LoL: Cinderella is dead – underdog team becomes world champion, breaks up immediately after triumph

LoL: Cinderella is dead - underdog team becomes world champion, breaks up immediately after triumph

It was one of the most beautiful stories in esports in the last 10 years: a team full of misfits won the Worlds 2022 in League of Legends. With “camaraderie”, “team spirit” and great coaching, the South Koreans DRX were able to assert themselves against all odds and surprisingly became LoL world champions against big favorites. A story like Cinderella, from the bottom to the top. But the fairy tale ends with winning the world championship title. There will be no sequel.

That was the Cinderella story of Worlds:

  • The South Korean team “DRX” had only just traveled to the Worlds, was considered the weakest team from Korea and only finished sixth in the league.
  • DRX consisted of some players who either weren’t considered, like midlaner Zeka (20) and toplaner Kingen (22), or they were players who were actually already dismissed as failures, like jungler Pyosik (22), whom many for held one of the weakest junglers in the LCK.
  • However, the team put on a tremendous run at Worlds, progressing through the play-ins to the Worlds Finals, defeating three favorites to win Worlds, and actually becoming world champions. No team that started in the play-ins had ever done that before.

LoL: 26-year veteran spectacularly defeats the world champion as a total underdog – Cries on stage

3 out of 5 leave Team DRX: 2 join new “Super Team”

This is the bitter reality now: Immediately after the Worlds, the team broke up. Because the contracts of all 5 regular players expired on November 21st and not a single player has extended his contract.

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While management has assured that retaining the 5 players is a top priority, three of the players have already signed with other teams in South Korea

  • Possibly the strongest player on the team, midlaner Zeka, who eclipsed all major midlaners at the tournament and emerged as the absolute winner from Worlds, joins Hanwha Life
  • His top lane partner Kingen is also going to Hanwha Life – they have signed three more top players with Viper, Clid and Life and want to set up a super team
  • Even Botlaner Deft (26) is not staying with the club that gave him the success of his life, moving on to DWG KIA, the top team with Showmaker and Canyon that he defeated at the Worlds

Only jungler Pyosik and supporter Beryl are available for DRX, but it is not known whether they will stay.

He’s staying with T1 forever, by the way, Faker has now re-signed:

The Life of Faker – That’s why he’s a living legend

Why are they going so fast? Careers in LoL are short, many players only stay with a team for a year and then look for the next contract. With DRX, it may well be that the players were “relatively cheap” up until the Worlds win and the market value has increased enormously thanks to their performance at LoL Worlds 2022.

The ADC Deft said in an interview with Inven: “He’s been working towards winning the World Cup for 10 years, feels he has been rewarded with the title and now wants to prove himself again.”

One can assume that Deft also calculates better chances at DWG KIA to play for the world champion title again. Cinderella story or not.

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Particularly tragic, DRX also crashed after the last high flight:

LoL pro sadly tells how one of the best teams in the world fell apart

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