SNC Mighty Pandas (Series: 5-2, Games: 11-6)
As one of our longer running teams, Sunset Ravens was formed back in SNC’s new era, having started about four splits ago. Last year’s leader, SNC WildStar, returned for duty once again and found himself surrounded by new faces—which also induced the name change to “Mighty Pandas.” While under heavy recruitment from other orgs and teams, WildStar knew his home was here at Snack Bears, where the snacks are salty and the jokes are sweet.
New jungler eaglei1313 came via Twempest Fwame, as a friend of Amanda’s. Phallic Phenom and JamiesTurnTV were both new to SNC, teammates from a past Glacial teams And last but never least, there was Adarasto, who played with SNC’s own Grumpy Bears way back when. Over time, eaglei1313 had to unfortunately take a sub position due to time constraints and so another ex-Grumpy, XtheBeard, joined Mighty as the starting jungler. The core Mighty four played all fifteen games together this season, with XtheBeard getting ten games in, eaglei1313 hitting the Rift for four games, and esub SNC Elderberry stepping in for a dramatic thrown WK1GM1 game—backdoor Twitch anyone?
Exhibiting tremendous chemistry for a group of near-strangers, these Pandas started the split off with that first game loss but then quickly recovered to take out Kickin’ Squids for their first series win. [Lesson: Never let the org owner play, otherwise you’ll lose!] After another victory versus Nefarious Oathbreakers—and ex-Sunset Raven OnlyMagicalGirls—Mighty was ready to kick it into high gear. Alas, a 1-2 loss to Serenity CTRL Ult and Deleted gave Pandas their first loss of the season. (Spoiler: They’d get their revenge later!)
Taking matters into their own hands, Mighty recovered from that temporary set back to finish out the season on a three-game win streak. (We’ll overlook the makeup match versus Naughty Sharks, which Mighty lost 0-2.) Heading into the playoffs, Mighty was slated to go head-to-head against Nefarious Oathbreakers once again. Could Mighty take the title as the third-seed? They were about to find out!
It was upset season in LBL Economy as Mighty took down Nefarious in a clean 2-0! WildStar carried the day on his Gwen top, and then added insult to injury by using OMG’s own Kled versus Nefarious. (Actually, WildStar thanked OMG profusely for teaching him how to Kled…) With top seeded Naughty Sharks also upset, the path was clear for SNC’s first championship.
Aaaaah, the drama!
In a matchup that could have gone a scheduled five full games—petition now for all series to only be a Bo3—Mighty Pandas showed their off their final form and dominated Serenity CTRL Ult and Deleted to the tune of 3-0 for the title. A comeback victory in GM3 sealed the deal and revenge never tasted sweeter. Note: It was double revenge as Mighty won Economy this split, avenging Twempest's loss last season.
[ LBL Broadcast: LBL Economy Finals | Phallic Phenom LBL Finals GM1/2/3 | Winning time!!! ]
Let’s take a closer look at some team stats and then we’ll dig into these fine humans—bears—who are likely going to be the first ever SNC team to roll over the entire roster to a new split. Yay for continuity, and yay for these excellent and wonderful people!
- WK1: Naughty Sharks (0-2) Make up game
- WK2: Kickin’ Squids (2-1)
- WK3: Nefarious Oathbreakers (2-0)
- WK4: Serenity CTRL Ult and Deleted (1-2)
- WK5: SOG Jhinyu Force (2-0)
- WK6: Sensei Randal's Intermediate Karate Squadron (2-1)
- WK7: Glacial Storm (2-0)
- Playoffs Semi-Finals: Nefarious Oathbreakers (2-0)
- Playoffs Finals: Serenity CTRL Ult and Deleted (3-0)
The stat keeping by LBL is truly something impressive. Months later, we can dig in and unearth some gems. First off, congrats to All-Stars WildStar and Phallic Phenom. As the LBL write-up said, Phallic was top five in CSM, KDA, and DPM. On top of that, Phallic never died! In fact, many of the Pandas never died. Eagle, Jamie, and Phallic were #1-2-3 in least deaths per game, averaging 1.5, 2.4, and 2.6 respectively. You know what’s better than being alive? Not dying!! "Living" and "not dying" sound like the same thing but all LOL players know they’re different. Escaping death is at least twice as good as just staying alive.
Congrats to Eagle, Jamie, and Phallic for dying less than everyone else. In Phallic’s case, it’s even more impressive as he was also second in the league in damage per minute. Not dying while killing everyone, what a combo! Heck, since neither Jamie nor Phallic ever died in Mighty's last finals game, so they are technically still immortal.
[ LBL S11 Economy Sheet | Economy Preseason Rankings ]
With both Phallic and WildStar placing top-ten in damage per minute, it was tough for opponents to shut down either threat. Additionally, when opponents weren’t careful, Jamie was blasting away with massive Miss Fortune ults. Our heroine even secure the lone penta in all of LBL Economy—with Sivir against Sensei in WK6GM2. Watch the moment right here!
And then there’s the support team. Eagle somehow had an Economy-leading 94.7% kill participation in his four games, while Adarasto was top-five with his 70.8% KP. And who says ADCs don’t ward? Former ADC Adarasto was top-seven in Economy for vision score, with 1.80 per minute. Both Eagle and Adarasto were among the assists leaders as well.
We’ve said much about Wild over the past year or so, even calling him SNC’s MVP in October 2022 for his all-around versatility and game play. A steady presence in top lane for most of his comp career, this was the season Wild elevated himself from “very good” to “great.” And oh how he did it too, leaving behind many of the champs from his earlier comp splits to now dominate on Gwen and Kled—which he called his “best champs” in the post-Finals interview.
Always willing to soak up pressure in the solo lane, Wild has become a consummate team player as well, and brought zip and energy with his comms.
