The current League of Legends competitive season has come to an end after more than 10 months of action. South Korea has returned to the top of the world with DRX taking the 2022 World Championship in what was one of the greatest Cinderella stories in esports history.
For the other teams, however, it’s time to go back to square one and plan for the upcoming 2023 season. With how successful Korea was as a region internationally, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many of the league’s premier players were scooped up by other regions in hopes of bolstering their own chances at MSI and Worlds.
This offseason, the LCK roster shuffle was exceptionally quick, with players changing jerseys practically overnight. While most teams will keep their same cores of players together heading into 2023—especially the teams that found success this past season—others have opted to totally revamp their look. In any event, fans should expect to see many of the same faces this year as they did in 2022.
This offseason, top teams like T1 and Gen.G looked to hone in on their strengths, while other mid-tier squads such as Fredit BRION and Liiv SANDBOX made attempts to shake things up.
Here are all of the reported and official roster moves of the 2023 LCK offseason.
DRX
- Nov. 20: Substitute bot laner Taeyoon leaves the organization.
- Nov. 21: DRX’s Worlds-winning roster became free agents. The coaching staff also has free agency status.
- Dec. 2: DRX announces its new roster for the 2023 season with Rascal, Croco, FATE, deokdam, and BeryL. Micro joins as the head coach. Coach Shine’s contract is extended.
DWG KIA
- Nov. 15: DWG KIA parts ways with top laners Nuguri and Burdol, and releases its coaching staff.
- Nov. 17: ADC player deokdam parts ways with DK.
- Nov. 21: Deft and Canna join DWG Kia as the starting top laner and bot laner.
- Nov. 23: Acorn and GorillA join respectively as the team’s head coach and coach.
- Nov. 28: Former DWG KIA top laner Nuguri announces retirement.
- Nov. 29: Former Gen.G analyst Jay joins DK.
Fredit BRION
- Oct. 31: Jungler UmTi announces free agency.
- Nov. 20: Fredit BRION releases four players and a coach from the CL team, but extends head coach Edgar and coach Drinker’s contracts.
- Nov: 22: Bot laner Hena announces free agency.
- Nov. 28: Former NS RedForce support Effort joins the team.
- Nov. 29: Bot laner Hena and top laner Morgan rejoin.
- Dec. 10: Karis and Raptor join the team’s starting lineup as its mid/jungle duo.
Gen.G
- Nov. 10: Gen.G parts ways with bot laner Ruler.
- Nov. 21: Support player Lehends and substitute jungler Youngjae announce free agency. Top laner Doran’s contract is extended.
- Nov. 22: Bot laner Peyz is promoted from the CL team to the main team. Former Fredit BRION’s support Delight joins.
- Nov. 24: Coach Museong’s contract is extended.
- Nov. 29: Analyst Jay leaves.
Hanwha Life
- Nov. 21: Cheoni, OnFleek, Vsta, SamD, Karis, Willer, and coach SuDal announce free agency. Head coach Kezman is promoted to General Manager; coach DanDy will become Hanwha Life’s new head coach.
- Nov: 22: Former EDward Gaming bot laner Viper joins.
- Nov. 24: 2022 world champions Zeka and Kingen join the team as Hanwha Life’s starting mid laner and top laner. Clid and Life join to complete the super roster.
- Nov. 30: Former DRX coach Mowgli joins. Scout sayho is promoted from HLE Challengers. Top laner Dudu leaves the organization.
KT Rolster
- Nov. 6: Coach Acorn leaves KT, replaced by former Cloud9 coach and Riot Games analyst RapidStar.
- Nov. 18: Head coach Hirai and coach supreme extend their contracts contract with KT.
- Nov. 22: Bdd and Kiin join the team as starting mid laner and top laner.
- Nov. 25: Former Gen.G support Lehends joins the team.
Kwangdong Freecs
- Sep. 21: The Freecs parts ways with head coach Cain, appoints cvMax as the new head coach.
- Oct 23: The Freecs parts ways with bot laner player Leo.
- Nov. 1: Former Gen.G head coach oDin is appointed new director of Kwangdong Freecs.
- Nov. 21: The Freecs parts ways with roster and coach Spirit; Youngjae and Taeyoon join as starting jungler and ADC.
- Nov. 30: Kwangdong Freecs complete the roster with Dudu, Jun, and BuLLDoG. Coach Millimas joins.
Liiv SANDBOX
- Oct. 16: Liiv SANDBOX released head coach Micro and coaches Hoker, Travel, and PawN ahead of the offseason.
- Oct 17: Ryu appointed head coach of Liiv SANDBOX.
- Nov. 21: Dove, Croco, Prince, and Envyy announce free agency.
- Dec. 5: Burdol, Willer, and assistant coach Lyn join the organization. Envyy rejoins as starting ADC.
NS RedForce
- Nov. 21: NS RedForce parts ways with the entire 2022 roster and coach Comet.
- Nov. 22: The org promotes its Challengers team to the main roster for the 2023 season.
T1
- Nov. 13: T1 parts ways with League of Legends general manager Polt.
- Nov. 17: Bengi confirmed as head coach for 2023, support player Asper and coach moment bid farewell to the organization.
- Nov. 28: Faker re-signs with T1 for another three years. Coach Sky extends his contract and coaches Roach and Tom join the organization.
- Dec. 7: Data analyst Gisepa extends his contract.
