Samsung Galaxy: The Champion’s Curse Continues
All 10 players on the main rosters of Samsung Galaxy have left the organization.
Samsung White and Samsung Blue dominated this year’s World Championships, with White taking home the Summoner’s Cup for Korea. Not only that, but White’s record throughout the tournament was near immaculate, dropping only 2 out of 17 games.
However, like the past three champions who carved out empires with their Worlds wins, their dynasties quickly crumbled in the year that followed. For Samsung, the highest of highs has now been met with the lowest lows, and it couldn’t have come any sooner.
Not more than a month from winning it all in their home city of Seoul, it would seem that all the players from the teams have fancied a higher salary and are more than willing to look outside Korea to find it. Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu of Samsung Blue led the charge with his announcement that he was to follow in the footsteps of Choi “InSec” In-seok by moving to a high-profile Chinese organization, this time to Edward Gaming. If the rumors are to be believed, he’ll also be joined by his former teammate, Heo “PawN” Won-seok in the mid lane.
White’s jungler, Choi “DanDy” In-kyu and the mid lane star of Blue, Bae “dade” Uh-Jin are also eyeing the lined pockets of China’s League of Legends organizations, and DanDy in particular has been very vocal that if a star player knows his worth, it’s inevitable that he’d go to where the money is. Right now, that money seems to be with the Chinese.
What’s even more astounding is that the Samsung organization’s support staff has also jumped ship, leaving only a single coach left affiliated with the Korean brand in Choi Woo-Beom.
The landscape of the professional scene in Korea will understandably be rocky. Due to OGN’s new ruling that only one team will be allowed to compete per organization, and the fact that most if not all major power players in the Korean scene have two teams, it was inevitable that players would leave, be moved around, or let go completely.
While none can say what will unfold next as the balance of power across the entire world will likely be affected by what is being dubbed the “Great Korean Exodus”, for the Samsung organization at least, we now know an entirely new roster is in order.
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