KT Rolster

KT Rolster

Team Information

Location	South Korea

Social Media

KT Rolster is a Korean professional gaming organization based in South Korea and is one of the eight KeSPA teams.

History

Founded in 1999 as StarCraft: Brood War team KTF Magics, the team has a proud heritage especially in StarCraft. Labeled by some as the Real Madrid of Brood War, they featured the likes of Reach, future Xenics Storm coach Hong Jin-Ho (YellOw), Lee Yoon-Yeol (NaDa), Kang Min (Nal_rA) and Lee Young-Ho (Flash).

The organization originally consisted of two sister teams,KT Rolster Arrows and KT Rolster Bullets, created on October 10th, 2012. In December 2nd, 2014, LoL Champions Korea was restructured, thus forcing Arrows and Bullets to form a single team. The initial roster for the upcoming 2015 Season include Ssumday, ikssu, Prime, Nagne, Edge, Arrow, Hachani and Fixer.

2015

In Spring, the team finished 5th in the round robin stage and failed to qualify for the playoffs. In the round robin stage of Summer, they ended at 2nd place with a 13W-5L record. They then qualified for the playoffs but lost to SK Telecom T1 and rounding up their Summer Split at 2nd. With the Championship Points the team earned over two splits, they were placed in the Final round of the gauntlet for Regional Finals. After beating Jin Air Green Wings, the team then qualified for the World Championship.

At Worlds, KT Rolster was placed in Group D along with LGD Gaming, Origen and Team SoloMid. They fortunately made it out as #1 seed from their group with a 5-1 standing, only dropping a game against the European team. In the bracket stage, however, KT was seeded against their fellow Koreans KOO Tigers. This ended their run for the Worlds trophy, as they lost to KOO in a 1-3 defeat.

Moving on, the team played their last tournament of the season which is the 2015 LoL KeSPA Cup, where they won against CTU Pathos in the Quarterfinals but lost to CJ Entus in the Semifinals, thus ending at 3rd-4th place.

Prior to the start of the 2016 Season, Fixer, Piccaboo, Edge and Nagne left the team. They then signed Fly and IgNar as starting Mid Laner and Support respectively. Hachani also re-joined the team as the Substitute Support after his short stint with Rebels Anarchy.

2016

In LCK Spring, the team finished 2nd in the regular split. Moving to the playoffs, KT lost to long-time rival SK Telecom T1. In LCK Summer, both KT and SKT have a 13-5 standing but KT lost the head-to-head and were placed at #3 in the ranking. The team was also placed in the 2nd round of the gauntlet and were able to beat Samsung Galaxy. They then faced SKT in the 3rd round and overpowered their rivals, ending the series at 3-2. In the finals, however, KT had their most heartbreaking defeat against ROX Tigers. The series was tied 2-2 but in the 5th game, Score lost a 2hp Baron to Smeb, turning the game around and ending it with KT's defeat. This took their chance to make it straight to Worlds.

Although the team has one more chance through Regional Qualifiers, they were still unable to make it as they lost to Samsung Galaxy. In their last tournament, which is the KeSPA Cup, KT finished at 5th-8th after losing to Ever in the Quarterfinals.

When the time for roster changes came, KT Rolster released both Ssumday and Fly, following Hachani and Arrow's departure from the team. With only Score left from their 2016 roster, KT rebuilt the team by signing Smeb, PawN, Deft and Mata.

2017

Going into LCK Spring, KT Rolster got off to a strong start. However, people were more focused on how this team fares against SK Telecom T1's new line up, which also had an equally strong start of the season. Due to scheduling, both teams would play against each other back to back in the span of 2 weeks. In this el classico telecom war, KT unfortunately lost both match ups against SKT. Since then, the team started slumping a bit and at the end of the regular season, they were in third place, which still earned them a bye into the quarter finals. Going into the playoffs, they were able to get back into form to defeat MVP in the quarter finals and then later Samsung Galaxy in the semi-finals without ever dropping a single match. However, much to the disappointment of their fans, they did not win a single match against their opponent SK Telecom T1, thus ending their spring playoffs in 2nd place and earning 70 circuit points for the 2017 World Championship.

