Team Korea’s Roster Announcement For 2026 Asian Games Ignites Controversy
The Asian Games last took place in 2022. Team Korea dominated the competition, winning the tournament without losing a map. The event will take place later this year. Recently, they announced Team Korea’s roster, which sparked controversy over the players selected. While none of the chosen players deserve to be there, others felt there were more deserving players.
What are the Asian Games?
Asian Games are a continental multi-sport event held every four years in Asia. The International Olympic Committee recognises the Asian Games. It is the second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. League of Legends has featured at the Asian Games for the past two events. It will feature again this year, hosted in Aichi–Nagoya, Japan.
The 2026 Team Korea Roster
The Team Korea roster features six players. The roster features three LCK teams: Gen.G Esports, Hanwha Life Esports, and T1. The roster is as follows:
- Top Lane – Choi “Zeus” Woo-je (Hanwha Life Esports
- Jungle – Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu (Gen.G Esports)
- Mid Lane – Kim “Zeka” Geon-wu (Hanwha Life Esports
- Mid Lane Sub – Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (T1)
- AD Carry – Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyung (Hanwha Life Esports
- Support – Ryu “Keria” Min-seok (T1)
- The selection panel looked at the player’s performance from 2024 onwards. However, not all tournaments were under consideration. Only the KESPA Cup, regional leagues, and World Championship were part of the criteria. After building an initial shortlist of the players, the selection panel looked at further metrics, such as:
- KDA
- Average solo kills
- Kill participation,
- Champion pool size
- Damage percentage
- Damage per minute
- Damage per gold
- Gold difference per minute
- 14-minute CS difference
- 14-minute damage per gold
- Team gold share
- Team damage share
- Vision score
They also considered role-specific metrics:
- Jungle
- First blood participation rate
- Time spent invading the enemy jungle
- Counter-jungle CS
- AD Carry
- Duo proximity rate
- Support
- Duo proximity rate
- Jungle proximity rate
Notable Players Missing
Korea is a region stacked with talent. Many players could easily get their way into the roster. The six chosen have all had notable performances in the past two years. However, fans feel there are players they deserved the spots over others. Fans also want to see some players who have not won the Asian Games before. Winning the Asian Games exempts them from the mandatory military service.
Three players on the current roster, in the form of Zeus, Faker, and Keria, won the Asian Games in 2022, thus receiving their exemption. Three players: Jeong” Chovy” Ji-hoon, Park “Ruler” Jaek-hyuk, and Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok all miss out on selection. They were all part of the roster that won in 2022. They miss out because they are doing their mandatory service this year.
Three other players that fans want to see at the competition are the T1 jungler Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun, Gen.G’s top laner Kim “Kiin” Ki-in, and KT Rolster’s mid laner, Gwak “Bdd” Bo-sung. Bdd likely misses out because his only dominant performance is the latter half of 2025.
Kiin has been the best top laner in the LCK in the past two years, winning the LCK title twice in that span. Oner, on the other hand, has won the LCK jungler of the year award for the past two years, and he has been instrumental in T1’s past World Championship victories. All three players would see exemption from their mandatory military service should Team Korea win the Asian Games. It is Kiin’s final chance to garner an exemption as he must enlist next year.
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