Huni reportedly acquired by Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses have reportedly signed the former world champion Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon from Dignitas ahead of the 2020 League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Summer Split.
The reports surfaced this Wednesday, unveiling Huni will leave Dignitas and will continue his illustrious League of Legends career at Evil Geniuses. The rumours about a possible transfer already surfaced in late April, when it was unveiled Huni is not listed on Dignitas’ roster.
The exact details about the contract are yet unknown, but Huni will likely have to settle for less compensation compared to US $2.3 million he received when the Korean top laner signed a two-year contract with Dignitas in October 2019.
If the rumours prove to be true, Huni will replace Colin “Kumo” Zhao, who has arrived at Evil Geniuses in November, after spending two years with Cloud9 organisation. Additionally, if Huni joins EG, he would be the fourth import player in the North American esports organisation, alongside mid laner Daniele "Jiizuke" di Mauro, ADC Bae "Bang" Jun-sik, and academy mid laner Ahmad “Giyuu” Charif.
Since no LCS team can have more than two import players in their organisation, EG will have to reshuffle their starting roster to oblige with the rules. It's also worth noting that EG's jungler Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen, while Danish, is an American resident and does not count as an import.
Although there were high expectations put on Huni to deliver in his maiden season with Dignitas, the Korean top laner failed to live up to the expectations. In his lone split with Dignitas, Huni finished at an underwhelming seventh place in the LCS 2020 Spring Split, after his team lost the tiebreaker match for the sixth spot against Golden Guardians and with that lost a chance to make it into the playoffs.
Throughout the split, Dignitas accumulated an 8-10 record and a 44% win rate. Although the team has shown some promise in the early stages of the split, Dignitas started to fall apart halfway through the season. Huni ended the split with some of the worst marks out of all top laners in the league, including 1.96 KDA (lowest), 2.75 deaths per game (third-highest), 7.75 CSPM, 55.7% KPAR and only 13.9% KS.
Evil Geniuses, on the other side, had a very successful run in their maiden appearance in the LCS. Jiizuke and the company finished the regular season as runners-up with a 10-8 record and even made some serious noise in the playoffs. In round one, EG defeated FlyQuest (3-1), lost to Cloud9 (1-3) in the second round and ended up suffering a shock 1-3 loss against FlyQuest in the third round, thus finished the 2020 LCS Spring Split at third place.
EG's top laner Kumo had a fairly volatile season, showing a fair amount of instability with his performances. Nevertheless, Kumo has finished the season with slightly better marks compared to his supposed replacement. The Chinese top laner finished the split with 2.43 KDA, 2.58 deaths per game, 7.59 CSPM, 52.7% KPAR and 21.1% KS.
While reports stated that Huni'd deal with Evil Geniuses is completed, the Dignitas' CEO Michael Prindiville stated that Huni's arrival to EG is not a guaranteed deal.
"It’s straightforward. Whatever report you read was incorrect. Not a guaranteed deal," said Mr Prindiville in a Twitter post.
Evil Genuises' first match in the 2020 Spring Split is slated for June 12, when they will meet with 100 Thieves.