With no roster changes, the team went into the summer season with high expectation that this will be the year that the team goes to Worlds. Throughout the season, the team maintained a fairly strong performance to ultimately finish second at the end of the season. However, there were worrying signs. One is the team's decision making in a long drawn out game where the team often has poor team fighting coordination. Another is that several players, such as PawN and Smeb, no longer have a strong impact as they were in the spring season. This was already apparent during the Rift Rivals as the Chinese teams were able to exploit their Korean counterpart's weaknesses. Still with a 14-4 record at the end of the season, the team still won a bye into the semifinals where they eventually faced SK Telecom T1.

At the semifinals, the team easily won the first two games and were one game away to guarantee to their entry into Worlds based off of circuit points alone. However, due to Faker's strong individual performance and Blank taking on Bengi's old role as a steady hand to raise the team's morale, KT was reversed swept to end their summer season in third place. The team would still go to Worlds if SK Telecom T1 won the summer finals, if not for Longzhu Gaming's unexpected 3-1 victory. This meant the team would have to go through the Regional Finals to secure the third seed spot for Worlds.

KT's combined circuit points placed the team directly in the regional finals where they eventually faced Samsung Galaxy. Unfortunately, the team failed to secure a win against Samsung Galaxy, thus ending their 2017 season.

Timeline

• 2012
• 2013
• 2014
• 2015
• 2016
• 2017
• 2018
• 2019

• October 10th, KT Rolster A and KT Rolster B are formed.

• June 20th, KT Rolster A renames to KT Rolster Arrows. KT Rolster B renames to KT Rolster Bullets.

• November, KT Rolster Arrows and KT Rolster Bullets disband, and the organization reforms under a single roster.
• December 2nd, partial roster is announced, including ssumday, Prime, Nagne, Arrow, and Hachani.

• February 23rd, Hachani steps down. Fixer becomes the primary support.
• June 16th, Piccaboo joins.
• August 29th, 2nd Place in the SBENU Champions Summer 2015.
• September 5th, 1st Place in the 2015 Season Korea Regional Finals.
• December 1st, Mach, Fixer, Piccaboo, Nagne, and Edge leave.
• December 2nd, Fly and IgNar join.
• December 22nd, Hachani rejoins as a sub.

• March 23rd, IgNar leaves.
• June 30th, Steal joins.
• November 23rd, Arrow and Hachani leave.
• November 28th, Ssumday and Fly leave.
• November 29th, Smeb and Pawn joins.
• December 5th, Mata joins. Steal leaves.
• December 12th, Jung Je-seung joins as coach.

• May 18th, Chandong joins as sub.
• May~, UcaL becomes a trainee.
• May 30th, Chance (formerly Chandong) leaves.
• June 27th, Ssun joins.
• October 23rd, Lee Ji-hoon leaves coaching position.
• November 27th, ZanDarc becomes head coach. Ssun leaves.
• December 6th, Rush joins. S0NSTAR joins as coach. UcaL joins starting roster.

• June 7th, PawN moves to inactive roster.
• July 9th, Kingen and Mia join. PawN rejoins active roster.
• November 13th, Mata announces free agency and leaves.
• November 19th, PawN, Rush, Ucal and Deft leave.
• November 26th, Bdd and SnowFlower join.
• December 12th, UmTi and Gango join.
• December 26th, Zenit joins.

• May 17th, Mia leaves.
• May 20th, PraY comes out of retirement and joins.

Player Roster

• Current
• Former

Date Joined	Player	Real Name	Role
Jan 2018	Kingen	Hwang Seong-hoon (황성훈)
Nov 2016	Smeb	Song Kyung-ho (송경호)
Dec 2014	Score	Go Dong-bin (고동빈)
Dec 2018	UmTi	Eom Seong-hyeon (엄성현)
Nov 2018	Bdd	Gwak Bo-seong (곽보성)
May 2019	PraY	Kim Jong-in (김종인)
Dec 2018	Gango	Byun Se-hun
Dec 2018	Zenit	Jeon Tae-gwon (전태권)
Nov 2018	SnowFlower	No Hoi-jong (노회종)

