Over the last couple of splits, Jakob “YamatoCannon” Mebdi has grown to be quite an iconic figure in the League of Legends LEC competitive scene.
And now, recently, the EU analyst has made history by becoming the first-ever Westerner to become a head coach in the LCK. He has joined up with Sandbox for the Summer Split of 2020, in an effort to bring the team out of a rut following their disappointing 9th place finish and an even worse 5-13 record.
In joining @SBGaming_KOR, @YamatoMebdi becomes the first Western head coach in the LCK. https://t.co/RkEaceVVcz
— ESPN Esports (@ESPN_Esports) May 14, 2020
However, due to the concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, YamatoCannon will not be able to directly move to Korea to coach the team, but he will be working with them remotely.
Why is there suddenly a Western Head Coach in Korea?
Something like having a Western head coach in Korea would have been unthinkable two years ago, but now it just seems like quite a fitting progress for the state of League of Legends in the LCK.
For the last two years, Korea has had some of the worst performances (historically) in the Worlds Championship. During both the 2018 and 2019 competition, not a single LCK representative was able to go beyond the semi-finals, while the LEC, on the other hand, stepped up and reached the finals both the time. G2 Esports was even able to take out T1 in the 2019 semi-finals even when the Korean powerhouse looked like clear tournament favorites.
Why Yamato?
YamatoCannon has the charm and the charisma to lift the spirits of the most defeated of teams, and that is precisely something that Sandbox needs the most, at the moment.
Yamato’s emotional speech after the 2018 Worlds group stage knockout, is one of the most inspiring and iconic moments in League of Legends history. And he might be just the right person to help Sandbox Gaming finally qualify for the international tournaments.
