Sources: LYON set to retain midlaner Saint for 2026

LYON will retain their midlaner Kang "Saint" Sung-in for the 2026 season, sources tell Sheep Esports on Wednesday. He is the only player from the roster still under contract and will return to the team’s midlane after LYON turned down interest from other organizations such as Karmine Corp in the LEC. The team has no intention of selling its gem.

Saint began his career with DWG KIA Youth in LCK AS before joining Dplus KIA Challengers in the LCK CL, where he played alongside several well-known names from the current scene such as Jeon "Siwoo" Si-woo, now DK’s toplaner, Cho "Rahel" Min-seong, AD carry for Disguised in 2025, and Kim "Loopy" Dong-hyeon, support for SK Gaming in the LEC.

LYON is a Mexican team established in October 2024 through a partnership between Movistar R7 and Six Karma. Their first split was the LTA North Split 1, which also marked Saint’s arrival. At only 20 years old, he left South Korea to take on this new challenge — one that didn’t start off well, with back-to-back losses against Cloud9 and Shopify Rebellion, bringing an early end to their Winter Split.

Split 2 was their best showing, as the team finished fifth in the Positioning Phase. However, the Group Phase proved more difficult; they faced Dignitas in the Cross Group Battles but fell 1-2, ending their Spring run. In Summer, a roster change in the toplane saw Eric "Licorice" Ritchie replaced by Jett Michael "Srtty" Joye, but it wasn’t enough to turn things around. LYON were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs leading to the cross-conference stage, losing 3-1 to 100 Thieves — their only best-of-five of the entire year. For comparison, Gen.G have already played 15 so far.

With the entire roster out of contract except for Saint, LYON could look to rebuild around their young midlaner for next year, which, as previously reported by Sheep Esports, will mark the return of the LCS and CBLOL branding. As one of the partnered teams, LYON will compete in the LCS.