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| Kingzone DragonX | |||
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| Team Information | |||
| Org Location | China | ||
| Team Location | South Korea | ||
| Region | Korea | ||
| Partner | Fighting E-sports Group Douyu HyperX RYZEN emTek Xenics Red Bull | ||
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Kingzone DragonX (Korean: 킹존 드래곤X) is a professional Korean team.
History[]
2018 Season[]
In January 2018, Kingzone acquired the roster of Longzhu Gaming and re-branded the roster as Kingzone DragonX. The team competed in the 2018 Spring Split where they were defeated at the opening match by KSV eSports, largely because of the suspension of top laner Khan. When Khan's suspension was expired, the team began a rampage that resulted in a 7 series winstreak before being defeated by BBQ Oliviers. However, Kingzone was unfazed and became a top one team with a record of 16-2, guaranteeing them a spot in the Spring Playoffs as the number one seed. Among the teams that Kingzone defeated was KT Rolster, Afreeca Freecs, ROX Tigers, SK Telecom T1, and KSV eSports. Kingzone went into the finals a heavy favorite and beat Afreeca to qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational, the first team other than SKT T1 to do so from Korea.
In the Mid-Season Invitational, expectations towards Kingzone were very high but they gave out disappointing performances in the tournament, losing to the likes of Flash Wolves and Fnatic. Having a 6-4 record, they managed to secure a playoff spot where they managed to defeat Flash Wolves 3-1 in the semi-finals but fell to Royal Never Give Up 3-1 in the finals, ending the LCK's dominance over the Mid-Season Invitational. Much of the criticism were placed to Khan and Gorilla, which many thought was the reason of Kingzone's fall in the tournament. In the Summer Split, Kingzone was not as dominant as it had in Spring, netting third place in the round-robin and had another poor international performance at Rift Rivals where LCK lost the finals against LPL. In the Quarterfinals, Afreeca Freecs got their revenge against Kingzone for the Spring Split final and defeated them 3-1, resulting in Kingzone playing in the 2018 Korean Regional Finals, as KT Rolster had exceeded their championship points. In the Regional Finals, Kingzone failed to qualify for the World Championship, losing 3-0 to Gen.G.
After the season most players chose to continue their careers at other teams. KZ trusted Rascal and Cuzz enough to got with them in the starting roster into the new season. They signed reigning LCK champions PawN and Deft from KT as well as Afreeca's TuSin to complete their line-up. Their first test was the new roster of Gen.G at the quarterfinals of 2018 LoL KeSPA Cup but they were clean swept by them.
2019 Season[]
They did also not manage to get on form in time for the Spring Split and found themselves after 4 weeks at 4-4 in 6th place although 3 of these losses turned out to have been against top 4 teams. At this point they turned their split around though and went on an absolute tear for the rest of split going 9-1 in their remaining 10 series whilst only losing to SKT and clean sweeping 7 times. This 13-5 record was enough to go into playoffs as 3rd seed. In round 2 of playoffs KZ showed that the peak performance between the top 3 and the rest of the league are far apart as they obliterated DAMWON Gaming in a clean 3-0 sweep to battle SKT for a spot in the final. What was expected to be a competitive series ended up in a clear 3-0 sweep for SKT where KZ were dominated in games 1 and 3 and threw away a big lead in game 2.
During mid season KingZone revealed that PawN had ongoing issues with his wrists so they promoted NaeHyun as starting mid laner for Summer Split. Although this was seen as a downgrade all players of the team stepped up and showed surprisingly good performances instead of relying on Deft to carry again. KZ went into Rift Rivals as 3rd with a 5-3 record and dominated at the tournament by winning all three of their games against FunPlus Phoenix, MAD Team and Invictus Gaming. Returning to the LCK with an increased confidence, they won their next three games consecutively. Towards the end of the split their performances became worse and worse until they switched between playing bad and throwing away big leads. Supposedly this was partly caused by the future owners causing trouble between players as well as looking to replace the coaching staff. Despite missing playoffs their 3rd place from spring was enough to secure them a place in the gauntlet but they went into it as underdogs.
A big question heading into the gauntlet was whether Kingzone had overcome their alleged internal issues and the answer seemed to be a clear yes as they found leads in nearly every game and closed out the games confidently to beat first Afreeca and then Sandbox 3-1 each to face Damwon in the final for 3rd seed at Worlds. This time they were in the opposing situation as they lost every early game and had to find their ways back into the games. They managed this to equalize the series twice before getting completely destroyed in game 5 which ended their season early. On the next day already the team announced the release of their head coach Hirai because of "poor results and player mismanagement".
