With only one Bo1 win in Split 2, DSG has made a drastic mid-split change ahead of the groups phase
Days from playing their first Bo3 of the split, Disguised has parted ways with Brandon "Mash" Phan, promoting Ian "ido" McCormick — previously the assistant coach and analyst for the team — in his place. The team, owned by Twitch streamer and YouTuber Disguised Toast, was ranked last by most analysts ahead of their debut LTA year. Despite low expectations, the team has fallen short of expectations.
Trying to change the dynamic
DSG has only won two of its 12 stage games this year, though last week's Bo1 victory over Team Liquid is nothing to scoff at. The team's inability to meaningfully contest Shopify Rebellion and Dignitas didn't bode well for their competitive prospects. Evidently, making a change ahead of the group stage, where DSG is likely to be eliminated, will help the team retool in the offseason between Split 2 and Split 3.
"Internally, discussing the trajectory of the team, we felt we needed a dynamic change to our systems and structure. We recently onboarded Ido as our assistant coach and had high hopes for him — he was a [coaching] prospect for us previously in NACL and LTA [in the past].
Although Mash is great, we felt Ido was able to really target some players on our roster that need that exponential growth to put us back on the trajectory we desire. Being a low-resource organization, we had a tough decision to make."
— Chris Yong, General Manager and Interm Stage Coach for DSG
In the offseason, DSG settled on Mash after coaches with proven track records at the Tier 1 level — Tanner "Damonte" Damonte and Han "Rigby" Earl — chose other options. Ido, on the other hand, only joined the team earlier this month, filling the vacancy left by previous assistant coach Brandon "Brandini" Chen.
Ido is a veteran of the collegiate space, having worked with many of the best up-and-coming League of Legends talents in NA. Most recently, he coached Fear X Starforge during their run to the Grand Finals of the Americas Challengers tournament last year and was set to coach the Pulsestar roster that could've competed at the top of the NACL—had it not fallen apart before the split began. With Ido, DSG is hoping to right the ship — they've had flashes of brilliance together, and a new coach could be exactly what they need. In the interim of Ido's transfer to head coach, GM Chris Yong will act as the team's on-stage coach.
Header Photo Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
