Viper brings Zeka and Kingen to HLE

After only one year of dwelling in irrelevance, HLE are back on the LCK radar. Despite being one of the most valuable organizations in Korean esports, HLE missed out on the previous offseason. Now HLE gets their former star back, in bot laner Viper. A few reigning World Champions are also joining him.

HLE bring Viper back

Before becoming a World Champion with EDG in 2021, Viper made a name for himself in the LCK. He, Chovy and Tarzan were the highlights of the most promising team ever promoted through the LCK Challengers series. Team Griffin might not exist anymore, but the talents it has sprawled out have since conquered the world. HLE was the first team to give Viper a shot in the LCK, but he remained there for only six months. 

After spending 2021 and 2022 on EDG from the Chinese LPL, he is now back in his home country. Similarly to current World Champion Deft, as they both spent 2 years in an EDG jersey before returning to the LCK. In the meantime, Viper became the best bot laner in the world and won a domestic and international title. Sources close to both parties were saying that the Korean duo of Viper and Scout would both leave EDG. Unfortunately, the mid lane role seemed to be reserved for a much hotter name this offseason.

Zeka and Kingen join Viper on HLE

In LCK circles this offseason, there was a lot more hype for Zeka than any other mid laner. Deft might be the face of DRX, but they won the World Championship thanks to their top side. Top laner Kingen became unbeatable regardless of the champion he was playing. Meanwhile, Zeka was solo killing and embarrassing the best mid laners in the world. Including Faker! So when free agency came up, HLE already knew who their guy was. 

Zeka outperformed two of Viper’s former mid laners in the knockout stage at the World Championship. Scout was the first victim, falling in the quarterfinals by a significant margin. Chovy was next, feeling Zeka’s wrath in the semifinals. Despite both being household names, and Chovy coming off a 18-0 split, they couldn’t match up with Zeka. This HLE roster however should be a good opportunity for both players to silence their critics. It’s understandable that their stocks are at an all time high after that Worlds run. But doubts will always be here, especially since they haven’t won anything domestically before this. 

Clid will be HLE’s jungler

Despite rumors that Kanavi or another high profile jungler from the LPL might join him, Viper will have to settle for Clid. Playing for six teams in as many years has probably ruined Clid’s reputation he earned playing alongside Faker. HLE might have broken the bank to lure Viper and create a super team, but they felt short.

With another World Champion in Beryl still available, HLE went with Life for their starting support in 2023. Since Deft was confirmed to Damwon, Beryl became the biggest if factor in this LCK offseason. Viper probably wanted to be accompanied in the bot lane by the latter, but his price tag might have affected the rest of the roster. On paper, this team looks prone to failure, and even might be a downgrade from the 2022 EDG roster. 

DanDy and Mowgli will coach HLE

With former head coach Kezman moving up to the general manager position, HLE was in need of guidance. The former Korean jungler DanDy, who was a pro player for multiple Chinese and Korean teams, will be their new head coach. He has been coaching for 5 years and this is his biggest opportunity, after coaching RNG through 2019. 

Another former jungler joining the HLE coaching staff, will be Mowgli. His connections with Zeka and Kingen on the 2022 DRX roster, is probably the biggest reason for this hire. Outside of Mowgli, the HLE coaching staff will be reinforced by the signings of Nagne and Sayho. Those two will be handling the second team, competing in the Challengers series.

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