HLE suddenly stood side by side with T1

At the moment, the transfer market is almost over and most players have already determined their futures in the new season. If the LPL is mostly rumors and few “blockbuster” deals, the LCK is much busier. Although it was quite quiet in the early stages, from Hanwha Life Esports to DWG KIA, all of them have brought home superstars through deals that surprised fans.

The most notable is definitely HLE when this team did not regret the money to bring back a series of stars. Among HLE’s new hires, only Clid and Life have never won the World Championships. While Zeka and Kingen are the two defending champions of Worlds 2022, Viper is the champion of Worlds 2021 as well as one of the top ADCs in the LPL. Clid and Life themselves are also familiar names to LoL fans, especially in the LCK area.

Because of that, HLE was voted as the No. 2 candidate for the championship and was evaluated in strength only after T1. According to international media, if T1 wasn’t for keeping the same squad that fought together during the past season, it could even be behind HLE. The only deal in terms of lineups that T1 made was to extend the contract with Faker. The media also assessed that HLE will not take much time to adapt, especially when they bring in both Zeka and Kingen – a very important couple in DRX’s last 2022 Worlds campaign.

In the rest of the top 5, DK (3rd place) is rated higher than Gen.G Esports (4th place). Meanwhile, ranked 5th is KT Rolster – the team has also had many changes in the last transfer season. Many viewers think that the “communication war” between T1 and KT in the 2023 season will be much more worth watching.

However, this ranking certainly will not affect the results of the teams in the upcoming season. T1, HLE or any team must do their best to bring the best results and fulfill the goals they set for the new year.