Who Goes Where: The League of Legends 2019 Off-season
As the dust settles following the crowning of the League of Legends world champion, teams and organizations are now looking to rebuild and restructure with the 2020 season in sight. With player and coach contracts ending, rumors, leaks, and roster announcements are already coming out into the open.
Free agency is in full swing and as news breaks from Travis Gafford’s Hotline League, Jacob Wolf and ESPN’s Free Agency Show, and organizations themselves, we’ll be updating a masterlist of all the trades and signings in the offseason across the LCS, LEC, LCK, and the LPL.
The most sought-after free agent in North America, jungler Jake “Xmithie” Puchero. (Photo: Riot Games)
League of Legends Championship Series (North America)
The return of Immortals and Evil Geniuses to the LCS brings competition anew to the North American league. With the region’s disappointing run at Worlds, changes are to be expected coming into the 2020 season.
Immortals
- Former Team Liquid jungler Jake “Xmithie” Puchero set to join Immortals
- Former Misfits top laner Paul “sOAZ” Boyer set to join Immortals
- Former Echo Fox support Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent and AD carry Johnny “Altec” Ru set to join Immortals
Evil Geniuses
- Former Cloud9 jungler Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen set to join Evil Geniuses
- Former Cloud9 support Tristan “Zeyzal” Stidam set to join Evil Geniuses
- Former 100Thieves AD carry Bae “Bang” Jun-sik set to join Evil Geniuses
Cloud9
- To trade Greyson “Goldenglue” Gilmer to Golden Guardians for Palafox
- Former TSM ADC Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen set to join Cloud9
- Former Dignitas support Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme set to join Cloud9
- AD carry Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi will not be playing for Cloud9 in the upcoming season
Team SoloMid
- To trade Andy “Smoothie” Ta to CLG for Vincent “Biofrost” Wang
- Former Splyce ADC Kasper “Kobbe” Kobberup (LEC) set to join TSM
- Former Immortals jungler Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett set to join TSM
Team Liquid
- Former Fnatic Jungler Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen (LEC) set to join TL
FlyQuest
- Former Misfit and FC Schalke 04 Support Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun (LEC) set to join FlyQuest
- Former Counter Logic Gaming mid laner Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage set to join FlyQuest
Golden Guardians
- To trade Cristian “Palafox” Palafox to Cloud9 for Goldenglue
- Former AD carry Yuri “Keith” Jew role swaps to support
Counter Logic Gaming
- To trade Biofrost to TSM for Smoothie
- Buys out former Immortals mid laner Lee “Crown” Min-ho
- Former Team SoloMid coach Kim “SSONG” Sang-soo set to join CLG as head coach
100 Thieves
- Former Bomber mid laner Tommy “ry0ma” Le (OPL) set to join 100 Thieves
- Former Optic Gaming jungler William “Meteos” Hartman set to join 100 Thieves
A team expected to have little to no roster changes for the 2020 season, G2 Esports. (Photo: Riot Games)
League of Legends European Championship (Europe)
With G2 Esports and Europe’s domination in Season 9, teams from North America are looking to pawn key players from Splyce, Fnatic, and FC Schalke 04. For a region with an abundance of talent however, it won’t be too difficult for Europe to rebuild around young and talented players hungry to make a name for themselves in the LEC.
Origen
- Support Alfonso “mithy” Aguirre Rodríguez retires
- Former Schalke 04 AD carry Elias “Upset” Lipp set to join Origen
- Former Splyce jungler Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir set to join Origen
- Former Mammoth support Mitchell “Destiny” Shaw set to join Origen
Fnatic
- Former SK Gaming jungler Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek set to join Fnatic
- Former Origen support Mithy set to join Fnatic as head coach
Misfits
- Former Vodafone Giants jungler Iván “Razork” Martín Díaz and support Petr “denyk” Haramachset to join Misfits
Excel Esports
- Former Splyce support Tore “Norskeren” Hoel Eilertsenset set to join Excel
- Former Origen AD carry Patrik “Patrik” Jírů set to join Excel
- Former Fnatic head coach Joey “YoungBuck” Steltenpool joins Excel
Rogue
- Former Misfits AD carry Steven “Hans Sama” Liv set to join Rogue
Schalke 04 Esports
- Konstantinos-Napoleon “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou is set to join Schalke 04 Esports upon finishing his military service
T1 Esports is once again looking to rebuild around star player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok in the offseason. (Photo: Riot Games)
League of Legends Champions Korea (Korea)
Failing to make it to the Finals two years in a row, most would say that the LCK dynasty has fallen. With the 2020 season soon upon us, Korea is looking to rebuild once again and reclaim the throne that has evaded their grasp for the past two years.
T1 Esports
- Support Cho “Mata” Se-hyeong is released from T1 Esports
- Head coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun and top laner Kim “Khan” Dong-ha explore free agency
- Jungler Kim “Clid” Tae-min parts ways with T1 Esports
- Former DragonX jungler Moon “Cuzz” Woo-chan joins T1 Esports
- Faker extends contract with T1 Esports till 2021
KT Rolster
- Top laner Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho, jungler Go “Score” Dong-bin, mid laner Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong, and AD carry Kim “PraY” Jong-in are released from KT Rolster
- Former Afreeca Freecs AD carry Kim “Aiming” Ha-ram set to join KT Rolster
Afreeca Freecs
- Mid laner Son “Ucal” Woo-hyeon and Son “Jelly” Ho-gyeong part ways with Afreeca Freecs
Gen. G
- All of Gen. G’s player contracts have not been renewed
- Former T1 Esports jungler Clid joins Gen. G
- Former DragonX top laner Rascal joins Gen. G
- Former KT Rolster mid laner Bdd joins Gen. G
DragonX
- Former Griffin head coach Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho joins DragonX as head coach
- cvMax is suspended indefinitely by Riot Korea for physical violence towards players
SANDBOX Gaming
- Former Misfits Gaming support Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyun joins SANDBOX Gaming
World champions FunPlus Phoenix raise the Summoner’s Cup for the LPL. (Photo: Riot Games)
League of Legends Pro League (China)
On the dominant side of the East, China rests on its laurels as the all-new dynasty of the League of Legends competitive scene. Thus, roster changes have been few and far between this offseason.
Bilibili Gaming
- Mid laner Lee “Kuro” Seo-haeng leaves Bilibili Gaming
Invictus Gaming
- Head coach Kim “Karam” Ga-ram parts ways with IG
- Top laner Lee “Duke” Ho-seong leaves IG
JD Gaming
- Jungler Sung “Flawless” Yeon-jun leaves JD Gaming
Vici Gaming
- Mid laner An “Ian” Jun-hyeong leaves Vici Gaming
Suning
- Mid laner Huang “Maple” Yi-Tang leaves Suning
This masterlist will be updated as further announcements are made. Updated as of November 23, 6:32 PM.
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