some quick thoughts on the last season and going into 2018 with Diamond Skin

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Thought it was time to write one of these, after announcing Diamond Skins roster for 2018 ,
for the curious folks.

So first off thanks to SportBilly, ethernal and Cris for being great teammates throughout 2017,
I think we still had potential to work on together but I understand their decision to search other opportunities and wish them good luck for 2018.

However this left WolfJoe and me in a difficult spot, having recently dropped our sponsorship (in the form of Playing Ducks) because of them not upholding their part of the contract, not paying salary - we also have less resources at the time than other teams.
We had to not only fill the spots of the 3 players but also figure out how to handle drafting and shotcalling now, which was mostly billys part before -
This is actually where WolfJoe really stepped up and took over that responsibility and in the time we had so far really showed his great understanding of the game and I'm very confident in him.

Immeadietly after the crucible there were many uncertainties in terms of rosters and we could not really plan anything in that regard until after blizzcon happened, pretty unsettling feeling during those few weeks.
Then we had like 2 weeks time to tryout who we thought had the greatest potential, figure out the roles and so on, there were many players who still have great potential and we decided for the previously announced players:

Simon "darkmok" Tabin: Melee Flex
this guy needs no introduction, hes for sure one of the most talented melee players in europe and brings a lot of experience to the team

Robert "robadobah" Purling: Tank
he made it to every offline event for ANZ and showed great play at blizzcon this year,
now moving to EU - I'm glad to welcome him to the european scene

Mikkel "Roskmeg" Villangen: Ranged Carry
The "HL god" himself - there's a reason this guy is always on top of the ladder
even though he's the only player on the team without much competitive experience i believe he will turn into a great addition over time
Initially he was a tank player but after playing together we saw great potential that would fit very well in the assassin role and he was glad to make the switch happen
(follow him on twitter.com/R0skmeg :) )

Special thanks to Blumbi who decided to not look into opportunities as a player anymore and started coaching us during the tryout period - his input and advice was very valuable to us already.

( also hi Laranas, thanks for subbing in scrim, great player )

Overall, going from not thinking we have to change any players after the crucible, to having to replace 3 of them, I am very happy with the new lineup and looking forward to working with everyone.
Also thanks to all of the HotS fans, twitch memers and anyone really that has rooted for our team during this year, cheered for us and gave us support in any way, it really means a lot.

We are also currently looking for a new organisation to work with over an extended period of time, my DMs are open.

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