Three weeks later PawN announced his retirement and the rest of the coaching staff left the team before the team was rebranded once again to DragonX.
Timeline[]
- 2018
- 2019
- January 7,
Longzhu Gaming rebrands as 
Kingzone DragonX.[1]
Khan,
Rascal,
Cuzz,
Peanut,
Bdd,
PraY,
GorillA, Hirai (Head Coach), Sin (Coach), Supreme (Coach), and Spark (Manager) join.[2] - March 2,
Khan,
Rascal,
Peanut,
Bdd,
Pray,
Gorilla, ActScene (Coach), and supreme (Coach)'s contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 19 November 2018.
Cuzz's contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 18 November 2019. Hirai (Head Coach)'s contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 20 November 2020.[3] - March 9,
Rascal is indefinitely removed from the team's roster for inappropriate online activities prior to joining the team.[4] - June 7, Mental (Coach) joins.[5]
- July 9,
Rascal becomes active.[6] - August 28,
SOLCA and
Keria join as trainees. - November 19,
Rascal, Hirai (Head Coach), and Supreme (Coach)'s contracts expire but departure is not confirmed.
Khan,
Bdd, and ActScene (Coach)'s contracts expire but departure is not confirmed.[7]
Peanut,
PraY, and
GorillA leave.[8] - November 22,
Khan's departure is confirmed.[9] - November 23,
Bdd's departure is confirmed.[10] - November 25,
PawN,
Deft, and
TusiN join.
Rascal's contract is extended.[11] - December 5, Acorn (Coach) joins. Supreme (Coach)'s contract is extended. ActScene (Coach) leaves.[12]
- December 6, Spark (Manager) leaves.[13]
- January 6,
Naehyun joins as substitute.[14] - January 25,
Rascal,
Naehyun,
PawN,
Deft,
Tusin, and Acorn (Coach)'s contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 18 November 2019.[15] - March 1, Valentine (Trainee Coach) joins.[16]
- March 24, Expession (Trainee Coach) joins.[17]
- April 18,
Hades joins as trainee.[18] - May 29,
Naehyun moves to starting roster.
PawN becomes inactive.[19] - June 5, Gisepa (Analyst) joins.
- July 1,
HERO joins as substitute.[20] - July 7,
HERO becomes inactive.[21] - July 10, Hirai (Head Coach), Acorn (Coach), and supreme (Coach)'s contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 16 November 2020.[22]
- July 30, Mental (Coach)'s contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 18 November 2019.[23]
- July (approx.), Gisepa (Analyst) leaves.
- August (approx.),
Blade joins as trainee. - August 16, Bubbling (Trainee Coach) joins.[24]
- August 17,
IlllIma,
DantaliaN,
Viole,
BAO,
Pleata, and
Seonbi join as trainees.[25] - September 8, Hirai (Head Coach) leaves.[26]
- September 28,
PawN retires.[27] - October 2, Acorn (Coach) and supreme (Coach) leave.[28]
- October 9, Kingzone DragonX rebrands as
DragonX.[29][30]
Rascal,
Cuzz,
Naehyun,
Deft,
TusiN,
HERO,
Blade,
IlllIma,
DantaliaN,
Quad,
Viole,
BAO,
Hades,
Keria,
Pleata,
Seonbi, Mental (Coach), Bubbling (Trainee Coach), Expession (Trainee Coach), and Valentine (Trainee Coach) leave.[29][30]
Player Roster[]
Former
Players are shown for the entire duration of their tenure on the team, with the role and substitute/trainee status they had upon their departure.
