Vulcan LoL: Career, Champions and Worlds 2026

Vulcan (Philippe Laflamme) is a Canadian support who plays for Cloud9 in North America’s LCS. He made his name in pro LoL on engage supports such as Nautilus, Alistar and Rakan, and on a long run of LCS first-place finishes with Clutch Gaming, Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses. In 2026 he won LCS 2026 Spring with Cloud9 and qualified for Worlds 2026.

Vulcan’s 2026 is his busiest recent season, but not his most successful one. He has already played more pro games than in all of 2025, when he went 48–27 for a 64% win rate, and this year’s record sits below that pace. A Spring title followed by a playoff exit in Summer explains most of the gap.

The shape of his games has changed as well. He takes a larger share of Cloud9’s damage than last year, dies less often per game and records fewer assists, while his kill participation and vision per minute sit slightly above his 2025 levels. For a support, more damage with fewer deaths usually means safer positioning on champions that hit from range, rather than a player spending his life on engages.

That reading matches the champion pool. A support who used to live on Nautilus and Alistar now spends much of his time on Bard, Karma, Nami, Seraphine and Neeko, champions that add damage and utility from the backline. The table below sets the two seasons side by side.

Bard and Karma are his most played champions this season, and they have gone in opposite directions. Bard holds a slightly winning record and stays in the rotation into the playoffs. Karma, despite the same volume, carries a losing record, and Lulu sits in the same place: a champion he keeps drafting that has not converted into wins this year.

The champions that work best on a real sample are Seraphine, Nami, Rakan and Renata Glasc, all with strong records across several games. Nami and Seraphine are lane-dominant enchanter or mage picks, while Rakan and Renata Glasc give Cloud9 teamfight engage and counter-engage. Neeko stands out for a different reason: she deals more damage per minute than anything else in his pool, which makes her a flex mage rather than a classic support.

His old staples have a smaller role. Nautilus sits on an even record, Alistar shows up only in Spring, and Thresh, Shen, Braum and Milio are too lightly played this year to judge. Treat those as situational answers to specific drafts rather than comfort picks.

Across his career, Nautilus, Alistar, Rakan, Leona and Tahm Kench are his signature champions, and Alistar and Thresh hold some of his best long-term records.

His builds on his three most played champions show a player who wants to win lane through trades and then protect his carries in fights. Heal sits beside Flash on all three, a choice that favors surviving extended trades over the kill pressure of Ignite or Exhaust.

On Bard, he runs Electrocute in the Domination tree with Cheap Shot, Deep Ward and Relentless Hunter, and Inspiration secondary for Magical Footwear and Cosmic Insight. That rune page is built for a Bard who leaves lane, places deep vision and picks off targets on the roam. His items point the other way: Locket of the Iron Solari, Mikael’s Blessing and Bandlepipes are all team-protection tools, so the Bard roams early and turns into a shield for his carries once teamfights start.

On Karma, Summon Aery with Nimbus Cloak, Transcendence and Scorch sets up constant poke in lane. Moonstone Renewer is his usual first item, followed by Echoes of Helia or Mikael’s Blessing, with Shurelya’s Battlesong when Cloud9 needs speed to engage or disengage. It is a sustained-fight build: Karma heals and shields through long skirmishes rather than bursting a target.

On Nami, every build starts from Imperial Mandate, which rewards landing slows and roots for his bot laner to follow up on. The runes match: Summon Aery, Manaflow Band, Transcendence and Scorch, with Triple Tonic and Magical Footwear in Inspiration. This is the most aggressive of his three builds and fits a Nami that looks to win lane outright.

His latest games come from the LCS 2026 Summer Playoffs against Team Liquid and LYON, where Cloud9’s drafts handed him a different job almost every game: engage on Thresh, Leona and Rakan, enchanters on Lulu, Karma and Bard, and flex picks in Neeko and Shen. Each game in the table has a Watch link to its VOD.

Watch his best Bard, Karma and Nami games of the 2026 season below.

Vulcan’s pro career starts on 16 June 2018 with Clutch Gaming, the organization now listed as Dignitas. He stayed until 10 November 2019, and that stint produced his first big result: first place at the LCS 2019 Regional Finals on 8 September 2019.

He joined Cloud9 on 25 January 2020 and won immediately, taking LCS 2020 Spring and the LCS 2020 Spring Playoffs. In 2021 he added LCS 2021 Spring and the LCS 2021 Mid-Season Showdown before leaving on 6 November 2021.

His next stop was Evil Geniuses.NA, from 14 January 2022 to 9 April 2023. That spell includes the LCS 2022 Spring Playoffs, a 3rd–4th place finish at MSI 2022 and LCS 2022 Summer. A short stint with FlyQuest followed, from 14 June 2023 to 21 July 2023.

He returned to Cloud9 on 20 January 2024 and has stayed since. The second spell delivered LCS 2026 Spring on 17 May 2026, which puts a title in every phase of his career, from 2019 to 2026. Follow the rest of the region’s season on the esports hub.

The result that matters most for his standing is range: he has finished first in LCS events with Clutch Gaming, Cloud9 and Evil Geniuses, so his success has not depended on one roster or one coaching staff. The 3rd–4th place at MSI 2022 is his best international finish in the record, and LCS 2026 Spring shows he is still winning domestic titles years after his first.

For Cloud9 fans, the two spells are worth separating. The 2020 and 2021 titles came with one roster era, and the 2026 Spring win came with another, with Vulcan the common thread at support.

Vulcan is at Worlds 2026 with Cloud9, which qualified as North America #3. Cloud9 starts in the Play-In stage, and the Play-Ins begin on 15 October 2026. Follow every stage on the Worlds 2026 hub.