A new year brings another two splits of League of Legends action with tons of teams gearing up their rosters to compete for that coveted Summoner’s Cup. League has now crowned a team as world champions 12 times to date. With a couple of players winning multiple titles, that’s nearly 60 pros who are known as the best of the best League has to offer.
While many to this day have retired from professional play, others are still actively hunting another title. In light of the defending champions, DRX, breaking up its roster, it’s time to see where every active world champion is suiting up for the 2023 season.
LCK
For now, let’s start with the region home to the most world champions. Counting a couple of free agents who are rumored to be staying in Korea, League’s most successful international region has 13 active world champions heading into 2023. The LCK also has some very intriguing new “superteams” forming with the defending champions, DRX, cutting ties with its starting roster.
DWG KIA
Heading into 2023, there are two teams in the LCK sporting three defending champions on their rosters. DWG KIA’s three players all have hoisted the Summoner’s Cup in the last three years, making them a stacked team for the upcoming LCK split. Whenever someone says DWG, fans think of two names: jungler Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu and mid laner Heo “ShowMaker” Su. They’re two players still at the peak of their game, regarded as some of the best in their respective roles in the world.
That mid/jungle duo was expected to return to DWG after a quarterfinals finish at Worlds 2022. What is really pushing DWG over the edge for next split is its newest world champion joining the roster. Despite rumors of retirement, defending champion Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu has officially joined DWG KIA for the next season as the team’s starting AD carry. Despite his age, Deft proved on the Worlds stage that he’s still got a lot left in the tank and will be a surefire Worlds favorite with DWG KIA.
Hanwha Life Esports
Speaking of Deft, his former team in Hanwha Life Esports had an offseason for the ages ahead of 2023. After back-to-back tenth-place finishes in the 2022 LCK Spring and Summer Splits, Hanwha Life went into free agency and may have just built the next Korean juggernaut.
DWG KIA was able to steal away one defending world champion, but HLE proceeded to show them up in free agency by a country mile. Hanwha Life secured the services of defending champions Hwang “Kingen” Seong-hoon and Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo along with former champion Park “Viper” Do-hyeon as the team’s starting top laner, mid laner, and ADC. Never before in the history of League has a team added three free-agent world champions. It’s safe to say that Hanwha Life Esports had the offseason of its dreams, but it’s unclear if this new LCK superteam will pan out.
While he doesn’t count as a player, HLE’s head coach is also a world champion. Many may have forgotten that Choi “DanDy” In-kyu, the starting jungler for 2014 world champions Samsung White, joined HLE as the team’s head coach back in April. There’s world champion pedigree on and off the stage for Hanwha Life.
T1
Despite an offseason full of rumors, the unanimous G.O.A.T, unkillable demon king of League of Legends is back in the T1 building. With Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok re-signing for three years, that puts the only active three-time world champion back with T1. Faker’s arc as a player took on a whole new meaning last season as the true leader of T1 with such a young roster bursting with potential. Who knows what the limit is for a T1 roster bringing back all five starters who were one game away from a world title.
Interestingly enough, the only other three-time world champion in League history is also with T1. Head coach Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong has only been the skipper through T1’s Worlds 2022 run and recently had his contract extended through 2023. This is another LCK team with proven champions in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
DRX
Despite releasing its entire starting five, defending champions DRX still have a world champion in the org. Due to COVID issues during the Worlds play-in and group stages, DRX jungler Lee “Juhan” Ju-han had to step in for Pyosik for a couple of games. This technically means Juhan is a world champion as well with DRX, and the former PSG Talon jungler is still under contract with the team until 2024. While little is known about what DRX’s roster will look like next year, the org still falls on this list in the most intriguing way possible.
Free agents
As of the start of December, there are still three big-name former world champions without a home for 2023. The bigger name of the three is defending champion support Cho “Beryl” Geon-hee, who is the only former DRX member without at least a reported team for next season. While Beryl has been in the headlines for his love of other games recently, he is still a two-time champion who may go down as the best support of all time when the dust settles.
Beryl may end up as Korea’s greatest support of all time, and Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk may go down as the region’s best AD carry. After the LCK’s 2022 superteam Gen.G fell short of a title at Worlds 2022, Ruler decided to leave the team to explore his options. That’s a sad end for Ruler, who had been with the team since its formation in late 2017. While rumors spread of Ruler potentially heading to the LPL, nothing with a solid base has come out regarding Ruler’s team for 2023.
The other notable Korean free agent is former DWG KIA ADC Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun. Ghost recently left NS RedForce after a disappointing year that saw him role swap to support for a week in the middle of the season.
