Who is Armao, the League of Legends sub that helped Team Liquid win 3-1 over TSM?

Jonathan "Armao" Armao, formerly known as Grigne/Grig, is a 22-year-old American professional League of Legends player who currently represents Team Liquid as a jungler in the LCS.

According to League of Legends Gamepedia, it was frequently rumored that Riot forced Amrao to change his original summoner name "Grigne" as the letters formed a racial slur in English when rearranged.

However, Grig had stated that the name change was voluntary and that he got his original name from a World of Warcraft random name generator when he was eight-years-old.

Armao in his TSM days (Image via League of Legends Championship Series)

The MSS semifinal star is a promising prospect who never disappoints his teams whenever he gets a fair shot. In late 2014, a 15-years-old Armao began his competitive career with California-based Esports franchise COGnitive Gaming.

After COG got eliminated in the third round of the NACL New Year's Kick-off Tournament, the team disbanded. Armao joined Cloud9 Tempest for a month.

After multiple short spells at various small North American sides, Armao finally joined the newly formed TSM academy in December 2017. He spent two years as a jungler and part-time top lane.

He joined Team Liquid Academy in May 2020 after a year with Dignitas.

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Armao becomes an overnight star after his splendid performance at the League of Legends LCS MSS against his former side

Although Armao came into the limelight after his mind-blowing performance in the LCS Mid-Deason Showdown semifinal, this was not the first time he appeared on the senior LCS roster for Team Liquid.

He had previously played three matches in Team Liquid's jungle when their regular starter Lucas "Santorin" Larsen was still dealing with his visa issues during the initial LCS 2021 days.

The young North American had averaged a splendid K/D/A score of seven and helped his team beat CLG and Golden Guardians during the group stages.

And now, as Armao got his long-awaited chance to showcase himself after Santorin was subbed for his migraine problems, he didn't blow it. The former TSM jungler performed above everyone's expectations against his old team, registering a first-game K/D/A scoreline of 5/5/3.

With promising North American talen like Armao shining on the bigger stages, it is visible that rising regional talent cast shadows on those teams who import youngsters from other leagues.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, LCS caster Isaac “Azael” Cummings-Bentley said,

"I don't want a world where League of Legends teams can just import full rosters and not work on developing a connection with their players."

Image via League of Legends Championship Series

Armao can be a role model for current North American rookies and young talents to make the best of sudden opportunities and shine bright on the bigger stages.