SK Telecom T1 just announced they are ending the contracts of several League of Legends team members. As announced on their Twitter, they are ending their contracts with Kim “Khan” Dong-ha, Kim “Clid” Tae-min and Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun as their contracts expired yesterday. However, the announcement does say they are currently negotiating new contracts with all three players. Furthermore, they are allowing them to explore the free agency market. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Cho “Mata” Se-hyeong. In a separate announcement, SKT stated they are parting ways with the former world champion and thanking him for his time with the team.
An unexpected turn of events
Just yesterday, our site reported on Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok re-signing with the South Korean organization. With the possibility of the aforementioned members leaving, SKT will have to think about rebuilding their roster once again. If none of the members re-sign, they will be looking for a new top laner and jungler. It is expected that Park “Teddy” Jin-seong will stay with the team as his contract expires at the end of 2020. Furthermore, support player Lee “Effort” Sang-ho also extended his contract with the team and will most likely be their starting support in 2020.
The talent pool in South Korea is very large, so getting replacements for the departing players will certainly be interesting. I still believe SKT will re-sign at least some of the players, especially Clid after his performance in 2019. On the other hand, I think Khan will be looking for a new team in 2020. He was often seen as SKT’s weak link and easily exploitable.
Another super team gone bad
Ah, another super team, another disappointment. While saying a roster that won both LCK splits is a disappointment seems odd, SKT was certainly aiming for higher goals with this roster. This super team was expected to conquer everything, but numerous problems came up very early in the season. Mata’s mechanics simply weren’t on par with other supports, so he had to be swapped out. Khan was very inconsistent and they couldn’t rely on him. While Effort was probably the best LCK support in terms of mechanics, him being a rookie certainly showed on the big stage. He crumbled in the semifinals, having to be subbed out after game 2 versus G2. Only time will tell how SKT recuperates from this season.
Do you think SKT will re-sign the aforementioned members? Let us know in the comments below!
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