On Monday, Nov.15, the free agency period for League of Legends will open. Despite the fact free agency hasn’t even begun, rumors concerning a huge variety of players, teams and leagues are already flying around. It seems like some big names might be struggling to find their next gig. Today, I’m going to look at four players who are either free agents or who currently look like they are very likely to move on, and I will suggest where they’re likely to go.
1: Chovy
Chovy needs little introduction — he’s been one of the best midlaners in Korea for a few years now. This year, alongside teammate Deft in the bot lane, he coaxed a pretty bad Hanwha Life Esports team to a quarterfinal spot at the world championship. Chovy is a free agent this year, and reports are saying he’s likely to move on from HLE.
One big question for Chovy is going to be where he plays. The obvious move is to continue in the LCK, but a lot of LCK players have historically moved to the LPL. Where Chovy lands could be a big signal for what LCK and other teams are doing in the offseason. Considering how much he’s had to carry HLE, it seems reasonable that Chovy would look for a team with a better core this time around. Any team with Chovy is likely to put up good numbers next year, and a lot of eyes are going to be on where he goes — especially since there aren’t many rumors yet.
2: Perkz
After a good season with Cloud9, the North American team that made both the midseason invitational and the world championship quarterfinal last month, seeing Perkz go is a little surprising. This is especially with new rumors involving top laner, like that Fudge may role swap to mid, among others.
Perkz, meanwhile, is rumored to end up back in Europe. He’s reportedly going to land on a Vitality team that is building a truly terrifying lineup, including Carzzy from the MAD Lions, who is also a free agent as of Monday night and Alphari from Team Liquid. After struggling through most of the 2021 season, Vitality’s new lineup could be really threatening in a Europe that is seeing major changes to a lot of teams.
3: Rekkles
Rekkles right now is a weird case. As already noted, he won’t be starting for G2 next year due to their reported plans to get Carzzy, but there have been few rumors as to Rekkles’ eventual location. G2 reportedly was trying to loan him out, according to major news sites. But because that’s not permissible under the LEC rules, they were unable to do so.
Given Rekkles is signed by G2 through 2023, it could be bad for the ADC’s career if G2 is unable to place him. Rekkles has been a staple of the European league for so long that, if nothing changes and he doesn’t play come spring, it will be his first time absent since 2014.
However, according to Upcomer on Monday, Rekkles might be playing — just not in the LEC. According to Upcomer, Rekkles may be going to the French LFL league team Karmine Corp. Considering this league is a step below the LEC, it would be a surprising change for Rekkles who is statistically a very solid bot laner.
4: Fudge
Now, cheating a little — Fudge is not in any way reported to be leaving Cloud9 during this free agency period. But he is reported to be making the rather dramatic switch from toplane to midlane. So, he is making a change this offseason — one that is going to cause a lot of questions from fans if the reports are accurate.
Fudge had a slow start to his tenure on Cloud9, but he woke up at MSI and became a very good top laner. He performed well for his first season in a major region (he previously played in Oceania). At the same time, this is a huge swap; midlane is one of the most challenging positions due to high risk, high reward types of champions, like enchanters who can do big damage but can die very easily.
Cloud9 have become infamous for “losing” the offseason due to risky, confusing or just plain surprising pickups, like when they sold star toplaner Licorice to give Fudge a chance last season. It’s going to mean a lot of stress on the shoulders of its second-year player, but if any team can make this reported roster work, it’s Cloud9.
