LoL – 2022 roster analysis: Afreeca may surprise viewers

After not getting to Worlds since 2018, the Afreeca Freecs have gone through years of rebuilding, but every iteration of the roster since then has not made it to an international tournament. Will they finally be able to make it back and claim glory for themselves?

The Afreeca Freecs are best known for their top laner, Kim “Kiin” Gi-in. He is usually regarded as one of the best top laners in the world. He has been thought of as such ever since his debut in the spring of 2018. He was best known then as a carry top laner, prioritizing champions that can go aggressive in the laning phase and can secure their own advantages. Despite his usual characterization as a carry player, however, he can also play tanks and as the weak side player of his team.

Early success

In his breakout year as an LCK starter, he and Afreeca made it to the World Championship. However, their inability to adapt to the meta led them to their demise, which was earlier than expected, and against an opponent that they were supposed to easily run over. Cloud9 then defeated them in a clean 3-0 sweep.

Following this was a three-year series of rebuilds around Kiin that never quite worked. In 2019 they tried having Son “Ucal” Woo-hyeon in the mid lane and Kim “Aiming” Ha-ram as their bot laner, but it did not work that well as they never found their footing. In 2020 they tried working with Nam “Ben” Dong-hyun and Jin “Mystic” Seong-jun, the legendary Team WE bot lane that made it all the way to semifinals in 2017.

While they had a rather stellar start to both splits, they faltered both times towards the end. In 2021, they brought over Bae “Bang” Jun-sik, a two-time world champion in his tenure in SK Telecom T1, Son “Lehends” Si-woo, superstar support who was best known for his time in Team Griffin, and Song “Fly” Yong-jun as their mid laner.

This was also the first season that Lee “Dread” Jin-hyeok would be the only starting jungler, and they had rather middling success, narrowly missing out of playoffs in spring. In the summer, Han “Leo” Gyeo-re was taken in from Liiv Sandbox, and the team saw massive improvements from the spring, but once again faltered towards the end.

The rebuild

With their string of relative failures, they decided to try rebuilding once again. For the 2022 season, they signed Choi “Ellim” El-lim as their jungler, Yoo “FATE” Su-hyeok as their mid laner, Park “Teddy” Jin-seong as their bottom laner, and Ryu “Hoit” Ho-seong as their support. FATE was acquired from Liiv Sandbox, and Ellim, Teddy, and Hoit were all previously T1 players.

There is a chance that this could be a strong playoff team. FATE is a rather stable player, known for being able to play a variety of styles, and could be the carry if required of him. Hoit is a more defensive support player, but can be an engager if necessary. Ellim is not known for his carry jungle style, but is a more facilitative jungler.

This means that he will do all that he can to assist lanes get leads. He can be the team’s main engage, but of course this is more meta-dependent. Teddy needs no introduction. He has once been heralded as “the fountain laser” because he is such a reliable late game carry for both teams he has been in. A powerhouse both in the lane and in team fights, any team with Teddy in it is dangerous in the later stages of the game.

With Kiin as the crown jewel of this team, this is a well-rounded roster that can have two to three threats given the right draft. Teams must be careful not to underestimate the Afreeca Freecs.