Team Dignitas revealed their highly anticipated new lineup today. The American team will bring in two Korean players to complete their roster heading into the 2015 League of Legends season.
Jo “Core” Yong-in joins as marksman and Noh “Gamsu” Yeong-jin takes over the top lane for the team. It’s the first time Dignitas has imported talent from outside North America.
Noh and Jo were up-and-coming talents in Korea. The marksman Jo competed in the Champion Summer 2014 season on Bigfile Miracle, but the team failed to win a game in six matches. Jo impressed with solid mechanics as the only real standout performer on the team. Jo ranked in the top 10 of the Korean solo queue ladder before leaving for America. Noh most recently served as a substitute on Samsung Galaxy Blue, understudy to two of the best top laners on the planet as a member of the Samsung Organization.
At first glance, the move seems like an odd one. Neither are high profile players like Curse Gaming’s Korean sign, Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin. But in some ways, that might be better for Dignitas. Noh and Jo are two players potentially on the upswing of their careers, with a lot to prove. They certainly impressed team captain Alberto “Crumbzz” Rengifo during a lengthy trial period in Los Angeles with the team.
“The most noticeable aspect of having Gamsu and Core JJ on the team is a drastic change in our playing environment,” Rengifo said. “The entire team is now on the same page in terms of practicing and how our time should be managed.”
Even so, the signings have to bring up the specter of last year’s big Korean flop—Counter Logic Gaming’s Shin “Seraph” Wu-yeong. Much like Jo and Noh, Shin was a little-known Korean substitute player with little track record of performance in official games, and despite solid solo play he flopped when he reached the big stage.
Dignitas is confident that won’t happen to them. We will find out soon enough. On Dec. 18, the team will compete in the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne event with Noh and Jo in tow.
Image via WD Ventito
