Choi “Zeus” Woo-je had everything it took to be the chosen one, the man who would take over from Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok at the helm of T1 in the future. In 2022, the toplaner had been promoted from the prestigious organization’s academy and had just spent a year watching his elder Kim “Canna” Chang-dong from the substitutes’ bench. In three years as a member of the main roster, he always managed to reach the Worlds final: a first in the history of LoL Esports for a rookie.
ZOFGK have won Worlds back-to-back, made it 5 times to the LCK final – out of 6 possible – won it once and even made it to the MSI final in 2022, which is the only trophy that this team is lacking. And it will most likely remain like that forever. Indeed, while the whole roster had re-signed to extend their journey together, only Zeus was awaited – just like last year. But with a single tweet, everything collapsed when it was announced that Zeus was leaving T1.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, '𝐙𝐞𝐮𝐬'
LCK 팀의 ‘Zeus’ 최우제 선수와의 계약이 종료되었습니다.
지난 여정을 함께해준 ‘Zeus’ 선수에게 감사의 마음을 전하며, 앞으로의 여정도 응원하겠습니다.Today, we part ways with 'Zeus'.
We truly thank him for all that he has accomplished at T1 and wish… pic.twitter.com/RrE0JmvrMm— T1 LoL (@T1LoL) November 19, 2024
Zeus will be playing for Hanwha Life Esports next year, the team that broke the T1 streak of appearances in the LCK final this summer – which had been going on since 2021. ZOFGK becomes DOFGK, with Choi “Doran” Hyeon-jun joining the reigning World Champions in exchange for his counterpart. With this player swap being an obvious competitive downgrade for T1, which just said farewell to their Worlds 2023 final MVP, what really happened behind the scenes?
Before going into the details of this offseason for T1 and Zeus, it’s important to remember that in the LCK, the pool of good toplaners is very small. It’s undoubtedly the least stacked position in the league, mainly because their main assets and prodigies have been snapped up by other regions (TheShy in the LPL, Canna and Photon in the LEC, Thanatos and Impact in the LTA North, to name but a few). In comparison, China has many more top players in this role. There are only a handful of top laners in the Korean league capable of competing internationally. All of which makes Zeus – arguably the best top laner in the world over the last three years – even more valuable.
Last year, there were rumours that Zeus had turned down offers from China, which would have doubled his salary at T1 in 2024. But this time, for Zeus and his agents, it was one time too many, with the latter stating in a press release that T1’s first offer to keep their top laner in 2025 was “unacceptable”.
This came out after Joe Marsh – T1’s CEO – AMA concerning the off-season, on FM KOREA. In this post, the CEO paints a bleak picture of the agency in charge of Zeus (THE PLAY SPG), accusing them of using a fictitious deadline allegedly agreed between the agency and HLE to put pressure on T1. According to Mr. Marsh, Hanwha confirmed they never agreed on such a deadline during post-trade discussions between the two organisations.
What’s more, the agent would’ve ignore a meeting with T1 negotiators and the deal between Zeus and HLE would’ve been made without further discussion with his former team. Joe Marsh also accused the agency of being crooked, of not being interested in the development of their talent or the legacy he would leave behind, referring to what happened last year when the top laner almost joined the LPL for more money. He claims that it took the initiative of the player himself for him to finally stay with T1 last year.
In answer to those allegations, the agency expressed that they had to explore Zeus’ options after this first “unacceptable” offer from T1. They also claim that the player has indeed expressed his desire to be evaluated on the free agency market and that he has also been actively involved in negotiations with T1, refuting accusations that it was all about money. They also refuted accusations that they would’ve been absent from certain meetings and reaffirmed that HLE had agreed on a deadline for the offer to Zeus, at 3 PM on 19 November. In the absence of an agreement with T1 by 3:30 PM, negotiations with the prestigious org ultimately broke down.
We standby what I said in the AMA and won’t be commenting publicly on this any further.
저희는 AMA 에서 말씀드린 입장을 그대로 유지하며, 이에 대해 대외적으로 별도의 언급은 하지 않을 예정입니다.
我们依旧坚持在AMA中所表述的立场，对于此事不会再做进一步说明。@T1LoL
— Joe (@JoeMar) November 22, 2024
While it would appear that no one will get the final word on the story, these disputes between the two entities have not prevented Joe Marsh from asserting: “Zeus has earned his place in T1’s legacy, and it would be an honor to welcome him back if he ever chooses to return”. It will be interesting to see how the team develops next year with a much more weaksider profile such as Doran, but also how Zeus will adapt to his new teammates, because for 2025, HLE will remain the same as this year in all other positions. Will he be able to create his own legacy?
And stay up to date on all the latest trends in esports
By submitting your information you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
