HLE is preparing very carefully for the breakthrough from the bottom to the candidate to compete for every title in the new season.
Hanwha Life Esports is looking to fulfill its ambition to build a “Super Team” next season by recruiting two DRX world champions, as reported by Blix.gg. According to writer Alejandro Gomis, top laner Kingen and mid laner Zeka are on their way to joining HLE.
This duo has made a great contribution to DRX’s unbelievable feat in North America. Anyone who’s been following through the 2022 Worlds journey from the Play-In Stage has to admit that Zeka is the best mid laner of the tournament. Meanwhile, Kingen shone brightly in the match against T1 on November 6 and thereby won the MVP title of the Finals. In addition to the above two contracts, HLE has brought in Viper – who played for the organization in the second half of the 2020 season. Viper has just spent two years playing for EDward Gaming and won the LPL Summer Championship with Worlds 2021.
HLE is currently one of the weakest teams in Korean League of Legends. The coefficient of 2-16 made them “fall out” of the LCK Summer 2022 standings. Broadly speaking, HLE only won 5/36 of the Bo3 series last season. Unable to stay out of the game forever, the organization is doing everything to play the role of a candidate to compete for the throne. Their best achievement is reaching the quarterfinals of Worlds 2021 when they still own the Chovy and Deft pair.
Coincidentally, Kingen experienced the feeling of 2-16 with DRX in the group stage of the LCK Summer 2021. Is this a harbinger of the strong rise of HLE or is it all just unfounded speculation? The answer will be at the end of the 2023 season but right now HLE is adding the best possible pieces to improve the ranking in the LCK soon. If this information is correct, DRX has lost 3/5 players because Deft also chose to switch to DWG KIA at Canyon’s call. Currently only going to the Pyosik jungle and the BeryL jungle, it is still unclear whether they will choose to stay with DRX or will find a new destination.