Afreeca Freeca have parted ways with Bang, Lehends, Dread, Fly, Keine, Rigby and Lira for the 2022 LCK Afreeca Freecs Roster. This comes after a disappointing year getting 9th in the Spring Split and 6th in the Summer Split. Afreeca tweeted out the following statement:
안녕하세요, 아프리카 프릭스입니다.
Rigby 한얼 코치, LirA 남태유 코치, Dread 이진혁, Fly 송용준, Bang 배준식, Lehends 손시우, Keine 김준철 선수와의 계약이 금일부로 종료되었습니다.
선수들과 코치님의 노고에 진심으로 감사 드리며, 새로운 출발을 응원하겠습니다. 감사합니다. pic.twitter.com/WUl6bL1YJn
— KWANGDONG FREECS (@KDF_LoL) November 16, 2021
Afreeca has always been a strange franchise. They signed players that many considered to be “washed” and turned them into top tier talent. Unfortunately, despite a lot of talent on paper, Afreeca was never able to put it together. Dread, Bang and Lehends were all signed for the 2021 season.
Future of Afreeca:
Afreeca have 3 players left on their roster. This includes their super star Top Laner Kiin, Leo, an ADC who was signed before the Summer Split, and MapSSi, a support who sat most of the year. Based on them not saying Farwell to any of these players, Afreeca is looking to keep or sell them. Kiin will obviously stay and so will Leo probably. MapSSi feels like a definitive downgrade from Lehends who is probably one of the best Supports in the world. MapSSi could also spend another year in Challenger Series.
The biggest question is who will bee joining Afreeca as their new Mid Jungle duo. Dread is a huge loss and Fly, while serviceable, was not a long term solution. There are a bunch of great Mid Laners up for grabs in the LCK. This includes Showmaker, Clozer, and BDD. While Afreeca probably won’t get any of these, it is possible. Jungle is a bit more a wild card with Canyon, Cuzz and more on the table.
Afreeca has a lot to work to do in the offseason if they want to make it back to Worlds.
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