Intel Extreme Masters San Jose is almost here, and with it the chance for the invited South Korean Jin Air Green Wings to finally prove themselves as part of an international competition. With the recent departure of Lee "GBM" Chang-seok and a history of impressive but somewhat middling results, can the Koreans assert themselves at the SAP Center?
A first for everything
This isn’t the first time the Jin Air Green Wings lineup has encountered Intel Extreme Masters competition, with Kang "Cpt Jack" Hyung-woo having become an Intel Extreme Masters champion in Season 7 with his previous team CJ Entus Blaze.
The team certainly has some results to be proud of, most recently having come second place in the 2015 Season Korea Regional Finals after having got 1-3 versus KT Rolster before picking up ₩5,000,000 by coming fifth to eighth in the 2015 LoL KeSPA Cup. However, aside from the Challengers Korea Summer 2015 Playoffs, where the team went 3-1 versus Incredible Miracle, the Jin Air Green Wings have never taken first place at a prominent League of Legends event, and certainly not a premier tournament such as Intel Extreme Masters. Will everything go their way in San Jose?
Roster
The Jin Air Green Wings have a stacked roster, with Lee "GBM" Chang-seok having left in early November and Kim "SoHwan" Jun-yeong joining the sub lineup, but will the below players help the team take off at the SAP Center?
Top: Jun-yeong "SoHwan" Kim, Chang-dong "TrAce" Yeo
- TrAce: Originally part of the Jin Air Green Wings Stealths lineup
- TrAce’s Champions Summer 2015 and Champions Summer 2015 Playoffs statistics: Games: 42 | Wins: 22 | Losses: 20 | Win Percentage: 52.4% | Kills: 1.83 | Deaths: 1.95 | Assists: 6.45 | KDA: 4.24
- SoHwan: Sub top laner, previously played for Pathos under the name "Exile"
Jungle: Sang-hyun "Chaser" Lee, Tae-jin "Winged" Park
- Chaser: Started out subbing for the Jin Air Green Wings Stealths as "RealFoxy"
- Chaser’s Champions Summer 2015 and Champions Summer 2015 Playoffs statistics: Games: 38 | Wins: 20 | Losses: 18 | Win Percentage: 52.6% | Kills: 2.34 | Deaths: 2 | Assists: 7.5 | KDA: 4.92
- Winged: Was a sub for NaJin Black Sword before moving to Brazil to play for Keyd Stars
- Winged’s Champions Summer 2015 and Champions Summer 2015 Playoffs statistics: Games: 4 | Wins: 2 | Losses: 2 | Win Percentage: 50% | Kills: 0.25 | Deaths: 0.75 | Assists: 4.75 | KDA: 6.67
Mid: Seong-hyeok "Kuzan" Lee
- Joined as the Jin Air Green Wings mid laner in January 2015
- Champions Summer 2015 and Champions Summer 2015 Playoffs statistics: Games: 9 | Wins: 5 | Losses: 4 | Win Percentage: 55.6% | Kills: 3.22 | Deaths: 2 | Assists: 4 | KDA: 3.61
ADC: Hyung-woo "Cpt Jack" Kang, Woo-hyung "Pilot" Na
- Cpt Jack: Joined MiG Blaze at the end of 2011, after which the team were picked up by Azubu (and competed at the IEM Global Challenge Katowice) then CJ Entus before Cpt Jack joined the Jin Air Green Wings Stealths in 2014
- Cpt Jack’s Champions Summer 2015 and Champions Summer 2015 Playoffs statistics: Games: 16 | Wins: 8 | Losses: 8 | Win Percentage: 50% | Kills: 4.13 | Deaths: 1.75 | Assists: 4.88 | KDA: 5.14
- Pilot: Originally joined the Jin Air Green Wings Falcons as starting ADC before the Falcons/Stealths team merge
- Pilot’s Champions Summer 2015 and Champions Summer 2015 Playoffs statistics: Games: 26 | Wins: 14 | Losses: 12 | Win Percentage: 53.8% | Kills: 3.65 | Deaths: 1.46 | Assists: 5.5 | KDA: 6.26
Support: Sun-ho "Chei" Choi, Eun-teak "Sweet" Lee
- Chei: Started his career by supporting for Xenics Blast under the name "Boink", moved to Xenics Storm as "Ink" then joined the Jin Air Green Wings Stealths in 2014
- Chei’s Champions Summer 2015 and Champions Summer 2015 Playoffs statistics: Games: 24 | Wins: 11 | Losses: 13 | Win Percentage: 45.8% | Kills: 0.71 | Deaths: 2.25 | Assists: 7.63 | KDA: 3.70
- Sweet: Began his competitive career by joining the Jin Air Green Wings Stealths as support under the name "XD"
- Sweet’s Champions Spring 2015 statistics: Games: 3 | Wins: 2 | Losses: 1 | Win Percentage: 66.7% | Kills: 0.67 | Deaths: 2 | Assists: 11.67 | KDA: 6.17
See the Jin Air Green Wings live in San Jose!
If you want to see the Jin Air Green Wings in action live at the SAP Center, be sure to grab your ticket here, and don’t forget to help bolster the event’s prize pool by taking advantage of Amazon’s crowdfunding initiative to get yourself some great new games and hardware!
For all the latest about Intel Extreme Masters San Jose, be sure to follow the official Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as check out the website.
