TheShy returns to Invictus Gaming for Split 3 as Soboro, Nia and Breathe make way

Kang "TheShy" Seung-lok is back. Invictus Gaming confirmed on Weibo that the Korean toplaner will rejoin the starting roster for LPL 2026 Split 3, ending the break that kept him off the active lineup since December.

The return comes with three exits. The club also announced that Soboro, Nia, and Breathe are all leaving — clearing the top lane for TheShy and reshaping a roster that has shuffled all season.

IG bet against this a year ago. TheShy stepped away ahead of the 2026 season — his second extended break after sitting out all of 2024 — and the team signed Lim "Soboro" Seong-min from BNK FearX to replace him. The move did not pay off. IG finished the regular season of Split 1 in last place of the group Ascend, with a 38% win rate. Soboro lost his starting spot to Breathe in Split 2, and in the midlane, Zou "Nia" Guang-lu rotated with Zhang "Renard" Xin-che without either convincing.

Now IG turn back to the player who built the franchise's only domestic title. TheShy also led the team to the 2018 World Championship in Incheon and spent the following years defining the top lane through sheer aggression. He came within one series of a second crown in 2023, when Weibo Gaming fell 0-3 to T1 in the final.

One World Champion could be followed by another

One rumor is making serious noise: Song "Rookie" Eui-jin returning to the starting lineup alongside him. That would reunite the duo that won IG's 2018 Worlds title — two of the most iconic players in the club's history. The duo had already reunited last year, when IG's Worlds run was cut short in the Play-Ins by the eventual World Champions, T1.

Theshy and rookie — Photo Credit: Riot Games

The timing matters, Split 3 runs from July to September and decides which LPL teams reach Worlds 2026. IG sit far from that picture right now, and the front office is betting that a healthy TheShy raises the ceiling.

The club leaned into the homecoming. Its announcement framed IG as TheShy's home and closed on a simple line: "Welcome home, iG.TheShy."