The Korean Shakeout: Where Korea's finest are slotting into LPL teams
Riot·12/17/2014, 8:58:06 PM·1 votes·14,925 views
While rosters aren’t completely locked until January 1 for the LoL Pro League, the transfer season has ended, which means teams can only add free agents to their rosters. Not all rosters are set in stone or announced, but so far this season is shaping up to be monstrous. Top names from both 2014 LPL and 2014 Champions are joining forces to duke it out in a new kind of mixed language arena.
Fionn’s take: The thing that jumps out to you as a Korean fan is the fact Pawn and Deft will be sharing time with U and NaMei. Deft, who has been the full-time starter for MVP/Samsung Blue since he broke into the scene, will now have to compete with his Chinese doppelganger on EDG. Although he had a rough Worlds, NaMei has the advantage of being able to communicate with his teammates, and he’s always been able to step it up in LPL when called upon.
Pawn, who is safe as they come, will be one of the biggest winners out of the Koreans who switched over. He will need to share time with U, one of the better Chinese mid laners, but Pawn is a player who adapts well and can fit into different specific situations.
Fionn’s Take: Mata and Dandy are the two Koreans who should adapt best to the Chinese hybrid teams. The duo’s way of playing is that they open the entire Rift with wards and roaming. They should be able to succeed with any language barrier as long as they have strong teammates. Vasilii, who has a similar play style to Mata’s long-time partner Imp, should make the Worlds MVP feel right at home with an sometimes-overly aggressive AD carry.
Their replacements have large shoes to fill. Aluka and Styz both played in 2014 LPL Spring, but Aluka spent the summer in LSPL on Positive Energy, while Styz is coming off a ban from competitive play for trying to evade his contract for another team. Styz and ex-Samsung Blue jungler Spirit will probably serve as the main carries of the team, and if they aren’t up for it, it’s hard to imagine them advancing far past their fifth place finish from last split.
Fionn’s Take: This is where we found out if Spirit is a capable jungle carry or if his success stemmed from his Samsung Blue teammates. Without Deft and Dade, two of the best team fighting carries in the world, Spirit will now need to make his own plays to get into carry status during the late-game. The team around him isn’t the worst, but it’ll be interesting to see if he can transition into being a top carry option on World Elite.
WE.A will hit pain points in their bottom lane. Despite a lot of speculation surrounding SmLz, he has failed to live up to the title of “WeiXiao’s successor.” Though YuZhe has been growing back into competitive play, his progress has been slow. WEA’s bottom lane could turn out to be an easy exploit for stronger forces roaming the rift.
Fionn’s Take: Similar to Spirit, we now get to find out if Looper is one of the best top laners in the world. He had possibly the greatest year for a top laner stats wise, dominating in KDA and smashing everyone he went up against during Worlds. But with a team that housed Mata, Dandy, Imp and Pawn, he never had to be the leading carry of the team. Looper is now one of the main stars of the team, so we’ll learn quickly if he can match his 2014 performance with less talent around him. Dade should be able to fit in with his new teammates, but the real challenge will be if he can be consistent throughout the year.
Kelsey’s Take: PYL has once again drawn a talented player to his squad with the signing of imp. Though LGD Gaming was performing well with former ADC Li “XQ” Yingjie, imp is a powerful AD carry right now, and almost every player on this roster has the experience and skill to hit the ground running. With We1less, another competent carry, ready to make plays from the mid lane and PYL’s experienced direction, imp and Acorn may feel at home. The one question mark for LGD and their climb to the top lies with Quan. His lackluster performance the last two splits suggest he still has a lot to prove.
Fionn’s Take: Imp, who has been with Dandy from the start of his pro career, now leaves one of the best junglers in the world. There is no question Imp’s mechanics are some of the best, but Dandy repeatedly bailed him out of mistimed attacks in the bottom lane with his ganks. Imp might have growing pains that he didn’t expect without Mata and Dandy to open up the vision to let him be so aggro. PYL is a strong leader, but will need to reign in Imp’s overzealous nature.
Acorn will play utility champions and tanks, but the question becomes if he can have the same team synergy. He has played with Heart since the beginning of his career, and a lot of his success came from the fact he knew precisely when to protect one of his carries in a team fight. Acorn is as sturdy as they come in the top lane, but don’t expect him to take China by storm.
Edward Gaming
- Top – Tong “Koro1” Yang
- Jungle – Ming “Clearlove” Kai and Zhao “Fireloli” Zhiming
- Mid – Ceng “U” Long and Heo “PawN” Wonseok
- ADC – Zhu “NaMei” Jiawen and Kim “Deft” Hyukkyu
- Support – Feng “Fzzf” Zhuojun
Fionn’s take: The thing that jumps out to you as a Korean fan is the fact Pawn and Deft will be sharing time with U and NaMei. Deft, who has been the full-time starter for MVP/Samsung Blue since he broke into the scene, will now have to compete with his Chinese doppelganger on EDG. Although he had a rough Worlds, NaMei has the advantage of being able to communicate with his teammates, and he’s always been able to step it up in LPL when called upon.