| Player | Name | Role | Joined | Left | Next Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rascal | Kim Kwang-hee (김광희) | Top Laner | Jan 20182018-01-07 | Oct 20192019-10-09 |  DRX | ||
| Cuzz | Moon Woo-chan (문우찬) | Jungler | Jan 20182018-01-07 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX | ||
| Naehyun | Yoo Nae-hyun (유내현) | Mid Laner | Jan 20192019-01-06 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX | ||
| Deft | Kim Hyuk-kyu (김혁규) | Bot Laner | Nov 20182018-11-25 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX | ||
| TusiN | Park Jong-ik (박종익) | Support | Nov 20182018-11-25 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX | ||
| HERO | Kim Yeong-woong (김영웅) | Sub/Sup (+) (–) Inactive | Jul 20192019-07-01 | Oct 20192019-10-09 |  Retired | ||
| Blade | Kwon Hee-won (권희원) | Trn/Top | ≈Aug 2019≈2019-08-?? | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX.A | ||
| IlllIma | Ma Tae-seok (마태석) | Trn/Top | Aug 20192019-08-17 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX.A | ||
| DantaliaN | Kim Yeon-sang (김연상) | Trn/Jun | Aug 20192019-08-17 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX.A | ||
| Quad | Song Su-hyeong (송수형) | Trn/Mid | Aug 20182018-08-28 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX.A | ||
| Viole | Jang Min-soo (장민수) | Trn/Mid | Aug 20192019-08-17 | Oct 20192019-10-09 |  LGC | ||
| BAO | Jeong Hyeon-woo (정현우) | Trn/Bot | Aug 20192019-08-17 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX.A | ||
| Hades | Park Ji-seong (박지성) | Trn/Bot | Apr 20192019-04-18 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX.A | ||
| Keria | Ryu Min-seok (류민석) | Trn/Sup | Aug 20182018-08-28 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX.A | ||
| Pleata | Son Min-woo (손민우) | Trn/Sup | Aug 20192019-08-17 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX.A | ||
| Seonbi | Ha Han-gyeol (하한결) | Trn/Sup | Aug 20192019-08-17 | Oct 20192019-10-09 | DRX.A | ||
| PawN | Heo Won-seok (허원석) | Mid Laner (+) (–) Inactive | Nov 20182018-11-25 | Sep 20192019-09-28 |  Riot | ||
| Khan | Kim Dong-ha (김동하) | Top Laner | Jan 20182018-01-07 | Nov 20182018-11-19 |  SKT | ||
| Peanut | Han Wang-ho (한왕호) | Jungler | Jan 20182018-01-07 | Nov 20182018-11-19 |  GEN | ||
| Bdd | Gwak Bo-seong (곽보성) | Mid Laner | Jan 20182018-01-07 | Nov 20182018-11-19 |  KT | ||
| PraY | Kim Jong-in (김종인) | Bot Laner | Jan 20182018-01-07 | Nov 20182018-11-19 | KT | ||
| GorillA | Kang Beom-hyun (강범현) | Support | Jan 20182018-01-07 | Nov 20182018-11-19 |  MSF |
Player League Participation[]
LCK
| Player | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Games | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Summer | Winter | Spring | Summer | Winter | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | ||
| Bdd |  | | | | |  | |  | | | |  | | | | | 645 | ||||||||||||
| Peanut |  | |  | |  | | | | | | | | | | | |  | 589 | |||||||||||
| Rascal | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | 483 | ||||||||||||||
| Cuzz | | | | | |  | | | | | | | |  | 464 | ||||||||||||||
| PraY |  | | |  | | |  |  | | | | | | | | 444 | |||||||||||||
| Khan |  | | | | | |  | | 295 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Deft |  | |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | 707 | ||||||||
| PawN |  | | | | | | | | | 210 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Naehyun | | |  | 50 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Organization[]
Former[]
| C | ID | Name | Position | Next Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chen Qi-Dong (陈琦栋) | Owner | None | ||
| Seo Hyeong-seok (서형석) | Chief Executive Officer | None | ||
| James Chen (陈剑书) | Chief Operating Officer | None | ||
| Choi Sang-in (최상인) | Chief Strategy Officer | DragonX
| ||
| Mental | An Hyo-yeon (안효연) | Coach | DragonX
| |
| Valentine | Hwang Gyu-beom (황규범) | Trainee Coach | KT Rolster Academy
| |
| Expession | Koo Bon-taek (구본택) | Trainee Coach | DragonX Academy
| |
| Bubbling | Park Jun-hyeong (박준형) | Trainee Coach | DragonX Academy
| |
| Acorn | Choi Cheon-ju (최천주) | Coach | KT Rolster
| |
| supreme | Choi Seung-min (최승민) | Coach | KT Rolster
| |
| Hirai | Kang Dong-hoon (강동훈) | Head Coach | KT Rolster
| |
| Gisepa | Kang Ji-moon (강지문) | Analyst | KT Rolster
| |
| Spark | Kang Byung-ryul (강병률) | Manager |  Suning-S
| |
| ActScene | Yeon Hyeong-mo (연형모) | Coach |  Afreeca Freecs
|
Tournaments[]
This table shows up to the 10 most recent results. For complete results, click here.
