At the start of the 2023 one team looked dominant, picking up one of the best young talents in South Korea, but the team have already disbanded, less than a year after the new player joined.
Longevity and esports are two words that we don't see together too often. Teams will usually build rosters and hope they work out right off the bat. If they do not, then they will get rid of some pieces to bring together a new iteration.
This has happened in the North American LCS once more as well. With C9, Team Liquid and NRG rearing to represent the league at the 2023 World Championship, as well as Golden Guardians still in hopes of the final spot, one team that didn't make the trip to South Korea has decided to release one of their biggest superstars.
LoL: FlyQuest Release Bot Lane Star Player
It's a terrible day for rain...
— FlyQuest (@FlyQuest) October 1, 2023
It's with heavy hearts, we part ways with @FLYprince0405. A force of nature with the brightest future ahead of him. We wish him nothing but the best on his next adventure. pic.twitter.com/0fgEUbpNp4
At the start of the 2023 League of Legends season, FlyQuest picked up one of the biggest rising stars in the game. The org built a winning team with some huge North American household names like Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme and Mingyi "Spica" Lu.
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They also brought in young talent from South Korea with Lee "VicLa" Dae-kwang and none other than Lee "Prince" Chae-hwan. The latter of the two was one of the most prominent young talents in the LCK, leading Liiv Sandbox to the regional qualifiers for Worlds 2022 where the team fell just short, losing out to DRX who would go on to win the 2022 World Championship.
While the Spring Split was a huge success for FlyQuest, with the team going 14-4, they fell short in the playoffs and didn't make it to London for the 2023 Mid-Seaosn Invitational. The Summer Split was also a whole different story. FlyQuest didn't even make it into the Championship and couldn't fight for a spot at Worlds 2023.
So now, the team has decided to make some key changes to the roster ahead of the 2024 off-season. Young mid lane talent VicLa left the org in September 2023 and now the prominent bot laner, Prince, has also decided to leave, with the departure getting announced on October 1, 2023.
Whether Prince will stay in the LCS or move back to South Korea – or go somewhere else completely – has not been revealed yet. Worlds 2023 is just around the corner and we expect roster moves to be announced after the big tournament is over for the start of the 2024 season.