An LCS veteran has role swapped to support, joins NA amateur team

After spending almost a decade as a starting jungler, North American League of Legends veteran Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett has made the switch over to another role for the upcoming 2023 Summer Split.

The 25-year-old will be heading down to the bottom lane to become the starting support for Mirage Alliance, an amateur League team that recently participated in the 2023 NACL Spring Qualifiers, the org announced last night. He will be joining a roster filled with various other former LCS talents, including former Immortals top laner Kieran “Allorim” Logue and former TSM and Team Dignitas AD carry Toàn “Neo” Trần.

Dardoch has always been one of the biggest “what-if” stories in League, especially after showing incredible promise during his rookie year with Team Liquid in 2016. Considered to be one of the best rising stars of the region, the talented prospect could never find a long-lasting home after his opening year, bouncing between nine teams across the LCS, including Immortals, CLG, Echo Fox, TSM, and Team Dignitas.

One of the biggest issues that teams constantly ran into when working with Dardoch was his critical attitude toward teammates, especially when they were losing. This was documented in Liquid’s own Breaking Point documentary, where he could be seen voicing his opinion about his teammates, his head coach, and even other members of staff.

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Dardoch has bounced around the amateur scene since leaving Immortals’ Academy roster in 2022 and was even rumored to join a European team after signing with a U.K.-based agency. This will be the first time he’s trying his hand at the support position, though. With plenty of experience from his years as a top jungler, he should be a perfect candidate to help lead the team.

In fact, Mirage Alliance might have one of the stronger rosters in the amateur scene with three former LCS players on the lineup. But they will need to build chemistry if they wish to make the arduous climb up to the Challengers League, where they can garner more eyes on their talent from major organizations moving forward.