The Chinese League of Legends scene decimated the lineups of Korea’s top teams this offseason, signing away star players left and right. SK Telecom T1, the team that won the 2013 Riot World Championships, remained largely untouched through the feeding frenzy. But they won’t return three of the five players from their championship team.
Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong will no longer don the SK Telecom jacket as the team revealed earlier today they had terminated his contract after he expressed desire to leave the team.
While Jung always took a back seat to the talented stars around him, his solid and steady style—he was famous for doing the dirty work to let his teammates shine, should make him a valuable addition to whatever team he joins. During the current OGN preseason, Jang “MaRin” Gyeong-hwan has outplayed Jung by most measures, but that doesn’t mean losing the former world champion won’t hurt.
The move has lead to a lot of speculation regarding Jung’s landing spot, fuelled by a couple Tweets hinting at an unlikely destination.
impact left skt t1, i wonder where he’s going ;D
— Yoonsup Choi (@Locodoco) December 19, 2014
While the logical landing spot is China considering the money thrown around there this offseason, it’s also possible Jung ends up on a Western team with an open top lane spot like Evil Geniuses or even Origen. Wherever he goes, this truly signals the changing of the guard for SK Telecom. The team that won the 2013 worlds in dominating fashion no longer exists after a year of failing to live up to the expectations as world championships The current squad has more players in common with SK Telecom T1 S, sister team of Jung’s squad.
This year, SK Telecom won’t let anything hold Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok back. Even a veteran like Jung.
