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ROX Tigers lose five players

The Korean powerhouse team may very well disband.

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The LoL offseason this year has been an incredibly turbulent one, and it looks like the troubles aren't ending just yet, as one of the world's strongest teams could be disbanding. ROX Tigers, the Korean team who are arguably rivalled only by SKT T1, has lost five players, almost their entire roster.

Initially, Song 'Smeb' Kyung-ho, Lee 'KurO' Seo-haeng, Kim 'PraY' Jong-in, and Kang 'GorillA' Beom-hyeon had all left the ROX Tigers roster, leaving only Sungmin 'Cry' Hae and Han 'Peanut' Wang-ho remaining. Now, in an announcement from the Rox Tigers Twitter account, midlane sub Cry is not going to renew his contract.

This leaves the team's jungler, Peanut, as the sole remaining member of ROX Tigers, but we will likely see him leaving the team also. Speculation on Reddit suggests he may be headed to SKT T1, but nothing is confirmed. We are already seeing other teams signing ROX's former players, though - Smeb has been signed by KT, and we'll likely see the rest snapped up soon enough.

The reason for the breakup is still up in the air, but according to a Korean news website (Which someone translated on Reddit), it was thanks to a monetary dispute between players and their sponsor, YY, after the players asked for a three-fold increase in salary.

ROX Tigers have been a very successful team with their lineup, making it to the finals of the 2015 World Championship and the Semifinals of the 2016 World Championship, but being thwarted both times by the unstoppable SKT T1. While the team as we know it may be finished, this doesn't mean the organisation is stopping competing in the 2017 season; they have recently announced that a new head coach is on the way, and will be competing at IEM Gyeonggi. Are you sad to see ROX Tigers in this state?

League of Legends
Photo: ROX Tigers

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