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DWG KIA have made their first player signings in the offseason after the recent addition of head coach Choi “Acorn” Cheon-ju and coach Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon. The Korean esports franchise have announced the signing of top laner Kim “Canna” Chang-dong and bot laner Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu to their League of Legends roster.
With free agency having kicked off, the franchise made the announcement via their Twitter page. They requested that the fans show some support to the current World Champion Deft and former T1 player Canna as they will be part of the team’s roster for the 2023 season.
“[Announcement: Welcome]
DWG KIA would like to introduce our new AD carry, Kim ‘Deft’ Hyuk-kyu,” the announcement tweet read.
“Please send lots of love and support for ‘Deft’, champion of the 2022 World Championship. Thank you.#DWGKIA #Welcome_Deft”
The franchise also made a different announcement tweet, welcoming Canna to the team as they look forward to making a claim in the upcoming season.
“[Announcement: Welcome]
DWG KIA announces Kim ‘Canna’ Chang-dong will join the force in the coming 2023 season,” the franchise wrote.
“Please give a warm welcome to ‘Canna’, who has long held the Top Lane against many worthy opponents.
#DWGKIA #Welcome_Canna”
DRX and Nongshim RedForce had earlier released Deft and Canna from their respective LOL rosters, making them free agents ahead of the free agency period.
Nongshim RedForce decided to ply the route of young talents, promoting their Challengers players to their main team for the 2023 LCK season, owing to their good performance at the Challengers. DRX, on the other hand, are yet to make any roster addition following their historic World Championship title win after what could be termed an unexpected run.
However, DWG KIA recorded a poor campaign on the international scene, negatively breaking all expectations. Although the franchise ran an excellent campaign at the 2020 World Championship, winning the title and posting a good run in the 2021 Worlds and the Mid-Season Invitational.
Their 2022 campaign was shattered by Gen.G in the quarterfinals after losing out in close 3-2 series. DWG KIA were the least LCK team in the tournament, as other three teams advanced to the semifinals. DRX took on T1 in the finals and defeated them to clinch the Summoner’s Cup.
Canna started out his career in 2019 with T1 and spent over two years with the franchise before joining Nongshim RedForce in late 2021, where he spent slightly over a year. The 22-year old made the LCK 2nd All-Pro Team in Summer 2020 and is yet to clinch his first international title.
This is quite a different journey with Deft, who recently won the Worlds with DRX and also has the 2015 MSI title under his belt with
DWG KIA will hope to have a better run at both the local and international scene with their 2023 roster. The complete roster includes, jungler Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu, mid laner Heo “ShowMaker” Su,support Kim “Kellin” Hyeong-gyu, and Canna and Deft. Coaches Park “Bubbling” Jun-hyung and Kim Sun-woong, have also been re-signed by the franchise, as they hope to get the best out of the coaching staff together with the two new additions.
