T1 signed a new top laner in form of Doran for its League of Legends team.
T1 has made its first roster move for 2025 with the addition of former Hanwha Life top laner Choi "Doran" Hyeon-jun on Nov. 19. The 24-year-old will fill the spot left vacant by Choi "Zeus" Woo-je, who left T1 on the same day.
The departure of Zeus and addition of Doran comes after T1 renewed the contracts of starting players Ryu "Keria" Min-seok, Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun, and Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyung earlier in the month. T1 also parted ways with Carl Martin Erik "Rekkles" Larsson, who was a substitute at Worlds 2024, earlier this month.
The swap of Zeus for Doran will surely raise question marks among many T1 fans, after all the former helped T1 to most notably win Worlds 2023 and Worlds 2024, on top of an LCK Spring championship in 2022 and the Esports World Cup in July 2024.
Zeus was a part of T1 since 2020, when he joined the academy team, and went on to become one of the team's pillars.
Doran, on the other hand, played for Griffin, DRX, KT Rolster, Gen.G, and was a part of HLE throughout the 2024 season. The 24-year-old is no stranger to T1, having defeated them in LCK Summer 2023, LCK Spring 2023, and LCK Summer 2022 when he was playing for Gen.G.
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Where does Zeus go next?
After T1 announced Zeus' departure, many fans started to wonder where their former top laner would go next.
A logical move for Zeus would be signing with HLE, who will need a new top laner after losing Doran to T1. The organization did well domestically in 2024, having won the LCK Summer in September. HLE also did OK at Worlds 2024, losing in the quarterfinals to Bilibili Gaming — who went all the way to the grand finals against T1.
It's currently unclear, though, where Zeus will land next after his formidable stint with T1.
That's all for now. Stay tuned to esports.gg for more League of Legends news.
