by Hanwha Life have completed their League of Legends roster ahead of the 2023 LCK season, confirming the signings of veterans Kim “Clid” Tae-min and Kim “Life” Jeong-min.
“‘Clid’, a veteran player with a high level of understanding of the game, and ‘Life’, who will add synergy to the team with stable supporting skills, have joined HLE,” the franchise announced via Twitter on Friday.
“This 2023 is the season to move toward new goals and take on new colors.”
This news follows the franchise’s recent signing of two world champions — top laner Hwang “Kingen” Sung-hoon and mid laner Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo from DRX.
“Hwang ‘Kingen’ Sung-hoon, winner of the 2022 World Championship, and Kim ‘Zeka’ Geon-woo will join Hanwha Life Esports,” the team tweeted.
“We sincerely welcome ‘Kingen’, who has strong ability in a team fight, and ‘Zeka’, who is a versatile player with super plays.”
Clid has been on a number of top esports teams. He played his rookie seasons with Newbee Young and QG Reapers before joining JD Gaming in 2017. Having made a name for himself with JD, he was acquired by SK Telecom T1 in 2018, where he spent a year and won the LCK Spring and Summer splits.
In his time with T1, Clid also made his first international appearance at the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, where the team finished in third-fourth position after suffering a defeat to G2 Esports in the semifinals. The same scenario played out at the 2019 LoL World Championship as T1 suffered yet another loss at the hands of G2 in the final four of the tournament.
In late 2019, Clid joined Gen.G and remained with the franchise for two years before being acquired by FunPlus Phoenix in 2022.
Life, on the other hand, started his career in 2018 with Gen.G. He was with the franchise for three years and made two appearances at the World Championship, finishing fifth-eighth in 2020 and third-fourth in 2021. He also played a role in the franchise’s third-fourth finish at the 2020 Mid-Season Cup.
During the preseason of 2021, Life joined KT Rolster, where he recorded his worst season yet. With his signing with Hanwha Life, he will reunite with Clid, as they were teammates on the 2020 and 2021 Gen.G roster.
Hanwha Life have gone through a complete roster rebuild as they aim to make a dent on the international scene in 2023. Their official 2023 LCK roster now includes top laner Lee “DuDu” Dong-ju, bot laner Park “Viper” Do-hyeon, Kingen, Zeka, Clid, and Life.
