The midseason brought many changes to the LPL teams. While a lot of changes were to substitute players and academy players, some changes were quite impactful. Amongst these changes are the rookies that joined and the stars that moved to new teams. Last week’s article covered the rookies that joined from the LDL. So today’s article will take a look at the stars and the impact their changes will have. It’s important to note that Uzi’s retirement won’t be on today’s list since that was already covered in a past article.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
After 6 years performing as a bot lane carry, Xie “Jinjiao” Jin-Shan decided to become a support player. From Deft’s substitute on EDG to becoming the face of Bilibili, Jinjiao has built his entire brand in the bot lane. Now, he will be using his knowledge as a former carry to play in the support position.
This change may seem to be out of nowhere, but after watching Jinjiao, the answer is clear. He has always loved to make the plays and was always a high risk, high reward carry. With the power shifting more and more into the support position, it was only natural for Jinjiao to want to follow suit. He hasn’t seen play yet this split, but with the team being 0-3, they might be looking to change things up soon.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Ever since joining Snake Esports in 2019, Asura has been one of the best performing carries in the LPL. Despite the team not always looking great, Asura always seemed to perform. Along with Rogue Warrior’s ZWuji, Asura was one of the rookie highlights of 2019. He quickly made a name for himself on Kaisa, as she was his most played champion in 2019.
However, with the meta changes in 2020, he never really found his footing. His performances on both Aphelios and Miss Fortune were shaky, and the team struggled without their carry. While the team managed to get ready for summer, Asura left the squad during the off-season. While he may not be seen for a while, when the meta changes again, Asura is sure to return to LPL.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
When it comes to big changes, no one made bigger moves than LGD. LangX and Xiye are both long-time LPL veterans, and both have quite a large fan-base, especially the latter. LangX, formerly known as XiaoAL, spent the past year playing for RNG. While he did get heavily criticized in 2020, especially by fans, his performances in 2019 were spectacular. On the other hand, Xiye left WE for Dominus this spring, but the team failed to produce results.
Now, both these veterans join forces on LGD, a team that already had Peanut and Kramer, two veterans in their own right. LGD is currently in second place, sitting at 2-0. While it may still be early on, it seems like these players have found a home in LGD.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Fenfen is another veteran player, who never really got a chance to show off his skills. After one split on Suning in Summer 2017, he got benched due to Knight joining the team. When the managers benched Knight for Summer 2018, he returned to the roster, only to get sold to Snake. During his 2019 with Snake/LNG, he never was the sole mid laner, as the team always had 2+ players for the role. In spring of 2020, he joined LGD, only to spend most of the split on the bench.
Now on eStar, Fenfen has a new opportunity to prove that he still has what it takes to be a top tier mid laner. On a roster full of rookies, Fenfen is the player with the most LPL experience on eStar. Fans can only hope that can guide them to another successful split.
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