Dplus KIA Signs Former T1 Bot Laner Smash for 2026 LCK Season
Dplus KIA has officially announced the signing of former T1 bot laner Shin “Smash” Geum-jae for the 2026 LCK season. Smash, who briefly featured in T1’s main roster earlier in 2025, steps into the bot lane role as Dplus KIA continues its roster overhaul following a middling 2025 campaign.
๐พ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐จ, ๐บ๐๐๐๐.
2026๋ Dplus KIA LCK ํ์ ์๋ก์ด BOT ‘Smash’ ์ ๊ธ์ฌ ์ ์๋ฅผ ์๊ฐํฉ๋๋ค.
์ฐจ๊ทผ์ฐจ๊ทผ ์์์จ ์ค๋ ฅ๊ณผ ๊ฐํ๋ฅธ ์ฑ์ฅ์ธ๋ฅผ ๋ฐํ์ผ๋ก, ์์ ์ ์ญ๋์ ๋ง์๊ป ํผ์น ์ค๋น๋ฅผ ๋ง์น ‘Smash’ ์ ์์๊ฒ ๋ง์ ๊ธฐ๋์ ์์ ๋ถํ๋๋ฆฝ๋๋ค. Dplus KIA์ ํจ๊ปโฆ pic.twitter.com/uTwCaOZpIj
โ Dplus Kia (@DplusKia) November 21, 2025
Smash Departs T1
Smash’s time with T1 was marked by turbulence. He entered the starting lineup during a period when star AD carry Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong was benched, contributing to a temporary six man roster. Smash competed in the LCK Cup and the first two rounds of the LCK 2025 season before T1 CEO Joe Marsh intervened, reinstating Gumayusi and relegating Smash back to the academy roster. Despite backing from the coaching staff during his stint, Smash was passed over for T1’s open bot lane spot after Gumayusi’s high profile departure as a three time Worlds champion and the 2025 Worlds Finals MVP.
Instead, T1 opted to sign Kim “Peyz” Su-hwan, a former Gen.G and FPX standout who boasts an LCK title and MSI championship. Peyz made history as the youngest bot laner to win the LCK at just 17 years old in 2023.
For Smash, the move to Dplus KIA represents a fresh start. He replaces Kim “Aiming” Ha-ram, who has joined KT Rolster after his contract expired on November 17. Aiming was among several prominent LCK free agents entering the Stove League.
Dplus KIA’s revamp extends beyond the bot lane, with veteran support Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee also departing. Smash will now pair with academy graduate Oh “Career” Hyeong-seok, a rising talent from BNX FEARZ Youth, withย youth and dynamism on their side, into the team’s bottom duo.
Dplus KIA’s Official Statement
In their announcement, Dplus KIA expressed enthusiasm for Smash’s addition: โIntroducing our new BOT laner โSmashโ (Shin Geum-jae) for the 2026 Dplus KIA LCK team. With his steadily built skills and rapid growth, he is ready to unleash his full potential. We ask for your anticipation and support. Please give a big round of applause to welcome โSmashโ so that his journey of racing forward with Dplus KIA can shine even brighter.โ
Dplus KIA 2026 Roster:
- Top: Jeon “Siwoo” Si-woo
- Jungle: Choi “Lucid” Yong-hyeok
- Mid: Heo “ShowMaker” Su
- ADC: Shin “Smash” Geum-jae
- Support: Oh “Career” Hyeong-seok
Since: October 29, 2025
