With the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) coming to an end, it’s time for us to see what the roster moves have been happening ahead of the LCK Summer Split.

Image Credits | Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

LCK Summer Roster Moves – Korea makes only a few changes

The Korean League come from a disappointing MSI, following their early exit in the losers’ bracket. Both T1 and Gen.G were unable to make it to the final as both were eliminated by BLG.

After dominating in last year’s Worlds, this is a major shift of power from the LCK to the LPL. Now that the mid-season break is ending, teams will have to put everything on the line to get the spots at Worlds 2023, which will take place in their home country. For the organizations, but most importantly, the players, it’s the golden chance to prove themselves.

The Summer Split will begin somewhere in June and last until August (the dates are yet to be confirmed). That being said, let’s take a look at what roster moves were done among the various LCK teams. Confirmed roster moves will be in bold, while rumors will state the source if available).

Dplus KIA

Dplus KIA had a weird slump in the 2023 LCK Spring Split. They looked decent for the majority of the tournament but dropped the ball against Hanwha Life Esports during playoffs. Despite the result, it looks like DK won’t make changes, considering the individual players they have currently. It will come down to what form the players have during the next split and whether they can make a major step up right from the very beginning.

• Top: Canna
• Jng: Canyon
• Mid: ShowMaker
• ADC: Deft
• Supp: Kellin

DRX

Even though DRX became the 2022 World Champions, no one expected them to repeat their run this year, especially after announcing the departure of all its players except support BeryL (and sub jungler Juhan). That said, people also didn’t expect DRX to finish 9th in spring with a solid roster of veterans.

With the season looking a bit worrying, DRX is looking to give some of its academy players some LCK on-stage experience. The squad promoted mid laner Kyeahoo and ADC Paduck to the main lineup, and they will likely get the chance to play a few series. It’s unclear whether they will be starting immediately but there will be some competition across those two roles to see who can be the primary choice.

• Top: Rascal
• Jng: Croco/Juhan
• Mid: FATE/Kyeahoo
• ADC: deokdam/Paduck
• Supp: BeryL

Gen.G Esports

Gen.G took a hard beating by BLG at MSI, emerging some of the team’s weaknesses. While we will likely see them fight at the top in summer, their focus should be on making sure they can succeed on the international stages. No changes are coming for this lineup.

• Top: Doran
• Jng: Peanut/Winner
• Mid: Chovy
• ADC: Peyz
• Supp: Delight

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Hanwha Life Esports

HLE had ups and downs throughout the first part of the season, but they still managed to make it into the top four during playoffs. Given the players on the roster, however, they should be fighting with the very best.

Clid has been a bit of a liability but unless we get huge surprises, he should still be the starting jungler, hoping he can gain a better form. Therefore, there should be no roster changes for this LCK team going into summer.

• Top: Kingen
• Jng: Clid
• Mid: ZEKA
• ADC: Viper
• Supp: Life

KT Rolster

KT come from a great split after showing remarkable performance during the playoffs. The roster has solid veterans across the board and they are likely going to continue with the same lineup heading into summer.

KT’s main issue in the last split was their volatile gameplay. The same team that forced T1 to 5 games in playoffs also happened to be the one struggling against bottom-tier teams. If we speak of pure potential, KT is the real deal but only time will tell whether they can pull it off.

• Top: Kiin
• Jng: Cuzz
• Mid: Bdd
• ADC: Aiming
• Supp: Lehends

Kwangdong Freecs

No roster changes should come in for KDF. Head coach cvMax is known to work with talents for extended periods of time: it’s likely going to be the same in this case. The team had some signs of improvement towards the end of the split: let’s see if they can keep the trend going.

• Top: Dudu
• Jng: Youngjae
• Mid: BuLLDoG
• ADC: Taeyoon
• Supp: Moham

Read more: LPL Summer Split 2023 Roster Moves

OKSavingsBank BRION

BRION rebranded to OKSavingsBank BRION, which is shorted to OK BRO. While there is a name change, the roster should remain the same heading into the summer split, including the coaching staff.

• Top: Morgan
• Jng: UmTi/Raptor
• Mid: Karis
• ADC: Hena
• Supp: Effort

Liiv SANDBOX

LSB have made one roster change ahead of the LCK summer split, bringing in the former T1 player Teddy. He replaces Envyy and will make his return to professional play after sitting out in spring.

• Top: Burdol
• Jng: Willer
•  Mid: Clozer
• ADC: Teddy
• Supp: Kael

NS RedForce

Nongshim RedForce is another of those LCK teams looking to give space to youngsters. For the upcoming split, they have brought in the solo queue god Quad, who previously was known as SOLKA back when he played in DRX. That said, there are technically three mid laners on the starting roster so it will be exciting to see who actually gets the spot.

• Top: DnDn
• Jng: Sylvie
• Mid: Quad/Callme/FIESTA
• ADC: vital
• Supp: Peter

T1

MSI started out great for T1 but went downhill after their series against JDG. The team looked strong against the Chinese LPL team and most thought the two would face each other once again in the final. BLG, however, eliminated T1, showing their strength and revealing the Korean teams’ weaknesses. Aside from the sub-optimal drafts, players seemed to have struggled under the high-pressure moments, with individual mistakes coming from all the players at different points of the series played.

While it’s not a disaster, it’s a worrying sign for the LCK. They weren’t able to show up on the day and their potential is probably higher than what we saw on stage. T1 will have to prove they are ready to fight in summer, building their form with the same five players.

• Top: Zeus
• Jng: Oner
• Mid: Faker
• ADC: Gumayusi
• Supp: Keria

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