Kim Jeong-gyun (Korean: 김정균; born December 23, 1985), better known as kkOma, is a South Korean professional League of Legends coach, currently head coach for T1. As the coach of SK Telecom T1 and later DWG KIA, kkOma is a four-time world champion, two-time Mid-Season Invitational champion, and ten-time LCK champion. kkOma is widely considered the greatest coach in League of Legends history.[1] He is known for his strict coaching attitude and aptitude for developing talented rookies.[2][3] He was also a finalist for the 2017 and 2021 World Championship.
| kkOma | |||||||||||||||
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 kkOma in 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Name | 김정균 (Kim Jeong-gyun) | ||||||||||||||
| Born | December 23, 1985 | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | South Korean | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| Game | League of Legends | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2012 | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Jungler | ||||||||||||||
| Coaching career | 2012–2021, 2023–present | ||||||||||||||
| Team history | |||||||||||||||
| As player: | |||||||||||||||
| 2012 | StarTale | ||||||||||||||
| As coach: | |||||||||||||||
| 2012–2019 | T1[a] | ||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Vici Gaming | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | DWG KIA | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–present | T1 | ||||||||||||||
| As administrator: | |||||||||||||||
| 2022 | DWG KIA | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| As coach: | |||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Prior to becoming a coach, kkOma enjoyed a short professional career in esports. He competed in StarCraft II competing under the ID "LittleBoy" for "Team Old Generations". After unsuccessful attempts to qualify for Global StarCraft II League, he quit Starcraft II and competed for one season of League of Legends Champions Korea for the team "Startale". He played as the jungler for Startale.[4]
kkOma is the only coach who owns a ward skin in League of Legends, which is SKT T1 kkOma Ward.[5]
He was the head coach of Korea's Asian Games 2022 League of Legends team.
Professional career
editSK Telecom T1
edit
In 2012, SKT T1 named kkOma as a coach for their League of Legends team in preparation for the upcoming 2013 Season 3. kkOma recruited players Faker, Bengi, Piglet, Impact, and PoohManDu to form the original SKT T1 team. kkOma and his team had won the Champions Summer 2013 and the 2013 World Championship.
Following a relatively disappointing Season 4, SKT T1 bounced back in 2015 Season 5. In 2015, kkOma was among the first coach to successfully implement two players equally sharing the same role, by having Faker and Easyhoon share the mid lane position. This allowed SKT T1 to adopt diverse play styles depending on which player was swapped in. kkOma would lead his team to sweep the calendar year by winning LCK Spring 2015, LCK Summer 2015, and the 2015 World Championship, becoming the first coach to win more than one World Championships.[6]
Kkoma became the head coach of T1 in November 2017. kkOma successfully led his team to the seventh LCK title on 13 April 2019, marking his first LCK title as the head coach.[7]
On 27 November 2019, it was announced that kkOma would leave SKT T1.[8]
Vici Gaming
editOn 17 December 2019, Vici Gaming announced that kkOma joined the team as their head coach.[9] He parted ways with Vici Gaming in September 2020 due to family reasons.[10]
DWG KIA
editIn November 2020, kkOma was being reported as the new head coach of DWG KIA (formerly Damwon Gaming) after the departure of their coaches, Yang “Daeny” Dae-in and Kim “Zefa” Jae-min.[11][12]
During the 2021 season, kkOma and his team were runners up in the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, and the 2021 League of Legends World Championship.
In December 2021, kkOma was promoted to the role of athletic director within the DWG KIA organization.[13]
Return to T1
editOn 21 November, 2023, T1 announced kkOma's return to the organization as the head coach.[14]
National team career
editIn March 2022, the Korea Esports Association (KeSPA) announced the appointment of kkOma as the head coach for the South Korean League of Legends team for the 2022 Asian Games.[15]
References
edit- ^ "Under Pressure: Inside kkOma's mental palace". www.lolesports.com. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
- ^ "KkOma reflects on building SKT: "Even back then, Faker was the player that was so good to the point it didn't make sense."". Slingshot Esports. 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
- ^ "Hitting the next level: Huni thriving under kkOma on SKT". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
- ^ "kkOma -- a reflection on SK Telecom's legendary, unbeatable brain". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
- ^ "League of Legends: Interview With 'SKT T1' Coach 'Kkoma': "I Want To Leave Behind My Legacy Within League."". www.invenglobal.com. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
- ^ "The Birth of an eSports Dynasty: SKT T1 Win the 2015 League of Legends Worlds Championship - Esports by Inquirer". Esports by Inquirer. 2015-11-01. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
- ^ "League of Legends: [Press Interview] SKT Faker: "Our victory could've been so much more satisfying had the match gone to a game 5."". www.invenglobal.com. 13 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
- ^ "League of Legends: [Official] T1 Says Farewell to kkOma". www.invenglobal.com. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
- ^ Kang, Ashley (2019-12-17). "kkOma joins Vici Gaming". Korizon. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
- ^ "League of Legends: Vici Gaming parts ways with their head coach, kkOma". InvenGlobal. 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
- ^ "[오피셜] 담원도 대형 영입, 21년 김정균 감독과 간다". sports.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-11-25.
- ^ "League of Legends: [Official] KkOma joins DAMWON Gaming as the newest head coach for the LoL roster". InvenGlobal. 2020-11-13. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
- ^ Kwon, Daniel (December 13, 2021). "DWG KIA promotes kkOma to serve as Athletic Director, also promotes Daeny to head coach". InvenGlobal. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ "WELCOME BACK kkOma - T1 2024". YouTube. 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
- ^ "KkOma appointed head coach of South Korea's League of Legends team for 2022 Asian Games Hangzhou". InvenGlobal. 2022-03-25. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
Notes
edit- ^ Known as SK Telecom T1 2 in 2013, SK Telecom T1 K in 2014, and SK Telecom T1 from 2014 to 2019.