After a 2-6 start to the 2017 North American League of Legends spring split, Team Liquid has bolstered its roster by signing support Kevin "KonKwon" Kwon. KonKwon is familiar with Team Liquid; he fell to them in the playoffs when he was on NRG Esports during the 2016 spring split. After a stint with Apex's minor league club Apex Pride, followed by a small sabatical, he joined Big Gods.NA before signing with Team Liquid to create a duo with Matthew "Matt" Elento at the support role.
"I was extremely unsatisfied with my performances and how I was treated at the end of last year that led to 'retirement'," said KonKwon. "I had an opportunity to go see Worlds finals match at Staples Center while I was back in school and it re-ignited my passion towards the game. It reminded me that I didn't reach where I wanted to be while I played professionally. I will give it my all this time until I can be satisfied with myself."
On NRG Esports, KonKwon, while not at the very top, was statistically one of the better players at his position. He played strong vision game, being ranked No.1 for both wards placed and cleared at the support role. When the season was over, the NRG had a complete makeover. KonKwon left to join Apex and was replaced by veteran support Alan "KiWiKiD" Nguyen. In fact, NRG changed all of its starters except for Lee "GBM" Chang-seok, but it was in vain; NRG went from playoff team to relegated.
Now, KonKwon joins Team Liquid as an off-site sub, someone for Matt to work with and to call on when needed.
"Matt and I haven't developed our relationship quite yet!" he said on the combination with current starting support Matt. "I believe Liquid having two supports will be very beneficial to both of us. As for myself, I rarely talk to people outside of my team. Thus having someone to talk to on same team about our point of views on match ups or just champions in general can be huge weapon for us. A few other teams had and currently have two supports and they are a success so I am looking forward to it."
Not a breakout start on NRG Esports, his past experience shouldn't be counted against him. When former world champion Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong left NRG for Cloud9, he became the best top laner in the region by summer 2016 season's end. Also, the starting jungler for KonKwon's NRG, Galen "Moon" Holgate, was considered a bottom-tier jungler before transforming to now one of the best in the region with his second chance in the LCS on FlyQuest. Team Liquid will hope he follows his former teammates and their path to success following leaving NRG. Having the possibility of working with a world champion ADC is certainly a motivating factor.
"I've heard a lot of good things about Piglet from Impact and I'm excited to possibly play with him," said KonKwon on the possibility of creating a partnership with another former world champion in Chae "Piglet" Gwang-jin. "He was one of the very few players who I felt really pressured to play against when I was playing in LCS. I don't think I will have that much influence to the team's mental or anything since I won't be living with them at the moment but I usually get along with Koreans well so if I end up in the house, I think I will be able to aid them in that aspect."
KonKwon's speciality, if you can call it that, is his fluency in Korean and English. A linchpin to the NRG team of old that had a hybrid-Korean/English lineup, KonKwon fits a very needed role in teams with imports on them. While starting jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin is already fluent in English and Piglet has been in North America for over two years at this point, KonKwon's ability does allow him to speak to Piglet in his native language. Communication has become paramount in League of Legends, and in a league where South Koreans are nearing the number of Americans, KonKwon is a valuable asset.
"My main goal is to be starter in LCS for now. Obviously I aim to be top player but nothing will be possible if I don't get play time. I started playing again after a long break of 5 months or so and I am re-learning the game and it's been very enjoyable and helpful so far. I hope people can give me another chance and reevaluate my value as a player."
