At the start of the week, BNK FearX demoted their ADC Nam “Diable” Dae-geun to their LCK Challenger League roster for disciplinary reasons. Following that decision, Diable started looking for another team in order to keep playing in the LCK. Nongshim RedForce picked him up and traded him with their marksman Kim “Taeyoon” Tae-yoon for the LCK Round 2 2026.
On Monday, BNK FearX demoted Diable for disciplinary reasons after he refused to attend a fan meet. The marksman would play in the Challenger League team BNK FearX Youth, with Kim “Slayer” Jin-young moving up in exchange.
One LCKCL match later, BNK entered talks with other teams to trade him. The team wanted to send him to DN SOOPers, but Korean law allows players under the age of 20 to refuse a trade asked for by their organisation. Instead, Diable will thus join Nongshim in exchange for their ADC.
In BFX, Taeyoon will be the marksman for the LCK roster, and Slayer has returned to his LCKCL spot. The two ADCs will start playing for their new respective rosters at the start of round 2 of the LCK 2026.
Taeyoon joins BNK FearX in the LCK Round 2 2026, Diable to take his spot in Nongshim RedForce. Image source: Riot Games
In 2025, Diable won the title of Rookie of the year. Then in the LCK Cup 2026, BNK FearX achieved second place and qualified for First Stand 2026. This was largely attributed to Diable’s strong performances, and put him in the discussion for best ADC in the LCK.
Unfortunately, BNK FearX has not managed to find their success so far in the LCK Rounds 1-2. Mostly as a result of the other teams catching up, FearX sits at 2-7 after the first round robin.
On the other hand, Nongshim is in sixth place at 4-5. Losing to the top squads and winning against the bottom ones, this team is consistent. NS is also a team with several star players, with their top, mid, and support having each gone far in the past.
Odds are that this trade will end up an upgrade for both Diable and Nongshim. However, both NS and BFX will need to build their synergy once more halfway through the split, when time is of the essence.
When round 2 ends, all teams in the bottom half of the standings will drop to the Rise group. Organisations in that group have a much harder time improving or even reaching the playoffs. Currently, NS is two wins below the fifth place T1, and BFX is four down.
With only nine matches left to play, this roster change severely hinders BFX’s chances for 2026. As for Nongshim, this elevates their potential, but said potential might not realize either.
The LCK Round 2 will begin on May 2 for Nongshim with a match against Kiwoom DRX, and BFX will follow on May 3 as they face DNS.
Featured image source: Riot Games
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