Frokat
Spring 2022South Korea, Seoul, LoL Park
T1
Gen.G
DAMWON Gaming
According to the largest Korean esports hub, Inven, the Korean esports organization DRX (previously known as Kingzone DragonX) seems to be involved in the latest iteration of the coaching staff drama. After hitting a rocky start in the beginning of 2022 Spring LCK series, the League of Legends esports team has elected to part ways with their head coach, Kim “KIM” Jeong-soo. Effective immediately, this means that Dongwook “Shine” Shin will be an interim head coach for the team’s today’s (29th January) match against Nongshim RedForce.
Kim “KIM” Jeong-soo is one of the most experienced coaches in the LCK region. Coaching multiple highest-tier teams over his long career, KIM’s leadership guided the likes of SKT T1 (now known as just T1), Invictus Gaming, Samsung Galaxy, DAMWON, and others. During his time in Invictus Gaming, he and his team achieved the highest trophy of League of Legends’ esports: the World Championship title.
While his reputation as one of the long-standing mentors and his contributions to the discipline’s esports scene is undeniable, KIM has also made a name for himself with his seemingly overly-demanding and sudden roster swaps. This has caused him to be known to “throw his players under the bus” too soon by the community.
KIM is known for scouting previously unnoticed players and molding them into the peak performers (Khan, TheShy, Canna) within their role – especially toplane. However, he is also known for his harsh treatment of Nuguri during the 2019 World Championship, and even Faker, who is widely regarded as the greatest League of Legends player of all time, when T1 failed to make it to the World Championship in 2020.
It is currently unclear what has caused this abrupt decision by DRX. One thing is known – Kim “KIM” Jeong-soo didn’t leave by his own volition as according to an official Twitter post (Korean source). More details coming soon!