Korean League of Legends team Tigers (formerly KOO Tigers) are adding a young jungler to their arsenal for the 2016 season, following a strong run and second place finish at the 2015 World Championship.
Former NaJin e-mFire substitute jungler, 17-year-old Yoon “Peanut” Wang-ho, will be joining the Tigers squad, sources close to the player tell the Daily Dot. It is unknown if the Korean team will add another jungler to their lineup—similar to their two-jungler system this year—or if Yoon Wang-ho will serve as the squad’s solo jungler in 2016.
He fills the role left vacant by previous junglers Lee “Hojin” Ho-jin and Kim “Wisdom” Tae-wan, who both departed after the team lost to SBENU Sonicboom in the 2015 KeSPA Cup on Nov. 7. Lee Ho-jin ultimately retired from the competitive scene, while Kim Tae-wan’s next move has yet to be announced.
The remainder of the Tigers roster consists of their 2015 World’s lineup. Star player and top laner Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho, staple mid laner Lee “KurO” Seo-haeng, and talented duo Kim “PraY” Jong-in and Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon in the bottom lane.
In addition to finding a new jungler, Tigers are also searching for a new sponsor—something they hope to do by the first week of January, according to sources close to the team.
After returning from Worlds in November, the team parted ways with its title sponsor KOO (formerly streaming company KooTV), following alleged disputes. That was the third sponsorship the team had in 2015, previously working with Chinese streaming platform HUYA, and GE Entertainment earlier in the year.
The acquisition of Yoon Wang-ho comes after his former team, NaJin e-mFire, disbanded last month, as reported by Korean news site Fomos. All of its players and coaching staff departed by Dec. 1, leaving it as the only team in League Champions Korea without a single member. What will happen to the team and its spot is currently uncertain.
Now Yoon Wang-ho must prove that he deserves to be on a team with some of Korea’s top players. Given his lack of competitive experience, this task may prove to be difficult.
Tigers management have yet to respond to a request for comment.
Update Jan. 6: OnGameNet has revealed all 10 League Champions Korea rosters, with Yoon Wang-ho as the Tigers jungler.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr
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Published: Dec 27, 2015 11:31 am