Gen.G Finalizes its 2023 League of Legends Roster

South Korean esports organization Gen.G finalized its League of Legends roster for the 2023 season on Wednesday, November 23. As revealed, the new-look lineup will welcome a new bottom lane duo, which will include a home-grown talent in Kim “Peyz” Su-hwan.

On Wednesday, Gen.G announced the addition of ADC Payz, who rounds up the Korean League of Legends roster for the 2023 season. The announcement comes shortly after Gen.G extended contracts with its jungler Han “Peanut” Wang-ho and top laner Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon, who have agreed to continue playing with Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon whose contract runs until November 2023.

The addition of Payz is not as shocking as roster moves other League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) or LoL Pro League (LPL) are getting ready to complete. Nevertheless, it’s still a big move that could make or break Gen.G’s 2023 season.

Payz joins Gen.G as the new starting ADC and replacement for Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk, who left the team on November 10, ending his six-and-a-half-year-long stint with the Korean esports organization. As a former world champion and one of the best ADC players in the world, Rules played a key role in Gen.G’s success over the years, making him nearly irreplaceable part of the team.

Suffice to say, Payz will have large shoes to fill, but the Korean esports organization seems to have faith in the 16-year-old, who will make his professional debut in the 2023 season.

Peyz is a 16-year-old South Korean LoL player who started his career in July 2020 with Gen.G Academy, where he has spent a year perfecting his craft. With Gen.G Academy, Payz had a rough start, as the team crashed out of the LCK AS 2022 August in ninth-16th place; however, he bounced back strong upon his return in 2021 and led the team to LCK AS 2021 May title.

By the end of the year, Gen.G Academy added another title at LCK AS 2021 August and even performed well at LCK AS 2021 1st Championship, where they placed fourth. After proving his worth in the academy team, Peyz got promoted to the Gen.G Challenger division, where he has spent nearly one year.

With Gen.G Challengers, Peyz finished seventh in LCK CL 2022 Spring, claimed bronze from LCK CL 2022 Summer, and ended the year with a fifth-place finish at LCK CL 2022 Summer Playoffs. Although the team hadn’t won a single trophy last season, Peyz proved himself as one of the most talented players in the league, boasting the league’s fourth-highest KDA (4.94).

Despite being a fairly inexperienced player, Peyz has shown a lot of promise, and it seems like Gen.G has faith in his talent. As revealed, Peyz has signed a contract that will tie him with the team until the end of 2024, suggesting that Gen.G is looking to keep him for the long run.

Besides signing Peyz to replace Ruler, Gen.G also made changes in the support position, as the team had to replace Son “Lehends” Si-woo, who left the organization on November 21. To fill in the gap Gen.G signed Yoo “Delight” Hwan-joong, who started his LoL career with Gen.G Academy in August 2019 and has since played for T1 Academy, T1 Rookies, hyFresh Blade, and Fredit BRION.

At 20 years of age, Delight already has two years of experience competing in the LCK, having been a part of Fredit BRION since December 2020. And even though he has not achieved much with his former team, Delight has now joined one of the most stacked rosters in Korea, where he’ll have a chance to prove himself and begin what could quickly turn into the most successful season of his career.