DWG KIA today announced the signing of Talon Esports player Soldier on loan. This completes the team's roster ahead of a potential invitation to the APAC Closed Qualifier for the Six Invitational 2023, due to be played this month.
He and recent-signing Lee "Harp3rXD" Hyo-jun complete the team's roster after both Jang "RIN" Byeong-uk and Heo "CATsang" Se-woong were released after the end of a disappointing 2022 season.
This also follows their decision to terminate the contract of their second coach, Park "PJH" Jae-hyun, on Dec. 26.
Soldier was the third-worst player by SiegeGG Rating in APAC North in Stage 3 of the 2022 season when excluding Ken "K-RAISER" Takazawa, who only played two maps. He finished with a SiegeGG Rating of 0.79, a -20 Overall K-D, and -4 Entry K-D. Additionally, he only had an impact in 54 percent of the rounds Talon Esports played across their seven maps.
His 0.79 SiegeGG Rating was 0.05 Rating points off DWG's worst player by the same metric, CATsang, who only played five maps for them in the APAC North Division in Stage 3.
However, Soldier fared better with a SiegeGG Rating of 0.92 in Stage 2 and was even the 10th-best player in the entire league in Stage 1 with a 1.15 Rating and +17 Overall K-D.
DWG KIA were far off their 2021 heights in the 2022 season, having had the best performance of any APAC team at a Major at the Sweden Major in Nov. 2021. While they were seen as a Six Invitational favourite in 2022, they fell short of expectations with a top 12 finish.
This was followed by a failure to qualify to the Charlotte Major in May and a disappointing group stage exit at the Berlin Major in August.
As external and internal factors plagued the team, they also failed to qualify to the Jönköping Major in Stage 3. Now, it only has an outside chance at Six Invitational 2023 qualification after failing to progress through the APAC North qualifier, with a potential direct invite to the Closed Qualifier incoming.