It is one of the major moves of this offseason. According to Sheep Esports sources, LCK CL prodigy Yoo "Zinie" Baek-jin has reached a verbal agreement with Shopify Rebellion in the LCS. Unable to displace Gwak "Bdd" Bo-sun — arguably the best player in the world during the 2025 Worlds — from KT Rolster’s midlane, and with his contract expiring, the KT academy player has chosen to switch regions to reach Tier 1. In doing so, he follows in the footsteps of other rising stars at his position, such as Lee "Loki" Sang-min, who was developed within Hanwha Life Esports before joining Cloud9, or Kang "Saint" Seong-in, trained at Dplus before signing with LYON.

Still per sources, Lim "Quid" Hyeon-seung was Shopify Rebellion’s first choice, and the team also considered another rising star, Tsai "hongQ" Ming-hong. Joseph "Jojopyun" Pyun also drew SR’s interest in the event that the team managed to acquire Kacper "Inspired" Słoma, but that option quickly proved unrealistic. As a reminder, last year, Movistar KOI wanted to sign Zinie before securing Jojopyun, but KT shut down the possibility. More broadly, many LCS, LEC, and LCK teams attempted to buy out Zinie’s contract last year, but KT refused to sell their academy midlaner.

Since the player was a free agent this time, SR was not the only team showing interest in Zinie. Karmine Corp expressed interest in the midlaner before eventually hiring Kang "kyeahoo" Yea-hoo, as did several LCK and LPL teams. The South Korean player expected to join one of the two strongest leagues in the world, but ultimately didn’t find a project. In the LCS, Cloud9 considered repeating the Loki experiment and also held discussions with the prospect, but ultimately opted to sign former Team Liquid player Eain "APA" Stearns, as previously reported by Sheep Esports.

A flawless 2024 season

The reason Zinie attracted so much attention is straightforward: he has dominated the South Korean second tier across the last two seasons. Winner of both splits in 2024, he was named regular-season MVP on each occasion and was already a strong candidate for promotion heading into 2025. Yet KT, while extending Bdd, ensured they retained their academy standout, who returned for another year and completed a triple crown by winning the 2025 LCK CL Kickoff.

KT Challengers’ winning streak, however, came to an end at the close of the LCK CL Season, as the long-reigning champions of the second division were dethroned in the grand final by FEARX Youth. This season, Zinie primarily distinguished himself on three champions: Annie (20 games), Azir (16 games), and Ahri (15 games). Over the course of his young career, the mechanically midlaner has also demonstrated proficiency on Taliyah, Yone, and Corki.

For Shopify Rebellion, this move represents a complete profile shift at the midlane position. In 2025, the American team competed with veteran Cristian "Palafox" Palafox. Having joined the league in 2024, SR delivered a fairly convincing 2025 season, securing two third-place finishes and qualifying for the LTA Championship. However, Shopify underperformed in the cross-conference tournament — which could have earned them a Worlds berth — falling in the first round to RED Canids, a representative of LTA South.

Although Shopify is steadily gaining ground within the region, the team still trails behind the prestige of Cloud9, Team Liquid, and FlyQuest. The arrival of Zinie could genuinely help the roster cross that competitive threshold and seriously contend for international qualification.

For more roster changes, check out our Transfers Hub and Offseason Live Tracker.