Media[]
- 2018
- 2019
- February 15, Kingzone DragonX's Secret to Victory: Great Performance Followed By Great Results by Woo "Ready" Hyun and Changsik "Alle" Son on Inven Global
- February 18, Thorin's Thoughts - Kingzone Are Headed for Greatness (LoL) by Thorin on YouTube
- February 24, KINGZONE DragonX overcome a challenge from Afreeca Freecs by Malcolm Abbas on Dot Esports
- March 6, KINGZONE DragonX run over SK Telecom T1 in decisive fashion by Malcolm Abbas on Dot Esports
- March 15, KINGZONE DragonX reach LCK Spring Split final with win over KT Rolster by Malcolm Abbas on Dot Esports
- March 21, Bdd: "Peanut is in charge of gathering information during scattered teamfights and providing the team with what they need" with Kyeongbeom "Its" Kim and Woo "Ready" Hyun on Inven Global
- March 24, KINGZONE DragonX overcome a surprisingly tough challenge from KSV Esports by Malcolm Abbas on Dot Esports
- March 24, KZ Peanut: "I talked to kkOma yesterday, and he said ‘see you at the finals’. I’m sure that SKT will come up." with Kyeongbeom "Its" Kim and Dasol "Viion" Jang on Inven Global
- April 14, KZ PraY: AFs is famous for their long practice time, but we’ve never thought that they practice more than we do. with Hee Eun "Youii" Yoo, Changsik "Alle" Son, , and Dasol "Viion" Jang on Inven Global
- April 14, KZ Khan: "All top laners of the world, come bow down in front of me and kneel." with Jaehoon "Laffa" Jeong and Dasol "Viion" Jang on Inven Global
- April 15, King me: Looking at the LCK finals battle between Kingzone and Afreeca by Emily Rand on ESPN
- April 20, Thorin's Thoughts - KingZone Are the Exceptions (LoL) by Thorin on YouTube
- May 7, KZ Khan on the MSI: "I'm looking forward to go against Impact; he was my role model in the past." with Ki-Baek "Juneau" Nam, Changsik "Alle" Son, , and Yudae "Akiin" Oak on Inven Global
- May 11, Kingzone Dragon X : "We all think Bdd is the best player in the world." - Press conference MSI Groups Day 1 with Alexandre "DrPuppet" Weber on Inven Global
- May 12, Fnatic Dylan: "Team Liquid is a much stronger team than they actually were able to show in this tournament so far. " - MSI Press conference Day 2 with Alexandre "DrPuppet" Weber on Inven Global
- May 15, How worried should we be about KINGZONE? by Xing Li on Dot Esports
- May 16, The Top 10 Most Dominant League of Legends Rosters of All-Time by theScore Esports on theScore Esports
- May 17, How Korean team Kingzone ran a 4 Teleport comp to beat RNG (MSI 2018) by Renato "Shakarez" Perdigão on Blitz Esports
- May 17, Pray talks about the best ADC champs and if Kingzone can win MSI with Travis Gafford on YouTube
- May 18, RNG and KINGZONE have always been desperately close to greatness by Aaron Mickunas on Dot Esports
- May 19, PraY on His MSI Performance: "I wasn’t good in group stage, but I was confident that we’ll win bo5s." with Youngbo "Roxyy" Sim and Yudae "Akiin" Oak on Inven Global
- May 23, Kingzone continues Longzhu's legacy of international struggles by Emily Rand on ESPN
- June 12, KINGZONE should relax heading into the LCK Summer Split by Xing Li on Dot Esports
- July 11, Kingzone DragonX: Poor Performances and Confronting Criticisms by Vi Lam on The Game Haus
- August 9, KZ GorillA on Khan's Health: "He’ll have to take care of himself. When I see him, I feel that at least I should be the one to take care of him; I felt really sorry." with Joonkyu "Lasso" Seok and Yudae "Akiin" Oak on Inven Global
- August 11, LCK: Hopefuls for Worlds 2018 by Rui Yang Xu on The Game Haus
- September 10, LCK: Gauntlet Preview by Rui Yang Xu on The Game Haus
- September 11, How SKT can get through the Gauntlet and still make Worlds by Malcom Abbas on Dot Esports
- October 6, LCK: Hopefuls vs realities of Worlds 2018 by Rui Yang Xu on The Game Haus
- December 14, League of Legends: KeSPA Cup 2018 – Tournament Favorites Preview by Rui Yang Xu on The Game Haus