Pawn, who is safe as they come, will be one of the biggest winners out of the Koreans who switched over. He will need to share time with U, one of the better Chinese mid laners, but Pawn is a player who adapts well and can fit into different specific situations.
Vici Stand Gaming:
- Top – Wang “Carry” Zujing
- Jungle – Choi “DanDy” Inkyu
- Mid – Fan “Zun” Chengang
- ADC – Li “Vasilii” Weijun
- Support – Cho “Mata” Sehyeong
Fionn’s Take: Mata and Dandy are the two Koreans who should adapt best to the Chinese hybrid teams. The duo’s way of playing is that they open the entire Rift with wards and roaming. They should be able to succeed with any language barrier as long as they have strong teammates. Vasilii, who has a similar play style to Mata’s long-time partner Imp, should make the Worlds MVP feel right at home with an sometimes-overly aggressive AD carry.
World Elite:
- Top - Peng “Aluka” Zhenming
- Jungle - Lee “Spirit” Dayoon
- Mid - Noh “Ninja” Geonwoo
- ADC - Qu “Styz” Ziliang
- Support - Ke “Conan” Yi
Their replacements have large shoes to fill. Aluka and Styz both played in 2014 LPL Spring, but Aluka spent the summer in LSPL on Positive Energy, while Styz is coming off a ban from competitive play for trying to evade his contract for another team. Styz and ex-Samsung Blue jungler Spirit will probably serve as the main carries of the team, and if they aren’t up for it, it’s hard to imagine them advancing far past their fifth place finish from last split.
Fionn’s Take: This is where we found out if Spirit is a capable jungle carry or if his success stemmed from his Samsung Blue teammates. Without Deft and Dade, two of the best team fighting carries in the world, Spirit will now need to make his own plays to get into carry status during the late-game. The team around him isn’t the worst, but it’ll be interesting to see if he can transition into being a top carry option on World Elite.
World Elite Academy:
- Top - Jang “Looper” Hyeongseok
- Jungle - Tengyang “Ruo” Tianxia
- Mid - Bae “Dade” Eojin
- ADC - Han “SmLz” Jin
- Support - Zhang “YuZhe” Zhe
WE.A will hit pain points in their bottom lane. Despite a lot of speculation surrounding SmLz, he has failed to live up to the title of “WeiXiao’s successor.” Though YuZhe has been growing back into competitive play, his progress has been slow. WEA’s bottom lane could turn out to be an easy exploit for stronger forces roaming the rift.
Fionn’s Take: Similar to Spirit, we now get to find out if Looper is one of the best top laners in the world. He had possibly the greatest year for a top laner stats wise, dominating in KDA and smashing everyone he went up against during Worlds. But with a team that housed Mata, Dandy, Imp and Pawn, he never had to be the leading carry of the team. Looper is now one of the main stars of the team, so we’ll learn quickly if he can match his 2014 performance with less talent around him. Dade should be able to fit in with his new teammates, but the real challenge will be if he can be consistent throughout the year.
LGD Gaming:
- Top - Choi “Acorn” Cheonju
- Jungle - Zhu “Quan” Yongquan
- Mid - Wei “We1less” Lian
- ADC - Gu “imp” Seungbin
- Support - Chen “PYL” Bo
Kelsey’s Take: PYL has once again drawn a talented player to his squad with the signing of imp. Though LGD Gaming was performing well with former ADC Li “XQ” Yingjie, imp is a powerful AD carry right now, and almost every player on this roster has the experience and skill to hit the ground running. With We1less, another competent carry, ready to make plays from the mid lane and PYL’s experienced direction, imp and Acorn may feel at home. The one question mark for LGD and their climb to the top lies with Quan. His lackluster performance the last two splits suggest he still has a lot to prove.
Fionn’s Take: Imp, who has been with Dandy from the start of his pro career, now leaves one of the best junglers in the world. There is no question Imp’s mechanics are some of the best, but Dandy repeatedly bailed him out of mistimed attacks in the bottom lane with his ganks. Imp might have growing pains that he didn’t expect without Mata and Dandy to open up the vision to let him be so aggro. PYL is a strong leader, but will need to reign in Imp’s overzealous nature.
Acorn will play utility champions and tanks, but the question becomes if he can have the same team synergy. He has played with Heart since the beginning of his career, and a lot of his success came from the fact he knew precisely when to protect one of his carries in a team fight. Acorn is as sturdy as they come in the top lane, but don’t expect him to take China by storm.
im soo scared im crying to see the best move to different teams well at least skt1 will dominate due to the team changes :D
