Photo: Riot Games
T1 rolled over South Korea during Spring 2022. Undefeated for the entire segment, the competition failed to find a solution to counter the tape at Faker. Let it be Gen.G with Chovy or KIA DWG with Canyon, everyone was helpless. However, things could be very different in the Summer… Nuguri, the former best top laner in the world should return to competition. After a short trip to China and a little rest, he would be ready to put on his crampons. Many teams would dream of having him in their squad, but the raccoon would not have really dithered. He would have chosen his next team without hesitation, which could well give T1 a hard time for the second half of the season.
To 22 years old he remains very young and we imagine that the lack of rhythm will not be a problem for him at all. While the metagame at the top allows you to regularly take out pick carries and there is no longer any real need to use a TP to help your teammates, Nuguri could well make a sensational return to competition.
Nuguri and DWG KIA, obviously?
World champion in 2020 with DWG KIA, Nuguri would have chosen to return to the sources to sign again in this structure which revealed it to the general public. The toplaner has been through everything with this team and he was part of the adventure during the rise in LCK since the Challengers Series. His complicity with ShowMaker and Canyon is no longer to be proven and the trio of shock could well break everything again. In any case, on paper it is really very strong.
Compared to his last spell in the team, Ghost and Beryl are no longer there and the botlane has been totally renewed. But that shouldn’t be a problem since this year, it’s mainly the top lane that has been a problem. May this be burdol Where Hoya, the two toplaners did not give satisfaction. The hole left by Nuguri had been well filled by Khan. But the veteran has since gone to the army and this time, DWG KIA found itself destitute. Now that Nuguri is back, fans must be over the moon. There will obviously be a lot of pressure for the toplaner, but his success sounds obvious to many.
After the enthusiasm, questions
This news inevitably triggers a lot of enthusiasm within the community and some already think that this meeting could allow DWG KIA to return to the roof of the world. This reaction is natural and it must be said that the trio Nuguri/Canyon/ShowMaker has done wonders in the past. However, there are still some questions. Nuguri is a big name, but he still has to prove that he still has the level to stay on top.
He didn’t stay inactive for very long, so the lack of rhythm is not really a questioning point, and this rest could even be restorative for a player who has flirted with the burn out. On the other hand, his level of play in 2021 at the house of FPX clearly did not live up to expectations. In China, he faced several difficulties and he seems to have struggled to adapt to his team’s game. Often isolated or at the wrong time, he had been unrecognizable. Eliminated in the group stage of the Worlds, it was in particular to recover from this grueling year that the toplaner had chosen to make a sabbatical segment. Obviously, if he is indeed back in South Korea in his heart team, we imagine that the environment will be much better for him. However, we have the right to have some doubts and to ask to see before being totally under the spell.