Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong is the new top laner for Team Impulse, the squad built from the ashes of last season’s LMQ.
A former member of the 2013 World Champion SK Telecom T1 K team alongside the best League player ever, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Jung is now the second member of that team to come to the American League Championship Series this offseason. Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin became the offseason’s biggest free agent acquisition when he signed with Curse Gaming in October.
Jung should now inherit that slot, even if he’s a less flashy pickup than Chae. The steady top laner was a consistent force for SK Telecom T1 through their reign in Korea and even their fall. While Chae was cut from the team, Jung left of his own volition, apparently seeking his fortune overseas.
He’s landed with Team Impulse, a ragtag squad mixing three different nationalities into a team that should prove to be one of the more interesting to watch as the season progresses.
The squad features two Korean players, one veteran of the professional ranks in Jung and one an untested solo queue star who held the top rank in Korea as a jungler, Lee “Rush” Yoonjae. A Chinese player mans mid lane, Yu “XiaoWeiXiao” Xian, the star who carried LMQ to Worlds last year. Two Americans man bottom lane: LCS veteran marksman Apollo “WizFujiiN” Price, hungry in his second shot at the big leagues, and the up-and-coming collegian-turned-pro Adrian “Popstar Adrian” Ma.
That’s three languages packed into one squad of players with varying levels of experience. The team will communicate in English, but it could be a struggle to make it work. But considering Star Horn Royal Club took a team with similar problems to the finals of the Riot World Championships, it’s a risk more and more teams are willing to take.
Jung’s addition instantly adds legitimacy to a lineup filled with volatility and question marks. His English is likely worse than Yu’s or Lee’s, as Yu has lived in America for a year and Lee’s English is as good as any student from a top Korean university. But his experience and steady, consistent play will be a boon in the top lane for a team will rely on the inexperience Lee to orchestrate things.
It’s been a crazy offseason, but Team Impulse has managed to piece together a roster that at least has potential to challenge for a title in America, with Jung as the crowning piece.
Image via Azubu/YouTube
