This is some heavy stuff
League of Legends: DRX Management Causes Team to Disband
DRX was the Cinderella story of the 2022 League of Legends World Championship. With a run like no other it's become one of the most talked about teams in the world, but this off-season had some fans scratching their head and wondering why the team isn't staying together.
One Redditor has outlined a timeline of what has gone wrong for DRX in this particular off-season, as well as in previous years. It's not like this is the first time the org has had to start from 0 again, right?
League of Legends Team DRX Disbands Due to Management Issues
Saying it's 'management issues' is... taking things lightly in this situation. In 2020 DRX had one of the best rosters, at least on paper. Young players like Pyosik, Keria, Chovy and Doran led the charge alongside veteran Deft. But after an early exit in the quarterfinals the team completely broke apart, leaving only Pyosik behind.
DRX hasn't been the cleanest LCK org with multiple scandals in their history books. In 2020, it came in the form of the management forcing the players to act out scenes they weren't comfortable with in promotional videos, while in 2022 the team was sued by former coach Kim for unlawful termination of contract.
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All of these issues seem to be related to one individual – Choi "DOwner" Sang-in, the CEO and former team manager of the squad.
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DRX Management Talking Down on Players and Fans
The Management of DRX also doesn't have the best relationship with the fans, with DOwner going as far as to sue actual fans of the team just because they flamed him.
It has also been suspected that DOwner was not the biggest fan of Pyosik. The jungler was brought on in 2020 by CvMax, but the coach left the org in 2021. Then, during the 2022 Spring Split DOwner made some harsh comments against Pyosik while co-streaming LCK matches, something he stopped doing during Summer of 2022.
He has also made comments about the promotional videos which players had been upset with, stating that they felt like BL (Boy's Love) promotional videos. DOwner stated on stream that it had been Chovy's mother who felt uncomfortable with the videos and if she hadn't been so 'sensitive' it would have all been fine. This explanation, of course, didn't sit well with fans either.
DRX Blames Players' Agents For Leaving The Team
After winning the 2022 League of Legends World Championship, all players contracts with DRX were set to expire. Instead of re-signing with DRX each player has decided to go their own way though. This decision was criticized by the DRX management, causing them to blame the players' agents and saying they 'egged them on' to part ways with DRX.
DRX also did not seem to have the financial means to keep all five players, which is why Zeka and Kingen, who are known to be very good friends, decided to find a new team. It also seems that Deft and BeryL would have re-signed with the team had Pyosik been able to stay, but that clearly wasn't the case hence why all five players have moved on to new teams.
But at least DRX doesn't have to deal with Trucks...
So far we know that Deft has signed with DAMWON KIA, while Kingen and Zeka will be playing on Hanwha Life. Pyosik is rumoured to move to the LCS and play for Team Liquid, though it is confirmed he will not be in the LCK in 2023. Now the statement of 'I'm moving to a team that has really good work benefits and environment' from Pyosik makes a lot more sense...