Longzhu Gaming has at last advanced to the playoff rounds for League of Legends Champions Korea, for the first time in its history. Formerly the Incredible Miracle, founded in 2012, the team will be playing in the playoffs for the first time in almost five years. And they would be playing in the finals, not a mere wild-card round or 1st round playoff. Considered the gatekeeper of LCK against Challengers Korea just two years ago, Longzhu is now enjoying its growth in stature as a finalist of LCK playoffs.

Longzhu was severely criticized for “being the same every year,” as the team wasn’t able to come up with good results despite being a big player of the transfer period since the new sponsorship in 2016. To make things worse, several players left the team, and the controversy on unpaid wage to several players arose.


With the team’s atmosphere hitting rock bottom, no one was expecting the team to play well, despite the joining of two rookies, ‘Khan’ Dong-ha Kim from LSPL and ‘Cuzz’ Woo-chan Moon. Even the fans would withdraw their expectations for the upcoming split.

However, the split turned out to be against all expectations, and Longzhu is now able to dream of representing LCK in the World Championship, after breaking open the solid top-three team system of KT Rolster, Samsung Galaxy and SKT T1.


◆A Brand New Head and Waist
It was thanks to top-lanerKhan, and mid-laner‘Bdd’ Bo-sung Kwak that Longzhu was able to grow from the team with only 7 to 8 wins, to win 14 games in this Summer split.

Khan, who made his debut at Prime in 2014, began his professional career in China. Although originally imported by a team in LPL, Khan played in LSPL from 2015 for two years. LSPL wasn’t exactly his place to win fame.

Upon returning to Korea after three years, Khan began to show off his skills. His aspiration to become the best top-laner in the best league has finally been realized.

Khan led Longzhu’s sweeping upturn with aggressive, yet moderated plays, particularly shining the most with Jayce in hand. Khan recorded eight wins with only one loss with Jayce during the summer split. Jax was also Khan’s great partner, a champ he has never lost a single game while playing it four times.


Bdd, who was living in the shadow of ‘Fly’ Yong-joon Song at the Spring Split, also began to show his infinite potential as he started for the team at the Summer Split.

With Taliyah, Galio, and Orianna as main, BDD showed both his aggressiveness and stability during the Summer Split, marking a phenomenal 11.3 KDA ratio. BDD only recorded 42 deaths during Longzhu’s 44 sets throughout the split, marking the average of less than one death per set.Bdd’s survivability-focused gameplay was able to contribute to Longzhu’s sustainability in long games.


◆Lower half, consistent as always
The most important virtue of a boxer is his lower half. Even the strongest punchers cannot withstand a 10-round game if his lower half is good enough.

It seemed as if ‘Pray’ Jong-in Kim and ‘GorillA’Beom-hyeon Kang, originally the key duo of the team, lacked in performance or attention, in contrast to Khan and Bdd.However, the famous duo’s performance throughout the split never fell short of anyone’s expectations.


The ‘PrillA’ bot lane duo were firm pillars of Longzhu, providing the playground for junglerCuzz and other laners to excel in.

Although some may point out Pray’s low MVP point of only 100, the fact that GorilA’s 700 MVP points should not be ignored. Rather, it should be said that Cuzz, Khan, and Bdd’s potential to carry the game was in fact realized by the consistent performance of the bottom duo.

◆Changes in the Team Spirit
The biggest difference between Khan and Longzhu’s former top-laner ‘Expession’ Bon-taek Koo would be their personal characteristics. Although no one can ever be sure of how they were in the gaming house, the atmosphere of the two players in the gaming booth was quite different. While Expession was always calm and relaxed, Khan was always excited and confident.


And Khan is not the only noisy one, as Cuzz and Bdd also makes funny noises in the booth. Both born in 1999, Cuzz and Bdd are enjoying their positions as the youngest of the team. They would share lots of information during the game, and also separately talk about their plays after the feedback session with coaches and other players. The close relationship with the mid-laner and jungler has provided a foothold for the team to grow rapidly.

Longzhu’s chaotic, yet merry atmosphere inside the gaming booth somehow resembles that of ROX Tigers in 2016.With ‘PrillA’ meeting Khan, the crazy beagles are in the house again, walking the footsteps of former ROX Tigers, the finalists for World Championship 2015, and semi-finalists for 2016.

Translated by ROXCrew.
*This translation was provided through a partnership with the ROXGAMING.