Hero image: Photo by Ella Don / Unsplash
Australia’s got its head coach locked in for the biggest League of Legends event of the year, and it’s someone you already know from the LCS broadcast desk. Here’s what it means for the squad you’ll be cheering on in November.
If you’ve been half-watching the Esports Nations Cup build-up and waiting for something with an Australian name attached, this is it. Jake “Spawn” Tiberi — Melbourne-based, currently head coach at Team Liquid in the LCS — has been confirmed as head coach of Australia’s League of Legends roster for the tournament’s first edition.
You don’t need the full CV to know he’s a good pick, but it helps: Spawn started out coaching ORDER Esports to a runners-up finish at the 2020 OPL Grand Finals, then moved to Team Liquid, where he’s since won the LCS Spring 2024 split and the LTA 2025 Split 1, plus trips to MSI 2024, Worlds 2024 and First Stand 2025. This is someone who’s been in the room for the tournaments we usually only watch.
His actual job now is harder than any of that: building one roster out of Oceania-based talent and Australians currently playing in North America and Europe, and making it feel like a team rather than a scouting exercise, in about seven weeks. If you want a say in who makes the cut, Sheep Esports is running a fan vote on possible roster picks — worth five minutes if you’ve got an opinion on who should be holding down bot lane for us.
Mark the dates: the Esports Nations Cup runs November 2 to 29 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with around 100 nations competing across up to sixteen titles — easily the biggest nation-based event the scene has put on. We’re not the only ones still filling out our roster, either: around 60 countries have confirmed League of Legends coaches so far, with the USA going with Cloud9’s Nick “Inero” Smith and Canada landing G2’s Dylan Falco.
What’s next: the full playing roster hasn’t dropped yet. When it does, you’ll want to already know Spawn’s name — because he’s the one who’ll be picking it.
— Gamers Classified, on behalf of the GC team.
Source: Sheep Esports, Insider Gaming