Sources: Aladoric joins Chiefs for LCO 2022 Split Two, will replace Dragku in lineup

The move reunites ex-Peace teammates Aladoric and Tally.

Photo via Getty Images for Riot Games

The Chiefs are reshuffling their League of Legends roster slightly after falling to red-hot ORDER in the LCO 2022 Split One Grand Finals. The only major change, sources have told Dot Esports, is ex-PEACE support Ryan “Aladoric” Richardson is expected to join the starting lineup over Dragon “Dragku” Guo.

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Aladoric played alongside Chiefs mid laner James “Tally” Shute at Worlds in Iceland at the end of last season but failed to find an LCO starting spot for Split One this year.

The Chiefs built a championship squad to start this year, acquiring Immortals bot laner Quin “Raes” Korebrits, two-time Worlds representative Tally, and import duo Kim “Topoon” Ji-hoon and Park “Arthur” Mi-reu. The org only retained one League player from their LCO 2021 campaign⁠—support star Dragku.

The roster found a heaping of success in the regular season, finishing top-seed with a 19–2 record. Chiefs came out on top in a 3–2 against Pentanet.GG in the playoffs upper bracket in an instant LCO classic before losing the grand finals.

The shock ORDER upset forced the Chiefs squad⁠—whose goal since the start of the year has been international League play⁠—into a light Split Two reshuffle.

Chiefs lineup for LCO 2022 Split Two

  • Kim “Topoon” Ji-hoon
  • Park “Arthur” Mi-reu
  • James “Tally” Shute
  • Quin “Raes” Korebrits
  • Ryan “Aladoric” Richardson

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Chiefs’ impending Aladoric pick-up leaves Dragku without a starting spot.

The support star, who role-swapped from top lane for the Chiefs in June 2020 and was named first-team All-Pro support in LCO 2022 Split One, is signed with the org until Nov. 2022. There were talks behind the scenes the Australian would find a spot in North America for the upcoming Summer split, but Dot Esports understands those have since fallen through and are set to simmer until the end of the year.

If Dragku fails to find a place on another Oceanic team before the start of Split Two, the support could still stand in as the org’s reserve player for the LCO season.

Screengrab via LCO on YouTube

Aladoric returns to the LCO following a four-month period teamless. Prior to his hiatus from Australia’s top-flight competition, the 22-year-old spent a year with PEACE. The star was given a chance to leave the org halfway through 2021 but stayed and eventually represented the region at Worlds with the team.

He has played 93 top-flight domestic games in the OPL and LCO.

The returning Oceanic pro started his League career with Legacy Genesis in 2017 and made his professional debut with The Chiefs in the OPL that same season.

Author
Image of Isaac McIntyre
Isaac McIntyre
Isaac McIntyre is the Aussie Editor at Dot Esports. He previously worked in sports journalism at Fairfax Media in Mudgee and Newcastle for six years before falling in love with esports—an ever-evolving world he's been covering since 2018. Since joining Dot, he's twice been nominated for Best Gaming Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism Awards and continues to sink unholy hours into losing games as a barely-Platinum AD carry. When the League servers go down he'll sneak in a few quick hands of the One Piece card game. Got a tip for us? Email: isaac@dotesports.com.