Solar Scarabs

 is a team participating in the Smite Pro League. The team is owned and operated by Hi-Rez Studios.

History
The Solar Scarabs formed ahead of Season 8 of the SPL in February 2021, alongside seven other teams managed directly by Hi-Rez. The initial roster consisted of SoloOrTroll, Layers, oBoronic, Inbowned, and Zapman.

2021 Season
The 2021 Season for the Solar Scarabs was an interesting one. For most of phase 1, they were a bottom-level team. However, they were one of the few teams to 2-1 the Jade Dragons, one of the strongest teams in the phase. This gave them the nickname "Dragon Slayers." When the Spring Playoffs tournament started, the Solar Scarabs found themselves in the 6th place slot. During phase 2, the team started to fracture. As the Coronavirus vaccine started to become mandatory to play SPL, SoloOrTroll got his a bit too late due to carelessness. This resulted in him getting put on hold as they explore other options. Layers, due to an incident in which his mic picked up a rant to his parents about his team's poor performance, was kicked from the team. This, alongside Julio's ban, resulted in Zapman leaving the Scarabs and joining the Atlantis Leviathans as their ADC. The Solar Scarabs picked up Screammmmm, who was a free agent at the time, and Stuart from the Sturdy Artisans. For the rest of the season, the rest of the Solar Scarab sets had the tendency to go to three matches. This pattern would be a poor 1st game, a very strong 2nd game, and a disappointing 3rd game. Beyond these three-game sets, not much changed in terms of win rate as they maintained their position as a lower-end team and did not qualify for the Phase 2 Playoffs. For Phase 3 Playoffs, they did manage to qualify and achieve a 5-6th place slot. For the Smite World Championship, the team did manage to qualify to play. The Solar Scarabs managed to get as far as the semifinals, with the Solar Scarabs being able to beat the Jade Dragons but lose to the Tartarus Titans.

2022 Season
As the 2022 Season was looming, the Solar Scarabs decided to part ways with SoloOrTroll. His replacement would be ScaryD, a free agent at the time who last played as the jungler for the Tartarus Titans. The first phase for the Scarabs was lackluster, with the only team that they beat being the Valhalla Valkyries. Coming in the Spring Masters tournament, the Solar Scarabs did not manage to qualify for the quarterfinals. They got sent to the loser's bracket by the Valhalla Valkyries and they got eliminated by an SCC team named the Eldritch Hounds. Once the summer season started, the Solar Scarabs seemed to have improved. They were able to beat the Atlantis Leviathans and the Camelot Kings, the latter being a very powerful team with a good win streak. Unfortunately, soon the Jade Dragons would kick Sam4Soccer2 and Screammmmm would express interest in joining the team. Having lost Screammmmm, the Solar Scarabs decided to try out Oathhhh before settling on Sam4Soccer2. As the Summer Master tournament went underway, the Solar Scarabs did not make it to the quarterfinals. They got knocked to the Elimination Bracket by the Olympus Bolts and would then get eliminated by the SCC team Hex Mambo. Shortly after the Summer Masters tournament ended, Inbowned would announce that the team has decided to try out new supports. The Solar Scarabs picked up Jarcorrr as their support.

Starting into the fall split, things were looking grim for the Solar Scarabs. The team has been a mismatch of multiple players, and they were not allowed to grow due to constant changes. That's why, on October 19th, the Smite Pro League Twitter would announce that Stuart would be joining the Tartarus Titans. Jarcorrr would be switching from support to ADC, a move cheered by fans as, during phase 1 of Season 8, Jarcorrr was arguably a top 4 best ADC in the game even though it would be his first time in the role. Taking his role as support for the team would be Hurriwind, who had recently swapped from mid to support this year after leaving the Jade Dragons. Stuart leaving the Solar Scarabs would generate a conversation surrounding the team. Fans argued that while the team is known to underperform, it is not fair that their players kept getting "poached" by better teams. Layers got picked by the Tartarus Titans and made it to World's final that year, Zapman would join the Atlantis Leviathans and would win World's that year, Screammmmm would join the Jade Dragons and has found success, and now Stuart would join the Tartarus Titans, a struggling team that is still in a better position than the Solar Scarabs. Someone would point out that there are more Solar Scarabs in the Tartarus Titans than there are Solar Scarabs in the Solar Scarabs. This statement would be true, as the Tartarus Titans held SoloOrTroll, Layers, and Stuart. The Scarabs at the time only held sLainy and oBoronic as the original Solar Scarabs, as everyone left or got kicked. Players argued that there should be roster locks in order to prevent this, however another group, some consisting of pro players, would state that this is a bad idea. As their first game with Hurriwind as support, the team was able to win against the Valhalla Valkyries. This was a much-needed victory for the teams as they didn't have much to cheer for. On November 6th, it would be announced that sLainy would leave the Solar Scarabs for the Tartarus Titans. The Solar Scarabs will officially have fewer Solar Scarabs compared to the Tartarus Titans who now had 4. Snoopy would replace sLainy as the coach, and the team would try to continue to grow as much as possible. On November 16th, it was announced that Jarcorrr would move to the Camelot Kings, Netrioid would move to the ADC role for the Solar Scarabs, oBoronic has stepped down from the team, Snoopy would go from coach to mid laner, and Blaaaaast would join the team as a coach. This would be the most radical change to the team, and also the final nail in the coffin for oBoronic. The last original Solar Scarab was no longer on the team. While he never stated why he left, it would be no surprise if the radical changes to his team lead to his departure. oBoronic has not hinted at a return next year to the SPL, if anything he has hinted that he would not return. The Solar Scarabs is the 2nd SPL team to have a completely different roster than the original roster since Hi-Rez switched to having no organizations, and is the 1st team to have their players change 1 by 1 instead of all at once. With such a radical change before World's, things are not looking good for the Scarabs. However, they only had two matches left for the phase and they played well during those matches. They were able to get an unlikely victory against the Valhalla Valkyries and made the Oni Warriors work for their victory against them. Many believed that this team might be their strongest iteration yet.

Due to their placement at the end of the phase, the Solar Scarabs would have to miss the seeding tournament. Their only way to enter the SPL would have to be during the SWC Placement tournament being held from January 5th, 2023 to January 8th, 2023. Their first match would be against Hex Mambo, a team that the Solar Scarabs had history. While the 1st game against Hex Mambo seemed promising to the Solar Scarabs, the two games would spell doom for the team. Hex Mambo would sweep the team, knocking the Solar Scarabs to the elimination round later in the day. During the elimination round, their match would be against the NA SCC team, Xibalba Storm. Unfortunately for the Xibalba Storm, the Solar Scarabs had too much talent to lose to what many perceived to be the weakest SCC team. The Solar Scarabs would 2-0 the Xibalba Storm, and so they only needed to win a Best of Five set against the Oni Warriors. The last set of the tournament was an intense set. An SPL team was sure to be sent home that day and an aspiration for an SWC run would be cut. The Solar Scarabs were a Frankenstein team that seemed as though it could compete with most teams at the right time. The Oni Warriors were a team with high expectations that they'd never met and it was hard to convince fans that them sticking to their S8 roster was a good idea. There was a lot in the line for both teams, and fans knew this. Unfortunately, the Solar Scarabs would not be able to win the set. The score was 3-1, with the Scarabs only winning the 3rd game. In a nail bitting 4th game, a missed Scylla ult and a tactical Oni Warriors were able to take the win. Both teams played as well as they could, and on another day the Solar Scarabs would have won. Unfortunately, this loss would signify that the year for the Solar Scarabs would be over.