SKT announce five new players, more signings to come

2018 was a year to forget for the Korean super organization. After a mass exodus of their roster, parting ways with long time staples and championship winning players such as Bae “Bang” Jun-sik and Kang “Blank” Sun-gu, SKT are officially in a new era as they only kept Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Lee “Effort” Sang-ho and Han “Leo” Gyeo-re from their dismal 2018 season.

© SKT

Faker is still regarded as the out and out best League of Legends player of all time, and this new look roster for SKT featuring seasoned carries in Top Lane and ADC may just be the injection of new blood needed for SKT to really rise to the occasion and once again return to championship winning form.

New year, new terrain

Korea as a region have undergone massive changes for the 2019 season already. Four of the top five teams in the region have completely imploded their rosters, with the fifth team Griffin being bought out by Kongdoo Gaming for next year. Korea is entering a completely new era in its history that will rightly follow their departure from OGN and SpoTV as their production will be solely handled by Riot Korea next year.

© SKT

With those changes, SKT have found it necessary to shake up a previously dominant formula as long time staples of their team were shown the door in this year’s free agency window. SKT have wasted little time in finding replacements, making sure their efforts to rebuild start quicker than anyone else’s this offseason now that five new players are joining their ranks for 2019.

Those players include Kang “Haru” Min-seung, formerly of Gen. G Esports. Park “Teddy” Jin-seong, formerly of Jin-Air Greenwings. Kim “Khan” Dong-ha, who spent his early career as a standout Top laner in China before returning to Longzhu Gaming in 2017. Kim “Crazy” Jae-hee, an up and coming talent in Top formerly of bbq Olivers. And finally, Kim “Clid” Tae-min, the 19 year old Jungle prodigy who spent the last few seasons playing in China.

A closer look

Haru was one of the better exports from Gen. G before their implosion early in Free Agency this year. Even though his play was regularly divided during the 2018 season with his Jungle counterpart, Haru became the soul jungler for his team as Gen. G Esports started to get outclassed in the World Championship.

As a new member of SKT, Haru can finally establish himself as the primary jungler for a team with world class solo laners at his disposal. From a strategy standpoint; Khan, Haru and Faker make up one of the strongest top sides of the map in all of League of Legends at the current moment.

On the bot side of the map, Teddy has steadily been regarded as the best ADC not on a top four roster since his entrance to the LCK. For years, Teddy was the sole win condition for Jin Air Greenwings as his late game carries were often times the difference maker for his team en route to victory. As a member of SKT, now is the time for Teddy to diversify his picks and become a crucial piece to the puzzle with Faker and Khan taking some of the carry burden off his shoulders.

© kenzi

With these new players sure to take up most of the starting time for SKT, the quest for new talent is never truly over for SKT as they have announced on their official Facebook that they are still farming for talent at the Mid lane and Support positions. For all the latest news and roster moves for League of Legends and Overwatch you can stay tuned to all the action at Esports.net