Gen.G is making some huge changes this off-season after the team crashed out of the 2021 Worlds semi-finals, falling 2-3 to the eventual champions EDward Gaming. Amid the roster shuffle in the LCK, Gen.G has parted ways with mid lane star Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong, bringing Jung “Chovy” Ji-hun onboard in his stead. AD Carry veteran Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk will also be sticking with the org for the upcoming season. Moreover, a very familiar face around the League of Legends pro scene, Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, will fill the jungle position, making his return to Gen.G.
Ruler stays onboard for 2022
Indeed, Gen.G's iconic ADC will still be taking on a large share of the carrying responsibilities in the upcoming season. After signing a three-year contract extension in 2019, Gen.G will still be benefitting from the services of Ruler, making him one of the longest standing players sticking to any squad in the LCK (and even globally) since joining the Samsung Galaxy org in May 2016.
Ruler has no doubt made himself a force to be reckoned with. He has emerged as the reason behind much of Gen.G's success, whether domestically or on the international stage. He's still at the top of his form, so fans will be pleasantly surprised to know that they have Ruler on their side for at least another year.
Bdd departs Gen.G, while Chovy comes in
Gen.G on Tuesday announced the departure of Bdd, a two-time LCK MVP and arguably still a prominent force in the mid lane. The community had largely regarded Bdd as among the top prospects to watch out for, hailed as the next Faker for a time, at least until other rising stars in ShowMaker staked claim over that title.
Bdd had been brought in to be a stronger carry than Crown, who played more control style champions and did help Samsung to a Worlds title. Nevertheless, it was the ADC position that had always accepted the hard carry responsibilities, with a World Champion in Ruler at the helm. Still, Bdd contributed his fair share to Gen.G's performance. Despite some shaky campaigns, he ultimately put up a decent performance, with menacing Zoe and other off-the-cuff champion picks.
A day after announcing Bdd's exit, Gen.G then revealed their mid lane pick for the upcoming season, welcoming Chovy to the side from Hanwha Life (HLE). HLE had been LCK's fourth seed at Worlds, succumbing 0-3 to T1 in the quarterfinal stage. Despite their skill on paper, both Chovy and Gen.G (at least with the org's rebrand) have failed to win anything of significance, so maybe two negatives will make a positive for 2022.
Peanut rejoins Gen.G
While Bdd heads to NS RedForce, Gen.G has brought onboard Peanut coming from NS. Fans will remember that Peanut already had a short stint with the squad back in the 2019 season, but failed to pull the team over to a Worlds qualification berth. The LCK jungler has hopped around teams quite a bit in the past seasons, playing for very familiar orgs like ROX Tigers, T1, and KingZone DragonX.
Peanut and NS had placed third in the standings during the LCK Summer regular season, but finished fourth in the playoff race and ultimately missed out on a Worlds spot. Meanwhile, Gen.G finished just a spot above for both counts, slotting in at second during the round robin and third in the Summer playoffs.
Now, on his return to Gen.G, Peanut will be hoping to put up a much more impressive showing to prove he's still got what it takes to be a contending jungler in the LCK. He will replace Kim “Clid” Tae-min, with his release from the squad confirmed last Friday.
In the past week, Gen.G had already revealed many departures in the squad, including top laner Kim “Rascal” Kwang-hee and support Kim “Life” Jeong-min. They have been replaced by Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon and former Griffin star Son “Lehends” Si-woo, as the latter will be pairing up with Ruler in the bot lane.
Gen.G will have quite a different look in 2022, especially as the roster moves come in line with the exits of several coaching staff, including head coach Ju “oDin” Youngdal.
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