It's a rarity nowadays for League of Legends players to leave the EU LCS and not hop over the pond to their North American rivals.

Yet that is exactly what Kim 'Trick' Gang-yun and Lee 'IgNar' Dong-geu have done as they have returned to South Korea with LCK team BBQ Olivers.

They have honed their craft in Europe and are now ready to take on the toughest competition in LoL esports, their new season starts when Olivers take on Kongdoo Monster on Thursday January 18.

Trick (third from the left) and IgNar (second from the right) have rejoined LCK with BBQ Olivers

South Korea have dominated LoL competition for years so it no surprise that both were successful in their European adventures - both of them qualified for the World Championships after every season they competed in Europe.

Trick in particular was successful, winning all four EU LCS Splits he competed in with G2 including the last one in which he defeated IgNar's Misfits in the final.

However, Worlds last year ended in disappointment for both of them. G2 failed to escape the group stages for the second year running in a row while Misfits came agonisingly close to defeating SK Telecom T1.

The latter was still seen as a huge overachievement and IgNar says he would rate his team's performance: '9/10, it would have been 10/10 if we hadn't lost.'

Meanwhile, Trick was more critical of his own performance saying: 'I'd give myself 7/10 because some games I had really good play and shot-called well but other times I was not good enough.'

Both of them agreed that for amateur Korean players, it is easier for them to join an EU LCS team to gain stage experience. That's no surprise when you look at talent at the top of the LCK, the top four teams are packed with world-class talent and are miles ahead of any other teams.

Trick and IgNar both think it is easier for Korean players to move to Europe to gain experience

When asked why European teams find themselves so far behind Korean teams, Trick said: 'I think communication is a lot easier in Korean language because it's really easy to talk clearly and there are more abbreviations to get your point across quicker.'

IgNar added: 'Korea solo queue is a much higher quality than Europe in my opinion, but i like EU solo queue more because i can win a lot more when playing off-role.'

Despite behind miles away from home and Europe lagging behind Korea in skill, Trick and IgNar say they loved their time in Europe: 'my teammates were very good to me, going to karaoke with them was really fun and of course kebabs are great too - I enjoyed everything about Europe.'

IgNar added: 'I went to NA for All-Star and it was then that I realised that i like EU more than NA. America does have really good food and weather but i liked Europe more.

'Europe added a lot to my life: it was where I started going to the gym, it was where I learned English.

'I think now Europe is so special to me, one day I might try to join another EU LCS team.'

gNar says he has realised after the All-Star event that he prefers Europe to North America

IgNar then admitted that he had multiple offers from Europe and America but through the crazy roster-shuffle, he ended up with Olivers. Still, he's happy to be close to home again and is looking forward to playing on the Korean stage once again.

Trick on the other hand, says he always intended to return to Korea this year: 'Ever since I moved to Europe I have always thought about coming back to Korea and this season was my perfect chance.

'I did have offers from other teams but I think BBQ have really good potential and all of their players are good. I think the only thing they were missing is experience so now that I'm here we can become a really good team.'

BBQ Olivers struggled in their first LCK season last year but with Worlds experience, Trick and IgNar know how to compete with the world's best. They face tough competition but have an outside chance of emerging as one of the top teams in South Korea.