It was one of the most beautiful stories in esports of the last 10 years: A team of underdogs won the Worlds 2022 in League of Legends. With “Camaraderie,” “Team Spirit,” and great coaching, the South Koreans DRX overcame all odds and surprisingly became LoL World Champions against high favorites. A story like Cinderella, from the bottom to the top. But with the win of the world championship title, the fairy tale ends. There will be no sequel.
This was the Cinderella story of the Worlds:
- The South Korean team “DRX” had just barely made it to the Worlds, was considered the weakest team from Korea, and only placed sixth in the league.
- DRX was made up of some players who weren’t on anyone’s radar, like midlaner Zeka (20) and top laner Kingen (22), or players who had already been dismissed as failures, like jungler Pyosik (22), whom many considered one of the weakest junglers in the LCK.
- However, the team had a phenomenal run at the Worlds, playing their way from the play-ins to the finals, defeating three favorites to win the Worlds, and actually becoming world champions. No team that started in the play-ins had achieved this before.
3 out of 5 leave Team DRX: 2 join a new “Super Team”
This is the bitter reality now: Immediately after the Worlds, the team fell apart. All 5 core players had contracts that expired on November 21, and not a single player has renewed their contract.
Management assured that holding on to the 5 players was the top priority, but three of the players have already signed with other teams in South Korea
- The likely strongest player of the team, midlaner Zeka, who overshadowed all the great midlaners at the tournament and emerged as the absolute winner from the Worlds, is moving to Hanwha Life
- Also, his top lane partner Kingen is going to Hanwha Life – they have brought in three other top players with Viper, Clid, and Life and intend to form a super team
- Even bot laner Deft (26) is not staying with the organization, that gave him the success of his life, but is moving on to DWG KIA, the top team with Showmaker and Canyon, whom he defeated at the Worlds
Only jungler Pyosik and the supporter Beryl are available for DRX, but whether they will stay is also uncertain.
By the way, he will always stay with T1, Faker has just signed a new contract:
Why are they leaving so quickly? Careers in LoL are short, many players only stay with a team for a year before looking for the next contract. With DRX, it is quite possible that the players were “relatively cheap” before the Worlds victory and that their market value has increased enormously due to their performance at the LoL World Championship 2022.
ADC Deft said in an interview with Inven: He had worked for 10 years towards the World Championship victory, felt rewarded with the title, and now wants to prove himself again.
It can be assumed that Deft also sees better chances at DWG KIA to compete for the world championship title again. Cinderella story or not.
Especially tragic, DRX has also crashed after the last high:
LoL pro tells sadly how one of the best teams in the world fell apart
