The national League of Legends (LoL) squad for the Hangzhou Asian Games is set to take to the field for its first matches of the tournament today, May 25. The Korean team, which is in Group A, will take on Hong Kong at 10 a.m. and Kazakhstan at 12:20 p.m. in single-elimination matches. With relatively weak opponents, the team is expected to breeze through the group stage. The ROL team, which includes Korean eSports star Faker (Lee Sang-hyuk), is a strong gold medal favorite alongside host China. The two teams met in the final at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, where ROL was introduced as a demonstration sport, with China winning gold and South Korea taking silver.

This time around, the national team has assembled a self-proclaimed “dream team” to avenge the 2018 loss to China. The preliminary roster was composed of players with the best recent performances at home and abroad, and individual metrics were scored separately to finalize the roster. As a result, Faker, Zeus (Choi Woo-je), Canavi (Seo Jin-hyuk), Chobi (Jeong Ji-hoon), Ruler (Park Jae-hyuk), and Keria (Ryu Min-seok) were selected to join head coach Kim Jung-gyun in the hunt for gold.

Lee Sang-hyuk is a superstar who is familiar to the general public as he has been introduced through various broadcasts. He made his debut in 2013 and has won the League of Legends World Championship (Rold Cup), the biggest international competition in the game, three times. He has also won the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) twice and the LCK (League of Legends Champions Korea) 10 times in his unparalleled career, making him an icon of the scene.

However, the other five players on the list may not be as familiar to the casual observer, but they’re all aces in the game. Today, we’re going to give you a brief introduction to all of them, except for Lee Sang-hyuk, for those who are new to the game through the Asian Games.

First, we have Jeong Ji-hoon, born in 2001, who plays the same position as Lee Sang-hyuk: mid laner. He has been consistently good since his debut in 2018 and is considered the next big thing after Lee “Faker” Lee. He is at the peak of his powers with Genji Esports, having won three consecutive Korean League titles from the Summer 2022 tournament to this summer. He won all three finals by defeating Lee “Lee” Sang-hyuk, so there’s a good chance he’ll be in the starting lineup.

Park Jae-hyuk and Seo Jin-hyuk, who were born in 1998 and 2000 respectively, are considered to be the core of the national team. The two players have been thriving in the LPL, the Chinese role-playing league, as ranged dealers and junglers. Playing for the same team, JDG (Jingdong Gaming), they won both the LPL Spring and Summer competitions this year. They also won the MSI. Both players have won every tournament they’ve competed in this year. Beyond the Asian Games gold medal, Park is looking to complete a calendar grand slam (winning every event this year), including the Rold Cup in the second half of the year. Park Jae-hyuk also competed at the Asian Games with Lee Sang-hyuk in 2018.

Choi Woo-je and Ryu Min-seok play for T1, the same team as Lee Sang-hyuk. Choi Woo-je, born in 2004, is a rookie who debuted in 2021. He impressed in his debut season and won the LCK Summer Championship in 2022. He has already reached the finals of the Rold Cup and MSI, as well as the Korean League. Playing the top liner position, he is the youngest member of the team, but he is also considered to be the ‘reliable man’ with the least ups and downs.메이저사이트

Ryu Min-seok, who plays a support position, was born in 2002 but is a veteran who made his debut in 2019. Along with Choi Woo-je and Lee Sang-hyuk, he has been to many domestic league championships and international league finals. Since his debut season, he has drawn attention for his unconventional physicality. Also nicknamed ‘Yeokcheon-gyo’ (All-Time Genius Monster), he is considered one of the best supporters in the game, having been named the Support Position Player of the Year in 2021 and 2022, and the LCK Spring Regular Season MVP in 2022 and 2023.

In addition to Lee “Faker” Sang-hyuk, ROL’s roster of top players will advance through the group stage today, followed by the quarterfinals on the 27th and the semifinals on the 28th. In the semifinals, they are likely to face their strongest rival, the Chinese national team. Depending on the outcome of the semifinals, they will then play in either the bronze medal match or the final on the 29th.