Here’s the full list of active world champions in and around the LCK:
- Kingen (Hanwha Life Esports)
- Juhan (DRX)
- Zeka (Hanwha Life Esports)
- Deft (DWG KIA)
- Beryl (Free agent)
- Viper (Hanwha Life Esports)
- Canyon (DWG KIA)
- ShowMaker (DWG KIA)
- Ghost (Free agent)
- Ruler (Free agent)
- Faker (T1)
- *Bengi (Head coach T1)
- *DanDy (Head coach Hanwha Life Esports)
LPL
The region with the second most active world champions, to no one’s surprise, is China’s LPL. Right now, the other half of the East has 11 active world champions. Unlike the LCK, a lot of these players’ future with their current teams is much vaguer. Nonetheless, with more teams in the LPL, fans will be surprised to find out where a couple of former world champions end up.
Edward Gaming
One of the most intriguing teams to watch this offseason in the LPL is Edward Gaming. As of the start of December, there has been little to no news from EDG regarding contract extensions, but the team does technically still roster four world champions. The only member of EDG’s 2021 world champion squad still under contract is jungler Zhao “Jiejie” Li-Jie, whose contract is up in 2023.
Outside of Jiejie, the future of EDG is murky. The former titans of the LPL are without an AD carry with Viper heading to the LCK. On top of that, world champions Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun in the top lane, Lee “Scout” Ye-chan in mid, and Tian “Meiko” Ye at support are all off contract as of Nov. 22. Right now, the only update we’ve got is from EDG manager Ji “Aaron” Xing, who said none of the players are leaving but also are without contracts. For now, EDG will count as still retaining four world champions from its 2021 squad. But who knows what this team will look like come 2023.
Top Esports
No team disappointed more at Worlds 2022 than China’s Top Esports. TES came into the tournament as the top seed from the LPL and failed to get out of the group stage. In light of such a failed run, many expected TES to make changes to its roster. For now, though, TES still technically holds two world champions on its squad in jungler Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang and AD carry Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo.
Similarly to Edward Gaming’s world champions, both players’ contracts ended on Nov. 22, with no announcement of an extension. The difference between EDG and TES is that neither Tian nor JackeyLove won their world titles under Top Esports, with Tian winning with FunPlus Phoenix in 2019 and JackeyLove taking home the 2018 title with Invictus Gaming. With the only information coming out of China besides official team announcements being Doinb streams, there isn’t a ton of credible details to go off of regarding the future of the two world champions on Top Esports’ roster.
FunPlus Phoenix
Speaking of the 2019 champions, FunPlus Phoenix still also technically rosters a world champion. AD carry Lin “Lwx” Wei-Xiang has been with FPX for five years now. This isn’t the first time Lwx’s contract has “expired” with FPX: a similar situation came up in 2019 after they won the world title before his contract was eventually extended through 2021. The only difference here is that now FPX and Lwx are coming off a year with two bottom-half finishes in the LPL in the spring and summer. For now, though, FPX can still cling to one piece of its magical 2019 run.
LNG Esports
LNG Esports dropped out of Worlds qualification from the LPL in 2022 after losing in five games to Royal Never Give Up for the final play-in spot. That was a heartbreaking end to the 2022 campaign for a team who had made the tournament the previous year. Despite this, LNG still technically rosters a former world champion in mid laner Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang. While Doinb is better known now for being the LPL’s roster rumor mill, he is also a former world champion with FunPlus Phoenix in 2019.
Doinb is in the same gray area as many world champions from the LPL contract-wise, and with the number of things he says on stream about his future plans, it is too difficult to pinpoint a team. Unlike many LPL former champions, Doinb is Korean and has had a past residency there, giving him extra options for 2023.
Victory Five
No team in the LPL has had a bigger meteoric rise in 2022 than Victory Five. Formed in 2019, V5 had never finished top three in the LPL. But last year, the org managed to finish third in the Spring Split playoffs and competed for a Worlds spot in the summer, losing out to LNG.
Victory Five’s success in 2022 was in large part due to its world champion mid laner Song “Rookie” Eui-jin. In his first year away from Invictus Gaming, the team he won Worlds 2018 with, Rookie re-established himself as a premier mid laner in the LPL. Like many former world champions in China, though, his contract also expired with V5 on Nov. 22. Rumors of Rookie potentially teaming up with JackeyLove on TES are all fans have heard regarding his future. Zhuo “Knight” Ding leaving TES leaves a void in the mid lane and it would make sense for Rookie to make the jump back to another Worlds-caliber roster for 2023.
Weibo Gaming
A more disappointing squad in 2022 from the LPL was Weibo Gaming. Despite the talents of former world champion Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok, WBG never finished above sixth across both the Summer and Spring Splits in 2022. WBG came into the year with high expectations, signing TheShy away from Invictus Gaming, the team he won the 2018 world championship with. Now, TheShy’s contract has expired and there’s been no announcement of an extension for 2023. What is intriguing about TheShy is he’s spent time in both the LCK and LPL and still holds his Korean residency. But the future for TheShy is still very cloudy for now.