Date Left	Player	Role	⇒	New Team
May 2019	Mia		⇒	None
Nov 2018	Rush		⇒	None
Nov 2018	Ucal		⇒	None
Nov 2018	Deft		⇒	None
Nov 2018	PawN		⇒	None
Nov 2018	Mata		⇒	None
Nov 2017	Ssun		⇒	E8W
May 2017	Chance		⇒	None
Dec 2016	Steal		⇒	M
Nov 2016	Ssumday		⇒	d
Nov 2016	Fly		⇒	LZ
Nov 2016	Arrow		⇒	P1
Nov 2016	Hachani		⇒	VIT
Mar 2016	IgNar		⇒	MSF
Dec 2015	Edge		⇒	NaJin
Dec 2015	Nagne		⇒	WY
Dec 2015	Mach		⇒	MVP
Dec 2015	Fixer		⇒	P1
Dec 2015	Piccaboo		⇒	None
Nov 2015	Ares		⇒	Ever
Nov 2015	Prime		⇒	None
Feb 2015	ikssu		⇒	ANC
Feb 2015	Hachani		⇒	ANC
Feb 2015	Mimic		⇒	Pathos
Feb 2015	Sage		⇒	None

Organization

• Current
• Former

Real Name	IGN	Position
Oh Chang-jong (오창종)	ZanDarc	Head Coach
Son Seung-ik (손승익)	S0NSTAR	Coach
Jung Je-seung (정제승)	Noexcuse	Coach

Real Name	IGN	Position	⇒	New Team
Lee Ji-hoon (이지훈)	-	Head Coach	⇒	KSV
Kim Hwan (김환) (실력자)	-	Coach	⇒	None

Team Achievements

2013 Tournaments
Date		Place	Event	Result		Winnings
2013-02-22		A33rd	OGN Club Masters	3 : 0	CJ Entus	₩ 4,000,000

In Minor, Monthly, and Weekly Tournaments
Date	Place	Event	Result		Winnings
2013-03-21	A11st	NiceGameTV Battle Royal S2 Round 8	3 : 1	Xenics Storm	₩ 2,000,000

2014 Tournaments
Date		Place	Event	Result		Winnings
2014-06-08		A66th	SK Telecom LTE-A LoL Masters 2014	1 : 5	Group Stage (W/L)	₩ 5,000,000

2015 Tournaments
Date		Place	Event	Result		Winnings
2015-11-13		A33 - 4th	2015 LoL KeSPA Cup	1 : 2	CJ Entus	₩ 10,000,000
2015-10-18		A55 - 8th	2015 Season World Championship	1 : 3	KOO Tigers	$ 75,000
2015-09-05		A11st	2015 Season Korea Regional Finals	3 : 1	Jin Air Green Wings	WC Seed
2015-08-29		A22nd	LCK 2015 Summer Playoffs	0 : 3	SK Telecom T1	₩ 60,000,000
2015-08-13		A22nd	LCK 2015 Summer Season	13 : 5	Group Stage (W/L)
2015-04-11		A55 - 8th	LCK 2015 Spring Season	6 : 8	Group Stage (W/L)	₩ 10,000,000

2016 Tournaments
Date		Place	Event	Result		Winnings
2016-11-13		A55 - 8th	2016 LoL KeSPA Cup	1 : 2	Kongdoo Monster	₩ 5,000,000
2016-09-03		A22nd	2016 Season Korea Regional Finals	2 : 3	Samsung Galaxy
2016-08-20		A22nd	LCK 2016 Summer Playoffs	2 : 3	ROX Tigers	₩ 60,000,000
2016-08-06		A33rd	LCK 2016 Summer Season	13 : 5	Group Stage (W/L)
2016-04-16		A33rd	LCK 2016 Spring Playoffs	0 : 3	SK Telecom T1	₩ 30,000,000
2016-04-09		A22nd	LCK 2016 Spring Season	13 : 5	Group Stage (W/L)

