Coming into the new year for the LCK, there's a lot to look forward - from many big names departing the league to a variety of young academy prospects being given their shot on the main stage. The 2023 Spring split will give some indication of not only who will dominate Korea, but who will be likely to win Riot Games' first global tournament of the year, the Mid-Season Invitational. If you've been a regular viewer of the LEC or LCS and want to see what the next level of competitive League of Legends looks like, the LCK is the place for you.
Are you excited about the return of the former EDG bot-lane mastermind and Worlds 2022 Champion, Park “Viper” Do-hyeon, as he returns to the fold of his previous team, Hanwha Life Esports? Or are you particularly fond of Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyus’ newly branded Dplus KIA, featuring world-class mid-jungle duo Heo “Showmaker” Su and Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu? It’s safe to say that no matter your tastes, the roster changes that happened during the offseason have created something exciting to look forward to and the LCK is looking as strong a region as it ever has.
The big three
As the new year begins and the start of the season looms closer, the question on everybody’s minds is, who is the strongest team? With T1’s announcement that their iconic Mid-laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok will stay, it’s been confirmed that their Worlds final-appearing roster remains entirely intact.
— T1 LoL (@T1LoL) November 28, 2022
This gives them a huge advantage for the beginning of the season as, given that they’ve already spent a year playing together, their synergy is already set up. Eyes will especially be on their bot lane, which many considered to be the best in the world for the duration of 2022. Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong and his counterpart Ryu “Keria” Min-seok have a lot of pressure on them as it is yet to be seen whether they can maintain their form.
An ever-present challenge to the T1 legacy is “Showmaker” and his recently rebranded team, Dplus KIA. The changes this team made during the offseason have been done in an attempt to replicate the system that was present in the days of Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun – a weakside bot lane capable of absorbing pressure and surviving through the laning phase, in an effort to unlock the mid-jungle duo.
Season 13 is showing signs of a meta where the Jungler is held accountable as the teams carry. This means champions, such as Graves, Hecarim, and Kindred will be on the rise. It’s definitely good for Dplus KIA fans to know that arguably the best Jungler in the world is not locked into playing second Support for a resource-hungry ADC.
“Deft”, known for his performance on Ezreal and Ashe in Worlds, showed an outstanding capacity to survive in the worst of matchups, even whilst his team provided support elsewhere. My only concern for a fan of this roster is the current form of Kim “Canna” Chang-dong.
The ex-T1 Top-laner has been showing promise with strongside picks that he seems to get ahead on more often than not. But this was very infrequently converted into a victory during his last year on NS RedForce. Hopefully, the increase in calibre of his teammates results in greater success for this truly stacked roster.
Gen.G have made changes that can only be described as downgrades in name value alone, despite keeping Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon. It was a big blow to lose Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk, who is set to be playing for JD Gaming in the LPL.
“Ruler”, a former member of the Worlds-winning SSG team from 2017, is being replaced with the academy ADC, Kim “Peyz” Su-hwan. While Su-hwan’s performances in the academy have been celebrated, it’s hard to imagine him coming out of the gate and immediately matching “Deft” and Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong.
It’s another shame that their proven and consistent Support player, Son “Lehends” Si-woo, whose Singed specialty gave them an edge in the Yuumi meta, has also departed the team and moved to KT Rolster. He is being replaced by Fredit BRION’s Yoo “Delight” Hwan-joong.
As a result of these changes, many have looked to the likes of Hanwha Life Esports to rise to the occasion, in the case that Gen.G come out of the gate floundering. This could see a shift in the hierarchy, the reason for this being that Hanwha Life Esports have been busy during the offseason, scooping up the returning 2022 World Champion, “Viper”, as he makes his way back from China.
They’ve also got their hands on two more recent World Champions, Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo and Hwang “Kingen” Seong-hoon, with former SKT Jungler Kim “Clid” Tae-min also brought in to complement them. This roster is likely to be a team to contend with this year.
