Deft Wishes To Go To China For MSI 2024 Before Mandatory Military Service

The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Spring 2024 is currently underway, and teams are going up against each other hoping to secure their slots for the Spring playoffs. During Week 4's play, on 14th February, KT Rolster went up against Gen.G and won the series 2-0.

During a post-game interview, KT's attack damage carry (ADC) Kim "Deft" Hyeok-gyu recapped the series, gave some insights into the preparation process, and also revealed some of his personal goals for 2024.

This interview by Deft has seemingly touched his many fans, especially those from the Chinese region. The Worlds winner made it known that he wants to play in Chengdu, China at the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2024.

Deft Moves His Chinese Fans

During a particular interview after the KT vs Gen.G series, Deft talked about his personal goals for 2024. This interview has gone somewhat viral on Chinese social media platform Weibo where his fans expressed how moved they were. A Weibo post translated the interview and even posted the clip of the interview.

Replying to a question about his personal goals for 2024, ADC player Deft said he decided to work hard every day and gain a sense of accomplishment from little things. He also noted how important international tournaments are in League of Legends and acknowledged that MSI is happening in China this year.

Deft added, "I know that MSI is being held in China this time, and China is a place that means a lot to me and my career, so I want to go to MSI before I do my military service, and I'd love to say hello to my Chinese fans through the tournament, it seems like that's the extent of it."

In 2023, in an exclusive with South Korean news outlet Kookmin Ilbo, Deft revealed that he would continue to be a pro player for one more year. The article reported that Deft pushed his mandatory military service back by another year and that he would be an active pro player in 2024.

Therefore, after the competitive season ends in 2024, fans could expect to see Deft embark on another journey altogether. This also makes both MSI 2024 and Worlds 2024 all the more interesting and important for Deft and his fans.

This is likely the reason why the pro player said he would want to visit China this year. It should be noted that there was a brief period in Deft's career where he played in the Chinese league of League of Legends Pro League (LPL).

He was a part of EDward Gaming (EDG) between 2014 and 2016 and later joined KT Rolster.

Twitter user iCrystalization quoted the Weibo post and said, "I’m just so impressed at how he never forgets any stage of his professional career and how it all accumulated into the current him T__T." One Weibo user commented, "Come to Chengdu, I will definitely go see it!"

It is safe to say that Deft has touched his Chinese fans with his words and that they are all rooting for him and looking forward to seeing the pro player and KT Rolster at MSI 2024.