Now Kwangdong Freecs has parted ways with the top laner Kim “Kiin” Ki-In, the entire 2022 roster has left the organization. Jungler Choi “Ellim” El-lim, Yoo “FATE” Su-hyeok, bot lane Park “Teddy” Jin-seong, and support “Hoit” Ryu Ho-seong are all free agents, as of today.
The Freecs had an average season for their standards, finishing fourth in the LCK Spring but failing to make it to playoffs in the summer.
While Ellim, FATE, Teddy, and Hoit joined at the end of 2021, Kiin leaves the organization after five years of service. He has been the franchise player for the org ever since he joined in 2017 when the team was still named Afreeca Freecs.
In a tweet made on social media, Kwangdong Freecs expressed its “infinite gratitude to Kiin, who has been the represent of the team for a long time.” Kiin took the organization to Worlds in 2018 with a top-eight finish and brought the team to several LCK playoff finishes over the years.
Considered by many one of the best mechanically gifted top laners in the LCK, Kiin will now become a highly-contested free agent going forward. That being said, there are no rumors regarding him or the other players’ next destinations.
At the same time, however, Kwangdong Freecs signed multi-year deals with two new players who are set to become starting players in 2023.
The first player to have joined the Freecs is Kim “Taeyoon” Tae-yoon, who was previously the substitute ADC for DRX. The other one is Ko “YoungJae” Yeong-Jae, who previously was the substitute jungler for Gen.G.
Always deemed one of the rising talents, he will now have the chance to showcase his worth in the LCK after the short stint he had on Hanwha Life Esports.
According to rumors by JHYooHoo, Kwangdong Freecs is looking to put together a young roster for 2023. Now the first two pickups have been confirmed, it will be intriguing to see which new talents the org wants to bring in.
Now that the free agency period has officially started, there will be a lot of moves in the LCK. If you’re struggling to follow all the changes, check out our LCK 2023 roster tracker for the latest updates.
