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After a couple of seasons in North America and a stint on the bench for Afreeca Freecs last season, two-time World Champion Bae “Bang” Jun-sik has returned to his roots with T1 in the LCK. The veteran AD Carry, however, won't be playing competitively, but instead will be focusing on igniting his streaming career. T1 welcomed home one of its iconic players, posting the announcement on Twitter on Thursday.
Regardless of what happened in the years since, no one can doubt the quality of Bang as a player and he enjoyed a glorious career with T1 (or then known as SKT T1), alongside some of the greatest to ever grace competitive League of Legends. Besides winning Worlds in 2015 and 2016, Bang and co also won the Mid-Season Invitational in 2016 and 2017. He is also a four-time LCK Champion, going back-to-back-to-back with T1 from Spring and Summer 2015 then Spring 2016. Even on the splits where T1 “underperformed” by their standards, the squad still remained in the upper echelon of the league in Korea.
Bang then headed over to the LCS, signing with 100 Thieves for the 2019 Season. His NA stint got off to a rough start though, as 100T placed 10th then 8th in Spring and Summer, respectively. By the following season, Bang again switched teams, joining Evil Geniuses. This move went a lot better initially, as the team ranked second in the league standings in the regular season, and eventually finished third in Spring playoffs. However, EG slipped in Summer. They placed sixth in the table and were swept by Cloud9 in the first round of playoffs.
Returning to Korea, Bang joined the Afreeca Freecs for the 2021 season, but again floundered with his third new team in three years. The squad placed ninth in LCK Spring, and Bang saw himself move to the bench as AF brought in a new ADC. In December 2021, Bang eventually announced his retirement from professional play, citing military duties.
But fans have been very welcoming of his return to T1, to where it all began, even if it is not in a playing or competitive capacity. For the foreseeable future at least, Bang will be streaming on Twitch under the T1 banner.
