Team Liquid is set to sign Cloud9 top laner Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong following the opening of the free agency period on Tuesday, sources close to the player and team told ESPN. Impact's contract with Cloud9 comes to a close at the end of Monday, at which point he is free to sign with Liquid Tuesday morning.
Impact is just one of the acquisitions for Team Liquid this offseason. On Saturday, Liquid reportedly acquired contract rights to four Immortals players Jake "Xmithie" Puchero, Andy "AnDa" Hoang, Eugene "Pobelter" Park and Cody Sun.
Liquid is expected to start at least Xmithie and Pobelter alongside Impact, as it explores its options for the bottom lane.
The team is not expected re-sign Chae "Piglet" Gwang-jin, whose contract expires on Monday evening, sources said. The team has top laner Samuel "Lourlo" Jackson, mid laners Sun "Mickey" Yong-min and Greyson "Goldenglue" Gilmer, and junglers Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett and Kim "Reignover" Ui-jin under contract, some until 2018 and others until 2019.
Impact joins the team after expressing his desire to explore free agency to his former team Cloud9. He reportedly received offers from his former team SK Telecom T1 -- where he won the 2013 World Championship -- according to Inven. Cloud9 would match his offers, but simultaneously acquired the contract to Eric "Licorice" Ritchie from eUnited on Friday, sources told ESPN, in the event Impact did not return to the team.
Team Liquid will be Impact's fourth North American team since he left SK Telecom T1 and his home region of South Korea. He initially played with Team Impulse before moving over to NRG Esports, and then to Cloud9, where he has competed throughout the tail end of the 2016 season and all of the 2017 season.
The moves come after Team Liquid was accepted as a permanent partner to the North American League of Legends Championship Series. In 2017, the team placed ninth in both regular seasons, the lowest it has ever ranked in organizational history.
Team Liquid did not respond to request for comment.