The 2022 Worlds champion DRX roster are all free agents

The League of Legends Worlds 2022 champion DRX has made it official that all of its players are free agents ahead of the new season.

A day after T1’s star player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok entered free agency, another South Korean roster move shocked the League of Legends fans. The 2022 Worlds winning team DRX has announced that all five members of its roster are now free agents. The five members include top laners Hwang “Kingen” Seong-hoon, Jungle Kong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon, mid laners Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo and Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu, as well as support Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee. 

 

Meanwhile, DRX also announced that the contracts of its League of Legends coaching staff, which included head coach Kim “Ssong” Sang-soo and coaches Shin “Shine” Dong-woo and Lee “Mowgli” Jae-ha, have also expired. For any esports athlete, free agency is a crucial period because it gives them the opportunity to negotiate for more pay at their present organization or demand higher income from another organization based on their accomplishments.

Are the world champs about to reunite, or are they done for good?

Although the League of Legends Worlds 2022 champions have entered the free agent pool, their saga has not yet come to an end. According to reports from Inven Global, DRX’s star bot laner Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu is looking to re-sign for the 2023 season. Additionally, DRX’s top laner Hwang “Kingen” Seong-hoon, and mid laner Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo both anticipated extending their contracts but changed their minds at the last minute to assess their market value. 

It is important to note that some of the best League of Legends teams have already started making moves toward acquiring some members of the DRX roster. The firms that represent these champion players are asking for better contracts with higher pay, which is understandable given that the roster established itself as the finest in the world after taking home the Worlds 2022 trophy. Several organizations are interested in negotiating with DRX players, so it is possible that one or more of them will represent another team or region in 2023, though nothing has been finalized yet. 

 

DRX’s mid laner Zeka has been reportedly linked to several well-known LPL teams, including former world champions EDward Gaming, who are interested to get the world champion player back to his home country. Additionally, Deft, who is already 26 years old, has to complete his necessary military service in South Korea, but given that he just won Worlds 2022, it’s possible that he will choose to put off his service for another year.

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