, Nikoloz Donauri (nik2756) and Wojciech Lis (Mandrake35), lost their spots in the next tryouts to Soravian Eduard Lemkos (fullmetal) and Vedmedi Avtandil Jughashvili (Avtandil). Adjusting to the new members did not go exactly smoothly, with Lemkos especially being problematic for the team's playstyle and dynamics- although a talented player, Lemkos failed to work with his teammates. Because of this the team did not do as well as it did in the previous regional tournament, losing the top spot in West Euclea to Team Ace. Nevertheless, it still qualified for the World Championship, and its mediocre performance in the round robin stage failed to qualify the team for the finals, ending the year in dissapointment.
Dominant Years (2018-2019)
Tryouts and playing assessments were moved to early January by the commission to shortly after the World Championships, to give more time for the newer players to adjust to the team's playstyle. Eduard Lemkos and Tapio Hämäläinen (Hammerfall) lost their spots on the team to Soravian Kliment Smeshnoy (kl1ment) as top laner and Ambrzkan Ladislav Pekár (MrLaatta) as bot roamer. Unlike the previous years, the team began to adapt well to working together, and began perfoming really well in the preliminary competitions throughtout the 2018 season. It once again preformed well in the regional tournament, becoming West Euclea's champion in 2018, and being the best team in the Round Robin phase at the world championships. However, they were upset by the Red Rockers in the final match of the championship, and thus ended in second place. However, the year was a huge success, marking the highest positon which a West Euclean team had ever reached in the World Championship.
In the 2019 season, Ladislav Pekár lost his seat to West Miersan Janusz Rumiński (jan66). The team continued to preform well but at not quite as high a caliber as before. They secured another victory at the West Euclean championships, beating Team Ace for the third time at the West Euclean championship. Doing well in the round robin, they secured third place in the final five. However, they were beaten by the second team, causing them to square off against the lower of the fourth and fifth games. Despite appearing dominant in the first few matches, the team was ultimately beaten in an upset which left S5 at fourth place. Still, despite the upset, the team had performed quite well, and maintained its spot as the dominant Samorspi esports team.
Recent Status (2020-)
In the beginning of the 2020 season, team lader Cheslav Ungern announced that he would be retiring from active playing and leaving the team, a devestating blow for the team's morale and playstyle. In addition, top roamer Avtandil Jughashvili did not qualify for the team and would have to be replaced. With Ungern's departure, Dragomir Lenov (Sagacité) was the oldest player on the team. He however was passed over for team leadership, with it instead being given to the new Soravian top-roamer Valentina Voloshyn (volo_city). Mikhel Saakashvili (niangi2) joined the team as the team's new bot laner, and was known for his great degree of skill but also unpredictability. The new top roamer, Voloshyn, was also the first female player on the team. The team did not end up working well together, and saw a its worst season in its history during 2020. To make matters worse, Janusz Rumiński was caught during an international tournament using racial slurs against Lemovicians, resulting in Janusz being fined and S5's reputation being tarnished. The team still finished as West Euclean runners up and barely qualified for the world championships, but had a miserable performance during the round robin period.
After the failure of the 2020 season, Voloshyn lost her place on the team and Lenov was appointed as the team's leader for the 2021 season. Ungern was brought back as a coach, and the young but talented Kantemoshan Villiam Järvenpää (delphi) was brought on as top roamer. The team began to improve rapidly over what it had in the previous year, and began to look again like its older self. During the 2021 West Euclean regional championships, it preformed well but ultimately lost in the finals to Team Ace. It qualified for the 2021 Avatar World Championship in Bagabiada, Dezevau.
S5 Gaming has a wide-reaching fanbase spread largely across the countries of Samorspi. It tends to be more popular in Tengaria, West Miersa, Vedmed and Kantemosha, largely due to the players who have played for S5 coming from these countries, while Team Ace is more popular in Radushia and Bistravia. Although Tengarians have played for Team Ace, Dragomir Lenov is a popular figure in Tengarian gaming, due to his long career and work outside of the gaming field. S5 Gaming also has a large following in Soravia, but fans of both teams exist in wide numbers in Soravia. Despite the regional rivalry with Team Ace, the team's success on the international stage usually is a united cause for most Samorspi countries.
Players
Current Avatar Roster
| Role | Name | Handle | Nationality | Year Joined | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top Laner | Kliment Smeshnoy | kl1ment |  Soravia
|
2018 | 26 |
| Top Roamer | Villiam Järvenpää | delphi |  Kantemosha
|
2021 | 21 |
| Mid Laner | Dragomir Lenov | Sagacité |  Tengaria
|
2016 | 30 |
| Bot Roamer | Valentina Voloshyn | volo_city | Soravia
|
2022 | 22 |
| Bot Laner | Mikhel Saakashvili | niangi2 |  Vedmed
|
2020 | 23 |
Former Avatar Players
| Role | Name | Handle | Nationality | Career | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bot laner | Cheslav Ungern | Underd0g | Soravia
|
2016-2020 | 30 |
| Top laner | Tapio Hämäläinen | Hammerfall | Kantemosha
|
2016-2018 | 32 |
| Bot roamer | Nikoloz Donauri | nik2756 | Vedmed
|
2016-2017 | 29 |
| Top roamer | Wojciech Lis | Mandrake35 |  Miersa
|
2016-2017 | 28 |
| Bot roamer | Eduard Lemkos | fullmetal | Soravia
|
2017-2018 | 27 |
| Top roamer | Avtandil Jughashvili | Avtandil | Vedmed
|
2017-2020 | 27 |
| Bot roamer | Ladislav Pekár | MrLaatta | Ambrazka
|
2018-2019 | 25 |
| Top roamer | Valentina Voloshyn* | volo_city | Soravia
|
2020-2021 | 22 |
| Bot roamer | Janusz Rumiński | jan66 | Miersa
|
2019-2022 | 25 |
(*)This marks Voloshyn's first tenure on the team. She was reintroduced to the team after a year's departure in 2022, this time as a bot-roamer instead of a top-roamer.