Deft, Beryl, Again 2022 in response to Kang Dong-hoon’s passion
Contrary to expectations, however, KT’s 2023 Stove League failed to start warmly. Anxiety heightened as the four key players except for “BDD” Kwak Bo-seong, who had a contract period left, were replaced. Rumors even flared up that the budget might have been drastically cut.
It was when the news of “Deft” Kim Hyuk-kyu joining the team that calmed down such anxiety. On top of that, “Pyo-sik” Hong Chang-hyun joined the 2024 roster, and “Beryl” Cho Sang-hee took the focus of the new 2024 KT roster, becoming the winner of the stove league in a different sense. Along with “Pyo-sik” Hong Chang-hyun, three winners of the 2022 LOL World Cup gathered, and he indirectly revealed his willingness to challenge for the 2024 season by extending the contract period with “Perfect” Lee Seung-min, a promising player who called up by three years.
The reunion of 2022 winning bot duo “Deft” Kim Hyuk-kyu and “Beryl” Cho Sang-hee was one of the topics of the stove league. With LOL foreshadowing a major change in the 2024 season, the strategic stance has emerged above all else, which naturally aroused fans’ expectations that they could not ignore the weight class for KT.
OSEN met KT’s bot duo “Deft” Kim Hyuk-kyu and “Beryl” Cho Sang-hee, who are preparing for the new season ahead of the opening of the 2024 season, at KT’s Rollster Professional Game Team in Yeouido, Seoul, in December last year.
“Beryl” Cho Kyung-hee, who chose KT over the love calls of other teams, including “Deft” Kim Hyuk-kyu, who decided to go to KT on the first day of the stove league’s opening in November last year, showed the bromance of veterans by constantly expressing trust in each other as a soul bot duo with world champions.
When asked why he joined KT in the 2024 season, “Deft” Kim Hyuk-kyu said, “I often consider two things when choosing a team. The question is whether I have a chance to win the title or whether I can gain a sense of accomplishment by myself when the team grows up. In the case of 2023, I think that the team failed to produce a good result with the completed squad. This time, I chose to return to KT, thinking that I could work harder with a sense of accomplishment.”
On top of that, Kim Hyuk-kyu said, “The coach’s active suggestion also played a part. He asked for a meeting from the first day of the stove league and said he needed himself in the team. 2019 was the season with the highest personal satisfaction with the coach. It didn’t come to fruition at the time, but I didn’t do my best to leave any regrets,” he said, expressing his expectations for the reunion with coach Kang Dong-hoon.
Kim Hyuk-kyu, who joined the team, strongly called for the need for “Beryl” Cho Kyung-hee, and was also able to reunite with the 2022 winning bot duo. When Kim mentioned this story, Kim Hyuk-kyu told the story behind the reunion, saying, “The coach had appealed to the need for (Cho) Geon-hee, considering the changing patches and team composition. After that, the coach, the team, and Keon-hee just talked.”
“Beryl” Cho Kyung-hee smiled broadly, saying, “Not only (Kim) Hyuk-kyu, but also ‘Pyo-sik’ who was with him in 2022, and ‘BDD’ who was a midfielder wanted to be with him. It was a short time as expected, but the team atmosphere was so good that it reminded me of pleasant memories in the past.”
“I don’t think there have been many seasons in my professional career that have gone as expected. It’s meaningless to predict our full strength at this point. As it’s a squad gathered looking at the highest point, I think it’s a squad that can win when our team reaches the highest point,” said Deft Kim Hyuk-kyu, who vigorously expressed confidence. “My thoughts are the same as (Kim) Hyuk-kyu. As Hyuk-kyu said, there is no situation where things are going as expected. When comparing A and B teams, I simply mention expectations, but there are many cases where they are not. We have clearly seen cases where a rookie can perform better than expected if he adapts well to the team’s system even when he becomes a call-up. In a close case, it seems that Gen.G’s phase player was not expected. Seung-min (Lee) of our team also has strong personal skills. There are still times when I feel sorry about it in the early stages of operation, but I am confident that the call-up risk will be small because his personal skills are so solid,” he said, stressing his confidence in the 2024 season.
The two veterans also showed confidence in Kang. Not only “Deft” Kim Hyuk-kyu, who once mentioned his trust in Kang, but also “Beryl” Cho Kyung-hee were very impressed by Kang’s passion.
“When I met Kang Dong-hoon, I thought he was very passionate. I think it would be good to call him ‘passionate’. I went through several teams, but most of the coaches left work after the night scrimmage. It seemed that the coach stayed with us and stayed with us until dawn, or stayed until later to study. It was only a few days ago, but I could feel Kang’s passion.”
“Beryl” Cho Kyung-hee said, “HYUK-gyu and I are sometimes called the best bot duo of all time, but we also know that they call us veteran. However, I don’t want you to judge us by age. No matter how old we are, we can always show you good performances. At the 2023 LCK Awards, Hyuk-gyu won the award in dealing, a meaningful indicator. I will read and prepare for the changes in the patch and show a good performance in the 2024 season.”
“After more than 10 years of professional career, I think I have changed my emotions and became emotional,” said Kim Hyuk-kyu. “After returning to KT, the front players are still with the KT secretariat, and the coaching staff is the coach and coach from the 2019 King Zone era. My teammates are with me for the 2022 season. It’s like a haven of the heart, or I feel like my hometowns are many different places. When I see ‘Perfect’ as a rookie in my team, I remember the days when I was a rookie. I want to experience high levels and become a supportive senior. I want to play my personal role in the team and become a player who sets the mood as a senior. I will play my role well in the 2024 season,” he said.
BY: 스포츠토토핫