Kim ‘cvMax’ Dae-ho will join as coach for Dplus KIA (DK) heading into the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Rounds 3-5.
This marks a return to the LCK for the coach who has had a troubled history with the LCK and Riot Games Korea.
He joins a struggling Dplus KIA, who have seemed lost in the most recent season, despite being on the edge of success.
Who is cvMax?
The veteran coach has been a polarising figure in League of Legends esports.
cvMax has proven himself to be a successful coach, most recently with his former team JD Gaming.
Consistently finishing the regular season and playoffs in the top three, despite competing in a highly competitive league.
On the other side, he led teams like DRX during their terrible 2020-2021 seasons, leaving the team before their miracle 2022 worlds run.
Outside of the game, the coach has been the figurehead of controversy surrounding player treatment.
The coach was embroiled in allegations of physical and verbal assault to the plays of former team Griffin.
However, it should be noted that industry professionals have since come out to suggest that this is a common occurrence in South Korean esports.
Adding to this he pressured jungler Seo ‘Kanavi’ Jin-hyeok into signing a unfavourable contract when the player was a minor at the time.
cvMax was later fined 100 million Korean won (~£54,000) and indefinitely suspended from Riot Games events as a result of third party investigations.
However, the suspension was lifted soon after Riot Games Korea received public backlash for their handling of the situation.
Notably their quick punishments and private investigations on the issue which seemingly ignored the official police investigation and its findings.
With National Assembly legislator, Ha Tae-kyung, suggesting that Riot Games Korea was not acting fairly in order to protect its own interests.
Can cvMax help Dplus KIA
The former 2020 world champions have been far from the top in recent years.
Competing in one of most competitive leagues in the world which saw Gen.G Esports recently complete the perfect split.
Recently ending LCK Rounds 1-2 in sixth and falling down to the Rise Group for LCK Rounds 3-5.
This came after losing a tiebreaker to another struggling team in KT Rolster.
While KT Rolster managed to turn things around to reach the top four in the Road to MSI, DK were nowhere to be seen.
The team has struggled to find success, despite having four world champions in the team as players and coaches.
Consisting of 2020 world champions Heo ‘ShowMaker’ Su and Cho ‘BeryL’ Geon-hee, LCK veteran Kim ‘Aiming’ Ha-ram, the team was set up for success.
Most notably joining them on the coaching staff was Bae ‘Bengi’ Seong-woong and Season 3 world champion, Lee ‘PoohManDu’ Jeong-hyeon.
cvMax will be joining as a third coach for the team that’ll make the coaching booth a little crowded next season.
DK will head into LCK Round 3-5 in the Rise Group where only the top can proceed.
They have an uphill battle as they’ll also have to finish in the top two out of four play in teams, just to qualify for the LCK Season Playoffs.
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