LCK offseason: Nongshim, Hanwha Life, Kwangdong disband their roster

Popular LCK teams Nongshim RedForce, Hanwha Life, and Kwangdong Freecs disband their entire roster to enter the new season with a free look.

After LEC and LCS, now Korea’s LCK is set to give League of Legends fans a tipsy tale to talk about during the offseason. Due to the expiration of T1’s contract with Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and the free agency of DRX’s world title roster, this offseason has been the most chaotic in recent memory for the LCK. This LCK offseason has undoubtedly more to offer fans since teams are still trying to complete their lineups and many well-known players are still free agents.

Hanwha Life brings in an LPL star as a first piece of the new roster

Hanwha Life Esports disbanded its LCK roster except for top laner Lee “DuDu” Dong-ju. Hanwha Life startled LCK fans by confirming reports regarding their roster additions for the 2023 season with a YouTube announcement video. The organization has acquired former EDward Gaming player Park “Viper” Do-hyeon as the first piece of their 2023 LCK roster. The 2021 world champion bot laner will finally return to the LCK after spending two years in China’s LPL.

 

Hanwha Life parted ways with the following players:

• Kim “Willer” Jeong-hyeon
• Kim “OnFleek” Jang-gyeom
• Kim “Karis” Hong-jo
• Lee “SamD” Jae-hoon
• Oh “Vsta” Hyo-seong
• Cho “Cheoni” Seung-mo

Kwangdong Freecs revamp its LCK roster

Kwangdong Freecs has parted ways with its entire LCK roster including jungler Choi “Ellim” El-lim, top laner Kim “Kiin” Ki-In, Yoo “FATE” Su-hyeok, bot lane Park “Teddy” Jin-seong, and support “Hoit” Ryu Ho-seong. The entire Kwangdong roster will move to the offseason as free agents and will look for a new team ahead of the 2023 season. The team underperformed by their norms this season, failing to advance to the LCK Summer Split playoffs, which led to this massive overhaul. 

 

Following the departure of its 2022 roster, the organization set the stage for a new squad that would include up-and-coming LCK players. Kwangdong has acquired two promising young players Kim “Taeyoon” Tae-yoon and Ko “YoungJae” Yeong-Jae for the 2023 LCK 2023 season. Taeyoon, who had previously filled in as the ADC for DRX, and YoungJae, who had previously filled in as the jungler for DRX, both inked multi-year contracts with Kwangdong Freecs. 

Nongshim RedForce replaces its LCK roster with the Challengers roster 

Nongshim RedForce has parted ways with its entire League of Legends roster, which includes top laner Kim “Canna” Chang-dong, jungler Lee “Dread” Jin-hyeok, ADC Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun, mid laner Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong, and support Lee “Effort” Sang-ho and No “SnowFlower” Hoi-jong. While the company already has a new roster to represent them in the upcoming season, all six former players of the team are free agents heading into the offseason. After parting ways with its starting roster, the organization has promoted its entire Challengers team to the LCK for the 2023 season. Furthermore, the organization has also parted ways with its coach Lim “Comet” Hye-seong. 

Nongshim RedForce roster for the 2023 LCK Spring Split:

• Park “DnDn” Geun-woo (top laner)
• Lee “Sylvie” Seung-bok (jungler)
• An “FIESTA” Hyeon-seo (mid laner)
• Ha “vital” In-seong (bot laner)
• Jeong “Peter” Yoon-su (support)

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