After being unable to find a team for 2020, former G2 Esports and FlyQuest support Kim “Wadid” Bae-in has joined LCK team Griffin as part of their bid to avoid relegation into Challengers Korea, almost a year after they contested SKT T1 for the LCK title.
In a series of tweets posted earlier today, Wadid announced his signing to Griffin while also confirming that he underwent a performance test to prior to his signing to assuage doubts that his skills have waned since he last played League of Legends professionally.
Trial periods or performance tests are relatively common in Korea, where the abundance of talent makes positions in teams highly sought after. As a result, such tests are used to whittle down the numbers of players vying for those spots. The fact that Wadid passed means Griffin fans have a new ray of hope that their team can keep their spot in the LCK.
Even though he hasn’t played this year, Wadid frequently appeared as a guest commentator on the English broadcast of the LCK, working alongside the regular on-air talent of Max “Atlus” Anderson, Brendan “Valdes” Valdes and Nick “LS” De Cesare. Many fans have remarked that he offers a more technical insight during his color casting, with expertise gleaned from his time playing professionally.
That expertise now needs to be used to rescue a Griffin that’s on the brink of relegation after finishing 10th place in the regular split. Griffin were unable to recover after the dispute that tore the organisation apart at the end of last year, with star players Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, Son “Lehends” Si-woo and Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon all departing for greener pastures.
While jungler Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong and star ADC Park “Viper” Do-hyeon remained on the roster, they never truly found synergy with their new signings and have spent the past split languishing at the bottom of the LCK standings. The addition of Wadid means that rookie support Jeong “Irove” Sang-hyeon will be take a back seat as the rest of his team prepares for their do-or-die match against Challengers Korea winners Seorabeol Gaming in the coming weeks.
It’s a short amount of time to build synergy with a new player, however, if Griffin wants to return to the LCK and give themselves the best shot of remaining in the competition post-franchising in 2021, something drastic was needed. Recruiting a former Worlds semi-finalist in the eleventh hour may just be the breath of fresh air Griffin needs to play on in Korea’s top league come the Summer Split.
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