Golden Guardians has announced its Summer Split for both the League of Legends Championship Series and the LCS Academy League. Mid laner Nick "Ablazeolive" Abbott will retain his starting position alongside jungler Ethan "Iconic" Wilkinson and AD carry Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes, but two new faces will be joining the LCS roster for the Summer Split. 

Colin "Solo" Earnest, who was initially signed as GG Academy's new top laner following the team's parting of ways with James "Tally" Shute, will instead be starting in the LCS. GG Academy support Jonathan "Chime" Pomponio has also been promoted. 

As a result, Golden Guardians top laner Aiden "Niles" Tidwell and support Leandro "Newbie" Marcos will be sent down to Golden Guardians Academy to make space for Solo and Chime, respectively. Newbie, a veteran of the Latin American region, performed well enough in a tough Spring Split for GG, but the team has clearly decided to give young domestic talent a chance with Chime in the starting position.

Speaking of young talent, Niles came into the 2021 season heavily touted for his dominance in the CLoL scene, but struggled mightily throughout the Spring Split. Niles will have a better chance to develop on GG Academy, especially with the new coaching signings of head coach Thomas "ThinkCard" Slotkin and strategic coach Chris "Croissant" Sun, while Solo once again returns to the LCS as a sturdy, reliable, veteran as he did for FlyQuest in 2020. 

Both Golden Guardians' squads are looking to switch things up, and for good reason. In the Spring Split, the  LCS team finished in 10th place with a 3-15 record. Golden Guardians Academy managed to eliminated Team Liquid Academy from the 2021 LCS Spring Proving Grounds in a surprising lower bracket upset, but its top 8 finish was only a slight step up from its 9th place, 2-7 finish in its own Spring Split.