2017 Tournaments
Date		Place	Event	Result		Winnings
2017-09-05		A22nd	2017 Season Korea Regional Finals	0 : 3	Samsung Galaxy
2017-08-19		A33rd	LCK 2017 Summer Playoffs	2 : 3	SK Telecom T1	₩ 30,000,000
2017-08-32		A22nd	LCK 2017 Summer Season	14 : 4	Group Stage (W/L)
2017-04-22		A22nd	LCK 2017 Spring Playoffs	0 : 3	KT Rolster	₩ 60,000,000
2017-04-02		A33rd	LCK 2017 Spring Season	12 : 6	Group Stage (W/L)

Media

Interviews

2015

• October 3rd - KT Rolster set their sights on Origen after destroying LGD Gaming with LoL Esports
• October 10th -
  • Chang Jong Oh KT Coach Interview with Twitch
  • Piccaboo leads KT Rolster to No. 1 seed in Group D with LoL Esports

2016

• December 20th, Mata: ‘I wanted to play with Deft, so when he decided to KT Rolster, I decided to join him’ with Yahoo Esports

2017

• January 17th - [롤챔스] kt 이지훈 감독 "'슈퍼팀' 칭호에 맞는 경기력 만들고 있다" with Naver Sports
• February 18th - [롤챔스] KT 이지훈 감독, "SK텔레콤전, 도전자의 입장에서 이기겠다" with OSEN
• April 11th - KT Rolster coach Jihoon Lee: “Samsung is really a great team, we might even have to play full sets.” with Inven Global
• April 20th - KT Rolster coach: “Mata really put himself aside to change his play style, even what made him so good.” by Andrew Kim (slingshotesports.com)

Articles & Videos

2014

• November 17th, A KT roller coaster ride from LoL Esports

2015

• January 4th, UNDERSTANDING AND ANALYZING KOREA 2.0; THE BAD. by Esports Heaven
• July 31st, Piccaboo and KT Rolster shoot for the top from LoL Esports
• September 10th, Third time's the charm for KT Rolster from LoL Esports
• September 11th, Worlds 2015 Team Profile - KT Rolster from Esports Heaven
• September 13th, The KT Rolster Bullets 2015 World Championship Reunion from Follow eSports
• September 16th, World Championship Preview: KT Rolster from EsportsTalk
• September 25th, The Road to Worlds: an in-depth look at KT Rolster from theScore
• October 1st, Who is the Carry of KT Rolster from Gold Per 10

2016

• March 9th, KT Rolster was defeated by its own trick by Colin "CD-Mangaka" Nimer on Slingshot Esports
• August 14th, Revenge, redemption, Rolster by Tyler Erzberger on ESPN
• November 4th - 2016 KESPA Cup Teaser - KT Rolster by eSportsTV
• December 6th - A new KT Rolster and a new Korea by Emily Rand (thescoreesports.com)
• December 23rd - Merry Christmas! by KT Rolster

2017

• January 13th - 2017 LoL 챔피언스 코리아 스프링 개막 특집 인터뷰 - #2 kt Rolster 편 by KeSPA
• January 17th - KT Rolster coach: “The players were aware of the high expectations before the opening match.” by Andrew Kim (slingshotesports.com)
• February 2nd - Reboot: KT Rolster and SK Telecom T1 by Emily Rand (thescoreesports.com)
• March 1st - The differing and effective styles of kkOma and KT Rolster’s Lee Ji-Hoon by Andrew Kim (slingshotesports.com)
• April 5th - 2017 LCK Spring Playoff Gauntlet Rundown by Emily Rand (esports.yahoo.com)
• April 21st - Yet another rollercoaster ride: A KT Rolster fan perspective by Emily Rand (esports.yahoo.com)
• June 6th - 뛰어들고 지지고! kt 롤스터, 광역 스킬 통해 3세트 승리 by 박범 (inven.co.kr)
• July 3rd - [Rift Rivals Preview] KT Head Coach Jihoon Lee: "This is a chance for LCK teams to grow together." by Jaeic Lee (invenglobal.com)
• July 6th - History Repeating: Analyzing KT Rolster’s post-SKT slump by Emily Rand (slingshotesports.com)

Gallery

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  KT Rolster 2017 Summer Roster

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  KT Rolster 2017 Spring Roster

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  KT Rolster 2016 Summer Roster

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  KT Rolster 2016 Spring Roster

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  KT Rolster 2015 Summer Roster

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  KT Rolster 2015 Spring Roster