A single year after making his return, Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok is stepping away once again. Invictus Gaming announced on Weibo that their toplaner will be taking a break from his career and will not compete with the team next season.

After rejoining the organization with which he claimed the Worlds title in 2018, the reunion ultimately proved short-lived. This marks the second pause of his career, following a year-long break in 2024. For now, both his future and the identity of his replacement at IG remain unknown.

One year, then gone

Chapter two of the story between TheShy and Invictus Gaming appears to have come to an end. The Chinese organization confirmed that their iconic toplaner will not participate in the upcoming LPL season. Though he had returned for IG’s new project this year, and despite qualifying for Worlds, the team fell short in the Play-Ins, losing to the eventual champions: T1.

The narrative could have been far more uplifting, especially considering IG’s strong performance in Split 3. Finishing second in the Rumble Stage, fans allowed themselves to hope that TheShy and Song "Rookie" Eui-jin might once again carry IG to the top of the competitive scene. The Korean toplaner even earned a spot on the 1st All-Pro Team. But once playoffs arrived, the team collapsed, ultimately scraping their way into Worlds through the Regional Finals. Against T1, TheShy showed flashes of both brilliance and inconsistency. Some of his decisions—such as his infamous Rek’Sai play in game one—left a sour memory.

This is now the second career hiatus for the player. In 2023, after reaching the Worlds final with Weibo Gaming, he chose to step away from competition for a full season. And although he clearly still possesses the mechanical level to perform in the LPL, he has once again opted to withdraw from the scene for an indefinite period.

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