Here’s how Team Liquid almost lost star support CoreJJ

A recent statement by a member of Team Liquid’s staff revealed how TL almost lost star support Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-In.

Jun “Dodo” Kang took to Twitter after CoreJJ’s green card acquisition was confirmed to tell the truth behind the near disaster that was CoreJJ’s attempt to achieve residency in the LCS. According to Dodo, it was very likely that Core not receiving his green card would have meant Team Liquid losing the support player entirely.

Why did Team Liquid almost lose CoreJJ?

CoreJJ has been the central member of Team Liquid’s roster for a long time, with him and jungler Lucas “Santorin” Larsen being the only two members to hold their spots on the rosster from last year. At the beginning of the 2022 LCS Spring Split, CoreJJ was unable to play alongside the new additions of Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau and Steven “Hans Sama” Liv due to import restrictions.

Until CoreJJ had received his green card, the prerequisite to becoming a resident player in the LCS and not taking up an import slot, Team Liquid’s main roster was unable to play together. To most fans, it seemed to be a matter of when, rather than if, CoreJJ was able to play alongside the rest of the new roster. That future wasn’t as certain as it had seemed, according to a statement by Dodo, the general manager of Team Liquid’s LCS Roster.

With Core's status finally being settled, I can share this now – that there was a VERY high chance that if Core didn't receive his Green card by Feb, we would have lost Core. Not only from TL but from LCS and LoL scene as a whole, he would have potentially been forced to retire.

— Jun Kang (@TL_Dodo) March 1, 2022

Dodo says that there was a high chance that if Team Liquid had been unable to acquire a green card for CoreJJ in time, it would have lost its world champion support. Dodo spoke to multiple lawyers, many of whom viewed it as a lost cause and were unwilling to touch the case given its likelihood to fail. Thankfully, whatever difficulties Team Liquid had been navigating legally managed to be dealt with in time for CoreJJ to enter the LCS in February.