Four out of five of ROX Tigers' starting roster announced their departure from the South Korean organization Friday, with Han "Peanut" Wang-ho the only remaining starter, but is now open for negotiations. Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho, Lee "Kuro" Seo-haeng, Kim "Pray" Jong-in, and Kang "Gorilla" Beom-hyeon all made the declarations via social media one day after the organization stated they would help the players find new homes for the 2017 season
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안녕하세요 락스타이거즈에서 주장 겸 서포터 역할을 맡았던 고릴라 강범현입니다.
저는 오늘부로 락스 타이거즈 팀에서 나오게 되었습니다. 그간 락스 타이거즈를 응원해주셨던 많은분들에게 감사드립니다.- Beom Hyun Kang (@lolGorillA) November 25, 2016
Gorilla's translation: Hello, this is Kang "Gorilla" Beom-hyeon, team leader and support from ROX Tigers. As of today, I part ways with the team. Thank you for everyone's support for ROX.
정말 지금까지 팀원들코치감독님들매니저님들 너무 고맙고
팬분들덕에 열심히하고 제가 존재하는거같아요
앞으로의 행선지는 미정이지만 프로는 계속할거고 응원해주셧스면 좋겟습니다 ㅎㅎ 사랑합니다 다들!- Seo Haeng Lee (@lolKur0) November 25, 2016
Kuro's translation: Thank you for my teammates, coach and managers and I feel driven with my fan's support and they give me motivation to play harder. I don't know where I'm going next but I'll continue to play professionally. Please cheer for me. I love you everyone!
Smeb, PraY and Gorilla just posted their goodbye messages on Facebook. I truly hope they find good teams to go to soon. 😔 pic.twitter.com/2LMqlYOFql
- Susie Kim (@lilsusie) November 25, 2016
Smeb's translation: Hello, this is Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho, top from ROX Tigers. My contract has ended on November 25th. I'd like to say thank you to everyone who supported our team.
PraY's translation: Hello, this is Kim "PraY" Jong-in. It was my last time at KeSPA Cup with ROX Tigers. I'd like to say a lot of things but I'm not a good writer so I don't know if I can say it all... Our team went through a lot the past 2 years and I'm really thankful for their resilient efforts. Thanks to all our fans supporting us no matter what. I don't know what the future holds but please cheer for us! Thank you :D
The ROX Tigers reached the finals of the 2015 League of Legends World Championship, but only climbed to the semifinals of this year's Worlds after failing to usurp regional rivals SK Telecom T1. The squad took first in the KeSPA cup this month before the team made the aforementioned announcements.