Bilibili Gaming
The LPL squad with one of the most fun names to pronounce in English, Bilibili Gaming, also houses a former world champion. After winning it all with FunPlus Phoenix in 2019, support Liu “Crisp” Qing-Song joined BG to lead an LPL team full of youngsters with tons of potential. But it’s safe to say that hasn’t panned out, with BG finishing in the basement of the LPL in both the spring and summer of the 2022 LPL splits. For now, Crisp is still under contract with Bilibili Gaming until 2024.
Here’s the full list of active former world champions in the LPL:
*Team players were under contract with through 2022.
- Flandre (Edward Gaming*)
- Jiejie (Edward Gaming)
- Scout (Edward Gaming*)
- Meiko (Edward Gaming*)
- Tian (Top Esports*)
- Doinb (LNG Esports*)
- Lwx (FunPlus Phoenix*)
- Crisp (Bilibili Gaming)
- Rookie (Victory Five*)
- TheShy (Weibo Gaming*)
- JackeyLove (Top Esports*)
LCS
It isn’t an LCS offseason without rumors of LCK imports—and this year has been no exception. But a recent bombshell addition for one particular LCS team will bring the total of former world champions in North America up to a whopping three heading into the next split. While the LCS is just looking for a team to make the knockout round of a Worlds tournament again, there are some intriguing new destinations for former world champions in North America in 2023.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid are coming off what can be argued as the most disappointing season expectation-wise in LCS history. After forming North America’s superteam for 2022, Liquid went on to miss Worlds qualification after failing to make a regional final in the Spring and Summer Splits of 2022. In response to a massive shortcoming in 2022, Liquid is looking for a completely different approach centered around a Korean-speaking LCS team.
Aiming for an all-Korean-speaking team in North America is a tall task. But adding a defending world champion from the LCK makes that task much simpler. Earlier in the week, journalist Alejandro Gomis dropped the bombshell report of the LCS offseason that Liquid is signing former DRX jungler Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon. Pyosik was recently released by DRX and makes a ton of sense for the roster vision Liquid is bringing into 2023. Liquid confirmed the move late on Dec. 2.
Another former world champion that is confirmed for Liquid’s 2023 LCS roster is mainstay support Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in. CoreJJ came into this offseason without a contract extension, leading to tons of speculation from fans. Add on some fans calling for the promotion of high-caliber support prospect Bill “Eyla” Nguyen from Team Liquid Academy and CoreJJ’s future with TL was somewhat up in the air. All rumors were quelled when CoreJJ re-signed with the team through 2023. The 2017 world champion with Samsung Galaxy will spearhead a new-look Liquid squad as its only returning member from 2022.
Similarly to LCK teams T1 and Hanwha Life Esports, Liquid will have former world champions on and off the stage for 2023. TL announced earlier in the offseason the signing of Jang “MaRin” Gyeong-hwan as its next head coach. While he doesn’t count as a player, MaRin did win a world title with SKT T1 back in 2015 as its top laner. It’s exciting to see an LCS team add defending champs on both sides of the locker room for next split.
FlyQuest
Liquid aren’t the only LCS team reportedly adding former world champion talent this offseason. While it is yet to be confirmed by FlyQuest, reports indicate that Jeong “Impact” Eon-young has reached a verbal agreement to join the team in 2023. Impact was released by Evil Geniuses earlier in the offseason, yet Impact is still considered one of the best top lane talents in North America. While it has been nearly a decade since Impact won his world championship with SKT T1, he still counts on this list and should be a big boost for FlyQuest next split.
Here’s the full list of active former world champions in and around the LCS:
- Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon (Team Liquid)
- Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in (Team Liquid)
- Jeong “Impact” Eon-young (Reported to FlyQuest)
- *Jang “MaRin” Gyeong-hwan (New head coach Team Liquid)
LJL (SoftBank HAWKS)
Yes, Japan’s LJL does in fact house a former world champion. With T1 winning the most titles in League history with so many different rosters, it is hard to remember them all. Kang “Blank” Sun-gu was one of three junglers to win it all with SKT T1, with Blank’s title coming in 2016. Since then, the Korean jungler has bounced around, joining KT Rolster in 2020 before landing in the LJL with the SoftBank HAWKS in May 2021. Blank had his contract extended in February through 2023 and helped his squad to a third-place finish in the Summer Split of the LJL.
Here’s the full list of active world champions in the LJL:
- Kang “Blank” Sun-gu (SoftBank HAWKS)
LEC
Surprisingly, the LEC does not sport a single active world champion signing to a roster. But there is a bit of a loophole. Former jungler for the 2016 world champion Samsung Galaxy team Kang “Haru” Min-seung did spend 2022 in the LEC. Haru was brought into Team Vitality in the summer to help the team make a run at a Worlds spot. But the team finished seventh in the LEC for that Summer Split and Haru has officially left the team to become a free agent. Since there is no news on where Haru could end up in the future, he stays as an LEC free agent and the region’s only active former world champion for now.
Here’s the full list of active world champions in and around the LEC:
- Kang “Haru” Min-seung (Free agent)