“We shouldn’t be too scared, but we also don’t want to be dumb.” (Wild) “Exactly!” (Jamie)
And let’s not overlook the title clinching GM3 against Serenity when Wild played Malphite—a longtime SNC favorite—and ulted the other team into the waiting clutches of the rest of Mighty. Send’em the rock!
In addition, while juggling newfound responsibilities in his career, Wild still found the time to do all the dirty work of being a captain, a role he’s had with both Ravens and Pandas. SO a big “thank you” to our Snack star, and a much deserved title for this SNC carry.
Champs: Kled (3), Darius, Gwen, Jax, Mordekaiser (2), Fiora, Gnar, Kennen, K’Sante
XTheBeard
The former top laner for Grumpy, Beard joined Mighty when they desperately needed a solution in the jungle. Finding a competent team jungler is always tough in comp play and having one that has a chill personality and is also willing to do the unglamorous work of playing engage and team-oriented champs? We don’t pay this man enough! Back up the Brink’s!
Technically a support main, Beard clearly honed his team play by specializing on champs like Thresh, Alistar, and Leona while also displaying the mechanics of a Lee Sin enjoyer. With twenty-three M7s—leading this team—Beard also seems to be a multi-role threat, which could open the door for some interesting role swaps if needed. (Can we get former Grumpy teammates Beard and Adarasto to run double jungle next split?!) For some reason, the enemy team let Beard play Trundle in all three Economy Finals games, which led to their quick demise. "Trundle is not the flashiest of champs. He has a big stick and smashes people upside the head."
All in all, we’re delighted that this dedicated family man could make the time for the SNC family, and we’re excited Beard could be such a crucial cog for our first ever championship. Also, we gotta know--from Beard's PFP--is that the real Beard's beard?! Amazing!
Champs: Amumu, Jarvan IV, Trundle (2), Maokai, Sejuani, Vi, Xin Zhao
As we said before, Phallic Phenom was the death defying damage dealer of Mighty with his impressive combo of low deaths and high damage. His champ pool? LeBlanc, Lissandra, Lux, all legendary. As a lane dominant carry—the likes of which SNC hasn’t seen since possibly, Kreutz—Phallic really opens up the map for his team and was truly MVP caliber all season long.
After taking last split off, Phallic was once again looking for some camaraderie on the Rift. He found us through a well-written ad by qiiqo (formerly SNC Reign) and not only brought his talents to SNC, but invited JamiesTurnTV as well. Thank you for the great people!
This future nurse not only cares about his teammates but also his community and family, and it shows in his leadership and constant kind words. “However I must say that what attracted me/us to SNC were the policies in place and the people that uphold it. It truly is a nice, happy space to grow as a player and foster experiences with values that I hold highly. I appreciate that in a toxic community like League's that we go against the grain, care about others and only try to empower each other…” We’re gonna cry…!!! 😭💞😭
Champs: Lux (5), LeBlanc, Lissandra (3), Ahri (2), Tristana, Viktor
JamiesTurnTV
The other half of our ex-Glacial duo, Jamie was co-captain—along with Phallic—of Glacial Knights. If you’re familiar with the scene, Glacial isn’t exactly known for always finishing splits but this Knights team was the exception as they not only finished the split but had an epic gauntlet run that took them all the way to ZGG semifinals—I believe they may have taken out an old Sunset Ravens team along the way.
With a much deserved rep for being kind and generous, Jamie is the type of player that will kill you, pick you back up, and then kill you again while saying “sorry!” And then kill you again…. Specializing in cold-hearted sharpshooters, this warm-hearted ADC has a knack for perfect ults that turn the tide of battle—or finish up the job that her teammates started. Did we mention the Sivir penta? The only question we have for Jamie is if there was pineapple on that Sivir slice?! Actually we have a question for Mighty's opponents as well: why oh why are you giving Jamie Miss Fortune?!?
Along with all that, Jamie is also a streamer and her overlays, presentation, and all-around positivity are a joy to subscribe to and behold! Also, shout out to Jamie's entire family who apparently watched the championship series!? We love family!
[ Twitch | YouTube | Penta!!!!! ]
Champs: Miss Fortune (6), Kai’Sa (3), Ashe, Jinx (2), Sivir, Xayah
Adarasto
Always fun to be around, Adarasto came highly recommended to us from his split with Grumpy Bears, and he was a participant in our first Snack Brawl last summer. We’d been looking for a good place to get Adarasto back into the SNC fold and as it turned out, it was with Mighty Pandas!
Originally slated to play ADC, Adarasto’s versatile champ pool covering all lanes—see his twenty M7s—had him swapping over to support, where he teamed up with Jamie to emerge as the perfect duo. Their spicy Seraphine and Senna combo helped Mighty secure the championship. (No Tristana support?!)
And despite having to log in from all sorts of setups and countries, Adarasto’s dedication to his team was unshakeable and his energy and enthusiasm was a big boon to Mighty.
Champs: Seraphine (7), Soraka, Maokai (2), Amumu, Leona, Morgana, Sona
eaglei1313
This natural leader—he’s a professional coach!—was unfortunately only able to squeeze in a few games for Mighty but Eagle was always there in spirit for his team. And when there were times of need, Eagle was there, such as showing up for the Economy finals just in case he would be called upon. Ever attentive, competitive, and gracious of any opportunity to play, Eagle was a steady voice behind-the-scenes all split long and his veteran guidance was much appreciated. Note: Honestly, we just realized Eagle’s IGN is “eagle eye…” 🤦🏻♂️
Champs: Udyr (3), Amumu
BearishJew
I think Bearish was a sub for Mighty? Although I can’t ascertain if he had any official games or scrims played. But we celebrate anyone who is willing to join our teams!