Jin Air Green Wings relegated from the LCK

Jin Air Green Wings are officially relegated from the League of Legends Champions Korea.

Suffering losses to APK Prince and Hanwha Life Esports in the LCK 2020 Spring Promotion event led them here. The Green Wings’ spot in the LCK next split will be occupied by APK Prince. APK upset Hanwha Life 2-1 to earn a shot at Jin Air in the qualifying round.

In today’s 2019 LoL Champions Korea promo game match, Team Jin Air Greenwings lost by a score of 1 : 3 against APK
Thank you for all your support.
Due to the short rest between matches, and to protect our players’ condition, we will not hold a fan meeting today.

— Jin Air Greenwings (@JinAirGW) September 10, 2019

A sad exit for a lot of fans.

Jin Air is one of the founding teams of the LCK, but this marks the end of their participation streak in the LCK. Though they scrapped their way through past Promotion events, the writing was on the wall this time. Last month, they infamously became the first LCK team to finish a split without scoring a single victory. Their dismal record extends to individual games as well. Jin Air won only four games throughout the entire 2019 summer split.

In spite of lackluster results this season, the Jin Air Green Wings enjoyed the support of fans worldwide. Fans see them as plucky underdogs exciting to watch. The news that the Green Wings are relegated from the LCK led to an outpouring of mournful posts all over the League of Legends community.

Sadplane.jpg pic.twitter.com/xuEhpH0W6A

— Chris Smith (@PapaSmithy) September 11, 2019

As the Green Wings make their exit, APK Prince looks primed to make a splash in the LCK. The former Challengers team finished first in the Challengers Korea 2020 Summer Playoffs, defeating 2020 Spring champions VSG 3-2 in the final. This year, former Challengers teams SANDBOX Gaming and DAMWON Gaming earned spots in the playoff in both LCK splits. Many eyes will be on APK Prince to match this feat.

As for the Green Wings, they have to fight through Challengers Korea next season to earn a chance for redemption in the LCK.

Credit: Alexander Lee