Team Dragon Knights, briefly known as Team Arena Online, was an American professional ''

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'' team. For most of its history the team competed in the North American ''League of Legends'' Challenger Series, but was briefly in the North American ''League of Legends'' Championship Series during the 2015 Summer Split before being relegated.

History

The team was formed in September 2014 by manager Sean Shim. They qualified for the ESL LCS Expansion Tournament via the Challenger ladder but did not participate in the tournament. However, after undergoing a number of roster changes they qualified for the spring season of the North American Challenger Series, beating Team Frostbite and Storm in the qualifier. In the Challenger Series, which took place from February 17 through March 28, 2015, TDK placed second in the season with a 7–3 record, behind Enemy eSports. In the playoffs, which ran from March 31, 2015, through April 1, 2015, they beat Team Fusion 2–1 before losing to Enemy 1–3, sending them to the Summer Promotion Tournament. Despite the fact that they had placed higher than Fusion,

Winterfox Winterfox (WFX) was an esports organization with teams competing in ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', ''Halo (series), Halo'' and ''Street Fighter''. The team was founded after the Evil Geniuses ''League of Legends'' team split from the organ ...

chose to play against them in their LCS relegation match on April 26, 2015. Prior to the match, mid laner Kyle chose to retire. TDK used temporary substitute mid laner Alex Ich from Renegades in the matches and won in a 3–1 upset, successfully qualifying for the 2015 NA LCS Summer Split. After the match Alex Ich chose to remain with his previous team. TDK attempted to buy out Altec's contract from Winterfox as Altec was planning on leaving the team, however he chose to join

Gravity Gaming Gravity Gaming (also known as Team Gravity) was a North American ''League of Legends'' team that competed in the North American League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). The team was originally known as Curse Academy and was the second team of ...

instead. On May 18, 2015, TDK announced their summer split final roster, consisting of Seraph, Kez, Ninja, Emperor, and

Smoothie A smoothie is a beverage made by puréeing ingredients in a blender. A smoothie commonly has a liquid base, such as fruit juice or milk, yogurt or ice cream. Other ingredients may be added, including fruits, vegetables, non-dairy milk, cru ...

. The team went on a seven-game losing streak when they were unable to use Emperor and Ninja on the starting roster because of delayed visas. They finished the LCS summer split in last place with a 3–15 record, eliminating them from the playoffs and relegating them back to the Challenger Series. On September 23, 2015, the team announced it would be renamed as Team Arena Online after new sponsor Arena Online, a tournament organizing company based in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. However, the team was forced to revert to their old name by

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after Arena Online failed to deliver on their promises of creating a million dollar tournament circuit. TDK was permanently banned from Riot-sponsored events on May 8, 2016, after Riot released a competitive ruling stating that there was an "inappropriate" connection between TDK and LCS team Renegades, with sources of financial compensation to players being a primary reason.

Notable players

* Alex Ich * Remilia *

References

External links

* {{CCBYSASource, sourcepath=http://lol.esportspedia.com/wiki/Team_Dragon_Knights, sourcearticle=Team Dragon Knights Former League Championship Series (esports) teams Esports teams based in Los Angeles Esports teams established in 2014 Esports teams disestablished in 2016