Team Liquid officially announces Spring 2023 roster and staff
Team Liquid of the League Championship Series (LCS) announced their "League of Legends" roster on Dec. 2, promoting two academy players and importing two Korean players for a roster of Summit-Pyosik-Haeri-Yeon-CoreJJ.
TL's 2022 roster of Bwipo-Santorin-Bjergsen-Hans sama-CoreJJ was a superteam built for the 2022 League of Legends World Championship, which took place in North America. But the roster didn't mesh as intended, with the team failing to win in spring and summer playoffs — finishing 3rd and 4th — and only winning the preseason LCS Lock-In tournament, where some teams dealt with roster issues. TL missed Worlds by just one game, losing 3-2 in playoffs to Evil Geniuses.
The new stars
The first of two imports, Korean toplaner Park "Summit" Woo-tae played for Cloud9 in spring and was the LCS Spring Split MVP, but he was dropped from the team after criticism of his champion pool and overaggressive play arose in playoffs. The 23-year-old's career began with a very short stint with Afreeca Freecs from League Champions Korea (LCK), and then he played for the SANDBOX Gaming/Liiv SANDBOX organization in the LCK for three years. This year, he played with FunPlus Phoenix of the League of Legends Pro League (LPL); the team failed to make Worlds.
Korean jungler Hong "Pyosik" Chang-hyeon is the second 2023 TL import and is coming off a world championship win with the LCK's DRX, which was instantly regarded as the greatest underdog story in "League of Legends" esports history. Before the move, he played his whole career with the DRX organization, starting for their minor league affiliate where they were still known as DragonX in 2019. Until DRX's 2022 cinderella run, Pyosik had never finished first in a single professional tournament — regular season or playoffs.
Summit replaces 23-year-old Belgian toplaner Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau, who will instead be a content creator for TL in Spring 2023. Pyosik slots in for 25-year-old Danish jungler Lucas "Santorin" Tao Kilmer Larsen, who will reportedly play for the LCS's Dignitas next split.
Summit, the reigning LCS Spring Split MVP, is back in North America for Spring 2023.The young blood
In mid lane and bot lane, TL are promoting two academy players: 21-year-old Australian midlaner Harry "Haeri" Kang and 20-year-old American botlaner Sean "Yeon" Sung. Both players spent the last two years with Team Liquid Academy and became known as some of the best players in the league. Haeri is fluent in Korean and English.
Haeri takes the spot of 26-year-old Danish midlaner Soren "Bjergsen" Bjerg, who will reportedly play for the LCS's 100 Thieves in 2023. Yeon will take over bot lane duties from 23-year-old French botlaner Steven "Hans sama" Liv, who reportedly joined G2 Esports of the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Championship.
The leadership core
Retaining his spot in the support role, 28-year-old world champion support Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in is the second longest tenured player in the LCS after Cloud9 jungler Robert "Blaber" Huang. The two-time LCS MVP, two-time LCS champion, and 2019 Mid-Season Invitational finalist will have more Korean-speaking players on his team than any other roster he's been a part of since playing for LCK's Samsung Galaxy/KSV eSports/Gen.G organization.
Korean former pro jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin also joined as assistant coach after spending the last year as positional coach with the EMEA's MAD Lions. The Korean 27-year-old began his coaching career with the Cloud9 org in 2019 and left the team in 2021. He joins Korean head coach Jang "MaRin" Gyeong-hwan — who won Worlds with the LCK's SKT T1 in 2015 — behind the bench.
Between CoreJJ, Pyosik, and MaRin, TL will have three world champions on their squad in Spring 2023.
Featured photos courtesy of Lance Skundrich/Riot Games and Cloud9.