General manager Becker Jung announced today that T1 head coach Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong has resigned from his position and left the organization.
The coach chose to step down at the end of the first half of LCK Summer 2023. Former SK Telecom T1 teammate and coach, Im “Tom” Jae-hyeon, will take his place as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
“We honor and respect his decision, and we express our sincerest appreciation for his contributions and service to T1 during his tenure,” the organization wrote.
T1 is currently third place in the league with a 6-3 match record at the time of writing, behind Gen.G and KT Roslter.
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T1 head coach Bengi resigns after round one of LCK Summer 2023, Tom to replace
This marks the end of Bengi’s era with the organization. He has been with the team since 2013 when he first kicked off his esports career as a jungler for SK Telecom T1.
Together with Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, they won the prestigious League of Legends World Championship in 2013, 2015, and 2016, making history as the only two players to win three Worlds titles, earning himself the nickname “Right Hand of God.”
After retiring at the end of 2018 to serve compulsory military service, he returned to the organization in 2021, taking up the head coach role in their Challengers team.
That year, they finished first during the LCK CL Spring 2021 season and went on to win the championship.
Just before Worlds 2022 started, the organization made big changes to its staff, which saw Choi “Polt’ Seong-hun step down as head coach to become general manager for the overall League of Legends program.
To fill the gap, T1 promoted Bengi to interim head coach for T1. They took second place after a hard-fought loss to DRX, 3-2, in the Worlds 2022 finals.
He continued in his confirmed role for the 2023 season, leading the team to a first-place finish during the LCK Spring 2023 regular season and second-place finish after they lost to Gen.G 3-1 in the grand final.
Representing the region at MSI 2023 as second seed, they clinched third after losing to Bilibili Gaming 3-1 in the lower bracket finals.
Tom was a substitute jungler on SK Telecom T1 in 2015. While he did compete during the regular season, he did not join the roster for Worlds 2015, which limited the number of substitute players. He transitioned to a coaching role in 2019 with Gen.G, then PSG Talon, before returning to T1 for the 2023 season.
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