Dignitas signed a coach from its League of Legends squad in Yoon ‘Zero’ Kyung-sup, and then parted ways with him days later as he returned to his former team as a player.
The League of Legends 2023-24 off-season is ending as most teams in the LCS have set their lineups for the next year. Those lineups also include coaches as teams hope to build synergy across their rosters with new faces in the coaching position.
One of these teams is Dignitas, which revamped its lineup around two import players Lee ‘Rich’ Jae-won and Kim ‘Dove’ Jae-yeon. The two South Korean solo lane players competed in the LPL last year after starting their professional careers in the LCK.
Dignitas brought in a South Korean coach from the LPL to help bring its roster together and coach them up for the new season in former Ninjas in Pyjamas coach Zero. Zero is one of the longest-tenured figures in League of Legends esports, getting his start with KT Rolster in 2012 and transitioning to coaching in 2018. His most prominent moment in League Esports history is a second-place finish at the 2014 League of Legends World Championship alongside Jian ‘Uzi’ Zi-Hao.
He signed with Dignitas on December 4 and then left the team just eight days later to return to the LPL.
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Dignitas coach leaves team to return to the LPL as a player
Dignitas never announced that the coach was joining the team on its social media, however, the coach did show up on the team’s Global Contract Database page. On December 12, Zero was removed from Dignitas’ page.
Two days later, NIP announced its lineup for the 2024 season, which included Zero as a substitute support. Though their lineup is a promising one with some of OMG’s best 2023 players alongside World Champion mid laner Rookie, Zero’s appearance on the roster as a sub raised some eyebrows.
ARE YOU READY FOR IT?🔝 shanji🌴 Aki➖ Rookie🏹 Photic🛡️ Zhuo🛡️ Zero#NIPWIN pic.twitter.com/jHypg3A9nY
— NIP LoL (@NIPLoL) December 14, 2023
With NIP last year, Zero and the team placed 13th in the 17-team league. Dignitas have not mentioned Zero’s sudden departure from the team on social media.
Zero’s departure, however, hasn’t put much of a dent in Dignitas’ coaching staff. The organization still has a head coach in Ilias ‘Enatron’ Theodorou and multiple analysts signed on for the next season.