Flash Wolves have been the premier team of Taiwan since the end of Spring split and have generally been a solid force internationally. The team has impressed with numerous upsets against some of the best teams in the world, but has disappointed in many matches as the clear favorite. Flash Wolves can do it all and that’s certainly their charm, but it takes a toll.

The current team dynamic makes for wishy-washy results because if Huang “Maple” Yi-Tang or Hung “Karsa” Hau-Hsuan don’t get going, Flash Wolves just aren’t going to come out with a win. This was on full display this World Championship as Flash Wolves mustered a mere 2-4 record, finishing last in their group. At this point, a change certainly needs to be made and to their credit, a pair of trainees are being given a chance at IEM Oakland later this week.

Flash Wolves are bringing on jungle trainee Lu “DoubleRed” Yuhung (formerly known as betty) to relieve Hsiung “NL” Wen-An of the AD carry role, looking to give the longtime AD carry a break and try something new in the bot lane. DoubleRed is known to be a multi-role talent and has reached rank 6 on the Korean solo queue ladder while mainly playing both jungle and AD Carry. He was the main reason Flash Husky qualified for LMS Summer 2016 and shined as the brightest prospect in the league, but IEM will certainly be more competitive than Taiwan’s Elite Challenger Series.

It’s no secret that NL has problems competing internationally with other AD carries and DoubleRed is yet another attempt at patching up this hole. DoubleRed has been praised by his teammates for having strong micro ability and knowing how to compete in solo queue, but has also been quiet when it comes to communication. Communication has always been Flash Wolves’ issue when it comes to replacing NL, so there will certainly be growing pains in this regard.

DoubleRed is mechanically skilled and has the word “potential” following him, but at the moment he is an unknown quantity. His limited competitive experience is as a jungler and even then, he was a wild horse when it came to positioning and actual teamwork. A few weeks of scrimming with an experienced team like Flash Wolves and being relatively “unscoutable” will help his case at IEM this weekend, but he will be raw nonetheless. This event will be about gaining experience for DoubleRed and seeing what role Flash Wolves can find for him on the team. Given his talent, the hope is that he can rise up to be the second carry Flash Wolves desperately need.

Top laner Shen “Rins” Po-Ju makes his return to Flash Wolves as the second trainee, after spending a split on 8th place Team Mist. In Rins’ short time with Flash Wolves this year, he profiled as a carry-focused top laner that could provide effective splitpush and backline pressure on his Trundle and Fiora. However, it was Rins’ first time playing competitive and he was prone to a fair amount of rookie mistakes with overall sub-par laning.

Rins’ trial at IEM Oakland is a tad different than DoubleRed’s, as he has to compete with Flash Wolves’ established top laner Yau “MMD” Li-Hung at the tournament itself. The two have split time before and that eventually ended up in MMD becoming the main starter.  In the following split, Rins had the opportunity to play for the majority of a split on Team Mist and even though his team landed at 8th place, he still performed well individually. It also became well known that Rins was incredibly vocal on the team and with NL’s absence, that could be crucial to Flash Wolves’ success.

Unlike DoubleRed, Rins immediately offers a known quantity and adds a different dimension to the lineup. MMD has practically always been on tank champions in recency, but Rins has shown a knack for being a damage dealer, rather than a facilitator or damage soaker. Considering that Rins has also shown that he is comfortable on tanks, it’s likely that he can bring more flexibility than MMD in the long run. With more competitive experience under his belt and a 2016 meta that arguably favors him more, Rins aims to impress at IEM Oakland and give Flash Wolves another carry avenue for the tournament.

Flash Wolves would have profiled as one of the stronger teams at the event due to its shallow team pool, but now there is much uncertainty. IEM Oakland is a chance for Flash Wolves to try funneling gold into other positions, whether it be Rins in the top lane or DoubleRed down bottom. Maple will almost certainly be the main focus, but primary carries always suffer without a reliable secondary carry and this is yet another attempt to rectify the solo-carry problem.

If the Flash Wolves can win the event, that would be great. It would be Taiwan’s first international win since Season 2 and it would somewhat make up for Taiwan’s poor performance at worlds this year. However, the prestige of the event is questionable and it is going to be more of a growing experience than anything. It’s great to see that Flash Wolves aren’t merely content with maintaining their roster and being the best in Taiwan; they want to be among the best in the world, and IEM Oakland looks to be their humble start on the way to Season 7.