Griffin is “discussing contract termination and other options” for its players following the team’s relegation from the LCK, the organization revealed today.
The League of Legends team placed dead last in LCK last month with a 4-13 record before falling short in the summer promotion series. Griffin decisively lost to Seorabeol and Sandbox Gaming in back-to-back best-of-three series, despite support Kim “WADID” Bae-in joining the roster.
“We are deeply sorry and thankful to the fans who have supported Griffin throughout the years,” the organization said. “We will come back as a new Griffin.”
This new development could mean jungler Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong, mid laner Son “Ucal” Woo-hyeon, and ADC Park “Viper” Do-hyeon will be entering free agency leading up to the summer season. Despite the team’s underperformance in the Spring Split, these three players are well sought-after and will almost certainly be picked up by a team in the LCK or elsewhere.
Griffin was once one of the best teams in Korea, consistently placing in the top ranks of the league and performing on the international stage. But following a roster reshuffle ahead of 2020, the team has looked like a shadow of their former selves.
Losing mid laner Chovy—the centerpiece of the team—along with top laner Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon, support Son “Lehends” Si-woo, and coach Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho clearly took a toll on the roster.
The jungler Tarzan and ADC Viper should have no issues finding another team for summer split since they were performing quite well considering the circumstances around their team. According to latest rumors Viper might be joining Hanwha Life Esports to stay in LCK while Tarzan is exploring options to go to China’s LPL. Currently, there are no confirmed news by any teams, but the sources are credible so this we will hear more about this soon enough.
Griffin on the hand is looking to explore options out of League of Legends. After a devastating season where they lost their core players it’s understandable that they want to get out and save their investments for other games. Sadly we will most likely never see a team like Griffin ever again with the removal of Promotion tournaments. With most major regions moving out from Promotion tournaments in order to become franchised, Griffin’s will remain in history was the team who went from qualifying to Worlds to knocked out of LCK in one season.
If Griffin ever wants to rejoin the LCK, a full new lineup may be the way going forward.
