The League of Legends free agency period has begun, meaning fans get a chance to see what the season’s teams will be like for 2018. One important region to pay attention to is the League of Legends Champions Korea, the current home of the World champion, Samsung Galaxy. They have already signed their main roster for another year, and by doing so will give them a slight edge back home.
Credits: LoL Esports Flickr
The LCK going into the 2018 Spring split will see a lot of teams trying to get things right, which should make it a prime split for Samsung Galaxy to show they are winners at home. The main roster of Sungjin “CuVee” Lee, Chanyong “Ambition” Kang, Minho “Crown” Lee, Jaehyeok “Ruler” Park and Yongin “CoreJJ” Jo showed they can win a World Championship. They’ve also proven that they can place high during the regular season when they placed 2nd and 3rd in the Spring and Summer split respectively. This means Samsung Galaxy will have one of the most stable rosters entering the 2018 season. A season which will see many of their competitors losing important players or trying to figure out what went wrong last year.
Credits: LoL Esports Photos
Samsung Galaxy’s biggest threats last season were teams like Longzhu Gaming, kt Rolster, Afreeca Freeces and SK telecom T1. Giants like SKT already had a shaky season last year with them ending up losing in Worlds. They will either have to find new players to fit into their mold or make their current roster work, both taking time to do. While Longzhu Gaming has managed to keep their roster including their bottom lane veterans, Jong In “PraY” Kim and Beomhyun “GorillA” Kang, they will have to find several new coaches as they have released a majority of their coaching staff during the off-season.
Meanwhile, kt Rolster has a star-studded lineup that didn’t go anywhere other than the final of the LCK Spring split, which saw them losing to SKT. Even with keeping everyone into the next season they will have to address how they didn’t make Worlds and how to change it. Afreeca Freeces also faced the same problem as kt Rolster in that they were a team hyped up last season and ended up not doing much. Now with their star, Gyeonghwan “Marin” Jang becoming a free agent they will have to fill in the top lane role.
A lot of things are unknown going into the 2018 season for many teams in the LCK, but Samsung Galaxy has remained untouched by this. They know their teammates, they know how to win on a big stage and they know how to play against some of the best teams in the world. If no one goes into a slump and they continue to adapt to the meta as it changes, Samsung Galaxy will have no excuses as to why they aren’t lifting the trophy back home.
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