DK’s roster for the new season bears many similarities to T1’s 2025 lineup
It can be said that there has rarely been a time when the end-of-season transfer market for professional League of Legends, especially in LCK, has been as bustling as in 2025 when a series of players, from superstars to mid-tier, have contracts expiring. Notably, besides top-tier teams like Gen.G, T1, and HLE, DK has also made significant changes. In the new season, they have brought in a new bot lane duo, Smash and Career, which has sparked much discussion.
Notably, at the KeSPA Cup, DK has experimented with this duo, allowing both to play together more frequently. The results were not overly impressive but were acceptable. However, many viewers jokingly remarked that the current DK lineup could be seen as “a slightly inferior version of T1.”
Accordingly, the DK roster has some noteworthy common points when compared to T1. Specifically, they have a top laner who always plays very seriously but often makes critical mistakes, a jungler who excels in Smite contests and is very comfortable with Lee Sin, a mid-laner who only plays for one team, an AD who faces positional competition, and a support with a unique champion pool whose name in Korean is similar to Keria (Career).
But DK will find it very difficult to reach their own previous level, let alone T1
Clearly, DK still wants to invest in League of Legends and has a team of sufficient quality to compete for at least a spot at the World Championship. However, despite many similarities, it would be extremely disproportionate and unrealistic to expect Lucid, Smash, and Career to perform like Oner, Gumayusi, and Keria.
However, youth always carries the potential for surprises, and DK possesses this factor. Therefore, the upcoming season for the “car selling team” will be very interesting, especially as they have shown a certain level of annoyance against much stronger opponents at the KeSPA Cup.