Clutch Gaming has signed former H2K Gaming mid laner Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten and Gold Coin United top laner Colin "Solo" Earnest to its League of Legends roster on Thursday for the 2018 season, sources close to the players and team told ESPN.
Febiven and Solo join a roster that is expected to consist of three former Team Envy players, jungler Nam "LirA" Tae-yoo, AD carry Apollo "Apollo" Price and support Nickolas "Hakuho" Surgent, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. It signed those players on Wednesday after their contracts with Envy expired on Monday.
The roster will debut on Jan. 19, the opening of the 2018 North American League of Legends Championship Series season. The team will be lead by director of esports development Sebastian Park, as well as head coach David "DLim" Lim, according to sources. Clutch Gaming has also hired a number of data analysts from both inside and outside of the esports industry and will hire more staff in the coming weeks ahead of the league start.
Febiven signed with the team after departing H2K Gaming on Monday, following the expiration of his contract. He has competed with H2K Gaming over the past year, when H2K took fifth-sixth and fourth in the European League Championship Series spring and summer splits, respectively. Clutch Gaming will be the first time Febiven has played on a team outside of his home continent of Europe.
Solo's former team, Gold Coin United, was not accepted as a franchise partner to the North American League Championship Series in October. GCU released all of its players -- minus Kim "FeniX" Jae-hun, who transferred to Echo Fox on Wednesday -- into free agency.
Clutch Gaming, which is owned by the Houston Rockets, was accepted into the North American League Championship Series in October. The team is one of three basketball franchises, alongside the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, to be granted a spot in the league.