The majority of League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) teams will be sticking to their spring lineups for the next Summer Split, which begins on June 15th. Almost no transfers were made for this upcoming split, with only a couple of call ups from their respective academies.
Matches as usual will be decided based on a best-of-three matchup. The top six teams will qualify for the playoffs and the top two juggernauts will receive a buy directly to the semifinals.
All the LCK teams are definitely built for success however some of them even with mainstream names on their roster, have not been able to secure results in the league. Today we will take a look at three teams which need to show what they are capable of in the 2022 Summer Split.
-Gen G
Gen.G had a fantastic offseason back in 2021-2022, bringing in major players like Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon and Son “Lehends” Si-woo to play with Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk, who managed to win the 2017 World Championship with Samsung Galaxy.
This unique approach paid off handsomely as Gen.G. finished Spring Split in second place with a decent 15-3 record. In the playoffs, Ruler and the crew defeated DWG KIA, but in the finals, they were absolutely demolished by the invincible T1 team.
However at this point Gen G are known as the “chokers” of the LCK, as they have managed to accrue a lot of second place finishes and really bad international results for what the roster is actually able to do. At this point is a matter of Gen G finally taking what they have been searching for, a domestic and international title.
GEN G 2022 Summer roster is the following:
Top: Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon
Jungle: Han “Peanut” Wang-ho
Mid: Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon
Bot: Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk
Support: Son “Lehends” Si-woo
-Kwangdong Freecs
With the veteran duo of Yoo “FATE” Su-hyeok and Park “Teddy” Jin-seong in charge of the team’s mid and bot lanes, Kwangdong Freecs appears to be in better shape than ever for this upcoming split. In the LCK Spring 2022 playoffs, the squad put on a decent show, defeating DRX 3-2 in the quarterfinals, but ultimately as every other team they lost to T1 in the next round.
Kwangdong Freecs brought in some young blood for the LCK Summer Split 2022, with support player Jeong “Moham” Jae-hun from academy League of Legends squad KDF Challengers. This time they definitely seem to have a better balance, which hopefully the veteran players and coaching staff will be able to work out with the youngsters.
Their roster looks like this:
Top: Kim “Kiin” Gi-in
Jungle: Choi “Ellim” El-lim
Mid: Yoo “FATE” Su-hyeok
Bot: Park “Teddy” Jin-seong
Support: Jeong “Moham” Jae-hun
-Liiv SANDBOX
Liiv Sandbox is an interesting case where we might see youngsters really pop off if managed correctly. They are excited to showcase the return of their star bot laner Lee “Prince” Chae-hwan, who last played for the team back in the 2021 season. Prince will be accompanied by pro League of Legends youngster Kim “Kael” Jin-hong at Support, who is just 18 years old.
However, there is one last youngster that will be the focus of the team, and that is Clozer. He is a generational talent when it comes to mechanics and game knowledge, which he showcased when subbed in for Faker earlier in his career with T1. However after leaving T1, he doesn’t seem to be that comfortable as a team player, thus it is a matter of how the organization and coaching staff decide to approach the situation. Does Clozer adapt and change his manners to become a better team player? Or does he commit to this mechanical playstyle while the team catters to him? These are questions that will be answered when the season starts.
-Liiv Sandbox roster is the following:
Top: Kim “Dove” Jae-yeon
Jungle: Kim “Croco” Dong-beom
Mid: Lee “Clozer” Ju-hyeon
Bot: Lee “Prince” Chae-hwan
Support: Kim “Kael” Jin-hong
Every single team’s performance during this Split must be at its best, as only the strongest will qualify for League of Legends Worlds 2022. As a result, the stakes are pretty high in League of Legends’ LCK 2022 Summer Split, and no mistake will go unpunished.