#HLE #Official #Announcement
— Hanwha Life Esports (@HLEofficial) November 25, 2022
Hwang ’Kingen’ Sung-hoon, winner of the 2022 World Championship, and Kim ‘Zeka’ Geon-woo will join Hanwha Life Esports. We sincerely welcome ‘Kingen,’ who has strong ability in a team fight, and ‘Zeka’, who is a versatile player with super plays. pic.twitter.com/HGYSIF2OmZ
A challenger approaches
With the departure of Lee “Prince” Chae-hwan to the LCS, Liiv Sandbox are likely to return to their spot near the bottom of the standings for the Spring split along with Fredit BRION and Kwangdong Freecs. All of these teams have produced budget rosters for the coming season, with little-to-no expectations of doing well. This leaves DRX, KT Rolster, and Nongshim RedForce to contend for the top of the table.
While they’ve retained their two-time World Champion Support player, Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee, the reigning world champs DRX have nothing else left of their previous roster. With “Deft”, Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo, and Hwang “Kingen” Seong-hoon all elsewhere in the LCK and Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon departing for Team Liquid in the LCS, DRX have looked to start anew.
Seo “deokdam” Dae-gil, formerly of DWG KIA, steps in as a direct exchange for “Deft” who, while it is said he didn’t mesh with DWG KIA’s topside, is still regarded as one of the league’s best. If Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee can unlock his potential, DRX could be contenders for a top-four spot.
𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗟𝗖𝗞 𝗦𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗥𝗫 𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥#DRXWIN #PaveTheWay pic.twitter.com/f21DsTF4Ff
— DRX (@DRXGlobal) January 16, 2023
Pairing this with Yoo “FATE” Su-hyeok (the standout player of last year’s Kwangdong Freecs team) alongside Park “Teddy” Jin-seong (a player who favours mobile mages), means there’s a good chance this team can play for the botside, which might just be the set-up “deokdam” needs to show what he’s capable of.
It’s easy to compare KT Rolster to the LEC’s Excel, a miniature super team of sorts, with lots of players that have been known to show a lot of promise. “Lehends”, formerly of Gen.G has always been spoken highly of and Gwak “BDD” Bo-seong has long been due a heyday, after his own stint in Gen.G. It always seems that his teams are on the verge of making it click, but they fall short of true synergy, so the hope is that this year it comes together for him.
That leaves Nongshim Redforce, who have simply promoted academy players to roles where they haven’t retained players. I don’t expect this team, predominantly made up of rookies, to make too much of an impact. However, I don’t expect them to be bottom of the table either.
Park “DnDn” Geun-woo, who has been statistically a solid weakside Top-laner, and An “FIESTA” Hyeon-seo have favoured control mages and roaming Mids. This complements the carry Jungler preference of Lee “Sylvie” Seung-bok, who favours Viego, Wukong, Lee Sin, etc., with Ha “Vital” In-seong playing predominantly front-to-back team-fighting AD Carries such as Aphelios, Jinx, and Zeri for over 70% of his matches last season, paired with an engage Support player in Jeong “Peter” Yoon-su.
𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑷𝒖𝒍𝒔𝒆
— NS RedForce Global (@NS_RedForce) January 14, 2023
Awake the RedForce instinct in you.
📍 LCK Team Roster
🔥 TOP: DnDn
🔥 JUG: Sylvie
🔥 MID: FIESTA
🔥 BOT: vital
🔥 SUP: Peter#NONGSHIM #NSRedForce #NSwin #LCK pic.twitter.com/BE2AEpSXiE
It’s clear that this team has a pre-set style. It looks built with purpose and careful thought. The blueprint is there and for that reason, I expect them to be a consistent force in the middle of the pack, with a chance to pull off some upsets.
A second chance
With the changes to the format of both MSI and Worlds fresh in our minds, it’s important to note that the big international events of the year aren’t the only ones finally getting a lower bracket. While the six best teams of the regular season will qualify as normal for the playoffs, this year, proceeding from the third round, there will be a loser’s bracket for teams who fall short in the semi-finals.
There are little-to-no other format changes for the LCK this year; however, the season is set to kick off on Wednesday, January 18 at 9:00am CET.
