A consistent talking that’s bothered me with the narratives around Team Liquid is how often players like CoreJJ and Impact get lumped into the “Korean import” hatedom.
While I understand the apprehension towards random imports (the signing of Ruby is still one of the most ridiculous), it seems so disingenuous that these players get dismissed as Korean imports.
They have green cards, they’ve played in the LCS longer than the LCK, they’ve contributed to the greatest international success for the North American region, and they’ve consistently put effort into their official matches and their personal training.
It feels disingenuous to treat them like one-contract mercenaries here for a pay check. In the case of CoreJJ, it feels like he did more in that 2019-2021 time than any domestic player ever has to try and improve the region by attempting to encourage infrastructure and work ethic culture.
It feels like they’re the ideal import: big name players brought over at their peak form who diligently provide years of service and elevate the domestic level. Sure the last year sucked, but they didn’t get paid, int, then dip like so many others.
But they get tarred with the same dismissive brush of “Korean import ew I want rookie talent from Academy.”
Corejj and Impact won fucking Worlds in Korea before going to NA. They weren’t developed in NA.
Jensen is still an import, but at least you can make the argument that he never played in EU (only because Riot bent the rules and unbanned him when C9 was interested in him). You can make a weaker argument about Bjergsen who barely played in EU.
To me, all 4 are imports. They only stop being imports if they get citizenship. And no, a greencard is not the same as citizenship, it’s just permanent residency. And I don’t think any of them have gotten citizenship.