There are certain lineups that fans, analysts and the League of Legends community as a whole have looked back on with the fervent wish that somehow, they could have seen them stay together for a bit longer.
This list includes iconic rosters such as Samsung Galaxy White of 2014, Oh My God of 2014 and the ROX Tigers lineup of 2016. Others look back on old world championship winners such as previous SK Telecom T1 lineups, all built slightly differently around mid laner Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok.
These rosters are beloved, and certain fans wish they had stayed together in perpetuity. One group that rarely, if ever, enters the conversation, though, is the Samsung Galaxy/Gen.G lineup of late 2016-18.
Yet this lineup had a significant effect on the perception of South Korea internationally along with providing context, both in playstyle and roster-building, domestically. After staying together for essentially two-and-a-half years, much longer than most lineups do, this world championship lineup broke apart Thursday with the announcement of jungler Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong's and mid laner Lee "Crown" Min-ho's departures. Two days later, jungler Kang "Haru" Min-seung and support Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in also left the former world championship lineup, along with Moon "Mong" Chang-min, who was not on the world championship roster.
Nearly three years ago to the day, Ambition joined Samsung Galaxy. He was brought on to add a veteran presence to the team, which had decided to hang on to Crown, support Kwon "Wraith" Ji-min and top laner Lee "CuVee" Seong-jin while signing then-AD carry CoreJJ. This formed the core of the lineup that -- along with AD carry Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk and a CoreJJ roleswap to support -- made the world championship three times, made the finals twice and won it once.
In their first two worlds appearances, this lineup was hardly expected to make the finals, never mind win. It was considered a miracle that they made it through the gauntlet of the South Korean regional qualifier, especially with teams such as KT Rolster falling to this unexpectedly stubborn Samsung roster. Even this year, Griffin was favored to qualify as South Korea's third seed, but Gen.G pushed through and won the gauntlet for the third year in a row. Despite their recent failure, the tenacity of this team through multiple seasons was impressive, and it remained so even to teams that got the best of Gen.G during Group B of worlds.
"They just seem like a really good team that plays together as a team," Cloud9 jungler Robert "Blaber" Huang said of Gen.G. "That's how they usually win games."
His teammates echoed this sentiment, identifying Gen.G's teamwork over any one individual player. Even Gen.G General Manager Lee Jihun identified his players similarly, calling the lineup "rock-like" because of their teamwork.
Perhaps this is why the announcement of Ambition's and Crown's departures, finally fracturing the team that had stuck together for so long, were met with simple acknowledgement and acceptance by the general community, even Gen.G fans. Many were fans of the team's style and stubbornness in addition to the players themselves. Crown struggled individually in 2017 despite the team's world championship victory and was surprisingly upfront about his internal issues, competitiveness and somewhat philosophical outlook on life. Gen.G had been phasing out Ambition in favor of Haru's more aggressive style, and the addition of mid laner Song "Fly" Yong-jun in summer had helped with this.
Fly, along with CuVee, Ruler and substitute support Kim "Life" Jeong-min are the only remaining members of the Gen.G lineup at this time. The loss of Haru is surprising, if only because the team seemed dedicated to grooming him to take Ambition's place for the past year and a half.
The playstyle of this potential Gen.G lineup will likely depend on whatever jungler they decide to bring to the team. If Haru's playstyle is any indicator, the team will likely look for a more aggressive, early-game-focused player. Fly is also an interesting mid laner with a unique playstyle. Should Gen.G keep him, he'll have an impact on how they perform as well.
However, the key player here is still Ruler, who showed this summer that he's among the best players at his position. As long as he's on the team, Gen.G will likely build around his bot-lane prowess.
This week marks a change not just for this roster but also for a region. Gen.G's revamp seems to be a harbinger of a historically volatile offseason for South Korean League of Legends after the region's worst world championship showing since it began competing in the event.
Gen.G bombed out of Group B at this year's championship on its home soil, and fellow South Korean organizations KT Rolster and Afreeca Freecs followed suit in the quarterfinals, leaving no South Korean team in the semifinals for the first time since the region's inclusion. Traditionally, South Korean organizations prefer to retain nearly all of their players, changing only one or two pieces in the offseason, much like the former Gen.G lineup did for two years. This year, pressured by disappointing worlds results and a changing ecosystem, many more organizations are rumored to make sweeping changes, with SK Telecom T1 announcing recently that they are letting go of nearly their entire lineup.
Gen.G, it appears, was simply the first of many.