- April 4, League of Legends: LCK Quarterfinals Preview by Rui Yang Xu on The Game Haus
- April 5, KZ TusiN on his Teammates' Performances: "For today, Cuzz was the best, and I think Deft was a bit less sexy." with David "Viion" Jang on Inven Global
- April 6, League of Legends: LCK Semifinals Preview by Rui Yang Xu on The Game Haus
- June 10, Kingzone DragonX channel European style to clean sweep Sandbox, Gen.G by Isaac McIntyre on Hotspawn Esports
- July 5, [Rift Rivals] KZ Deft: "TusiN and I are confident against every other bot lane this tournament" with Ready on Inven Global
- July 16, JSS Reports: SKT was a team that was largely jungle dependant.// iG is very unique in nature within the LPL. by Haao and Ready on Inven Global
- August 1, The speedy Kingzone DragonX are trying not to crash before playoffs by Malcolm Abbas on Dot Esports
Images[]
LCK 2018 Spring Roster
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Longzhu sold to Chinese company Kingzone chhopsky.tv
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 롱주 게이밍, 중국 e스포츠 업체 킹존에 인수... '킹존 드래곤X'로 팀명 변경 (Korean) fomos.kr
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - KR - 2018-02-24; after change - KR - 2018-03-02
- ↑ Kingzone DragonX's Facebook Post (Korean) facebook.com
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 KeSPA's Facebook Post facebook.com
- ↑ KeSPA's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Archive Pages: before change - KR - 2018-11-18; after change - KR - 2018-11-19
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Kingzone DragonX's Tweet (Korean) twitter.com
- ↑ SK Telecom T1's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ [단독] 'KT롤스터' LCK FA 대어 '비디디' 곽보성 잡다 (Korean) sports.naver.com
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Kingzone DragonX Acquires Deft, PawN, and TusiN invenglobal.com
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Kingzone DragonX's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Spark's Facebook Post (Korean) facebook.com
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 '내현' 유내현, 킹존 드래곤X 합류 (Korean) fomos.kr
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - KR - 2019-01-18; after change - KR - 2019-01-25
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 킹존 아카데미에서 2019 KEG대회 같이 나갈 멤버(탑,정글) 구합니다. (Korean) inven.co.kr
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 [KeSPA 대학생 리더스] 아마추어를 찾아서(Feat.킹존 아카데미,게임코치 아카데미) (Korean) youtube.com
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 그들이 알고 싶다!! (Korean) youtube.com
- ↑ Kingzone DragonX's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 라이엇 게임즈, ‘2019 리프트 라이벌즈’ 현장 이벤트 및 중계 정보 공개 (Korean) zdnet.co.kr
- ↑ 2019 우리은행 LCK 서머 2라운드 로스터 (Korean) e-sports.or.kr
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - KR - 2019-06-29; after change - KR - 2019-07-10
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - KR - 2019-07-10; after change - KR - 2019-07-30
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 킹존 루키 팀 '버블링' 박준형 코치, "e스포츠 일은 천직" (Korean) fomos.kr
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 25.6 Kingzone DragonX's Tweet (Korean) twitter.com
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 킹존 드래곤X, 강동훈 LoL팀 감독직 해임 (Korean) fomos.kr
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 PawN's Facebook Post (Korean) facebook.com
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Kingzone DragonX's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 29.00 29.01 29.02 29.03 29.04 29.05 29.06 29.07 29.08 29.09 29.10 29.11 29.12 29.13 29.14 29.15 29.16 29.17 29.18 29.19 29.20 29.21 킹존 드래곤X, '드래곤X'로 새 출발…'FEG'로부터 독립 (Korean) naver.com
- ↑ 30.00 30.01 30.02 30.03 30.04 30.05 30.06 30.07 30.08 30.09 30.10 30.11 30.12 30.13 30.14 30.15 30.16 30.17 30.18 30.19 30.20 30.21 DragonX's Tweet twitter.com