LNG Esports

LNG Esports is a Chinese professional esports organization based in Suzhou. It was known as Snake Esports from its creation in 2013 until its acquisition by sportswear company Li-Ning in 2019.

LNG Esports
Nickname"Little Qilin" (小麒麟)
GameLeague of Legends
Founded11 September 2013 (2013-09-11) (as Snake Esports)
21 May 2019 (as LNG Esports)
LeagueLeague of Legends Pro League
Team historySnake Esports (2013–2019)
LNG Esports (2019–present)
Based inSuzhou, China
StadiumYangcheng International Esports Center
OwnerLi Qilin
CEOShuang Quan
ManagerWang "Stan" Miao
Zuo Wujun
Parent groupLi-Ning
Motto"Anything is possible"
Chinese name
Simplified ChineseLNG电子竞技俱乐部
Traditional ChineseLNG電子競技俱樂部
Literal meaningLNG Esports Club

LNG's main League of Legends team competes in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), the top-level league for the game in China. LNG plays its home games at the Yangcheng International Esports Center in Suzhou.

History

Snake Esports announced on 21 May 2019 that they had been acquired by athletic apparel company Li-Ning and that they were rebranding as LNG Esports.[1][2][3] Top laner Li "Flandre" Xuanjun, jungler Lê "SofM" Quang Duy, mid laner Huang "Fenfen" Chen, bot laner Lu "Asura" Qi and support Hu "Maestro" Jianxin remained on the team following the acquisition. To complete LNG's inaugural roster, mid laner Bae "Plex" Ho-young and support Duan "Duan" De-Liang were acquired from Griffin and Vici Gaming respectively.[4][5]

LNG placed seventh in the 2019 LPL Summer regular season, qualifying for the first round of playoffs.[6] After sweeping Invictus Gaming in the first round, LNG lost to Royal Never Give Up in the quarterfinals.

In late 2019, LNG announced several roster changes, dropping SofM, Plex, Fenfen, and Maestro, and signing jungler Xiong "Xx" Yulong, rookie support Liao "lwandy" Dingyang, and Taiwanese veteran mid laner Huang "Maple" Yi-tang.[7] Bot laner Wang "Light" Guangyu was also promoted from LNG's academy team. This revamped roster's first tournament was the 2019 Demacia Cup, in which they placed third in their group and failed to qualify for the knockout stage (i.e. playoffs). Aside from promoting top laner Zhou "chenlun17" Pengyuan, LNG did not make any other changes to their starting roster during the 2020 season. LNG placed 16th in the spring split and 13th in the summer split, both times ending with a 5–11 record.

LNG announced on 17 December 2020 that they had made several major changes to their roster. Top laner Chang "M1kuya" Xiao, mid laner Xie "icon" Tianyu, and most notably Korean star jungler Lee "Tarzan" Seung-yong had been acquired from SDX Gaming, OMG, and Griffin respectively.[8] Despite these roster changes, in the 2020 Demacia Cup LNG once again finished third in their group and failed to qualify for the knockout stage. Hu "Ale" Jiale was subsequently acquired from TT Gaming and signed as a substitute top laner for the 2021 season.[9]

LNG placed tenth in the 2021 LPL Spring regular season and qualified for the first round of playoffs, where they were swept by Suning.[10] LNG had a stronger showing in the summer split, placing eight in the regular season and taking upset victories over several higher-placed teams. However, LNG's summer playoff run was ended in the fourth round (i.e. quarterfinals) by Edward Gaming, which would go on to win that split's title. LNG's overall placements in the spring and summer splits earned them a spot in the 2021 LPL Regional Finals, where they defeated Rare Atom and Team WE to qualify for the 2021 World Championship.[11]

Roster
LNG Esports League of Legends roster
PlayersCoaches
Role Handle Name Nationality
Top Zika Tang Huayu China
Jungle Tarzan Lee Seung-yong South Korea
Mid Scout Lee Ye-chan South Korea
Bot LP Li Fei China
Support Hang Fu Minghang China
Mid Yuekai Substitute player Zhang Yuekai China
Head coach

Chang "Poppy" Po-Hao

Assistant coach(es)

Zeng "U" Long

Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness
  

Roster updated 17 January 2023.

References
  1. Cai, Xingxiu (21 May 2019). "《英雄聯盟》確定易主！Snake戰隊更名為LNG". Yahoo Esports Taiwan (in Chinese). Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  2. Chen, Hongyu (22 May 2019). "Chinese Organization Snake Esports Appears to Rebrand to 'LNG Esports'". The Esports Observer. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  3. Zhang, Chenglu (24 May 2019). "Chinese organisation Snake Esports rebrands as LNG Esports". Esports Insider. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  4. "Những hình ảnh cực chất trong buổi ra mắt của LNG Esports, 'mái nhà' hứa hẹn đưa SofM lên tầm cao mới". Kenh14 (in Vietnamese). 24 May 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  5. Helino, Theo (24 May 2019). "LMHT: Vừa đổi chủ, team SofM chiêu mộ ngay tân binh hàng tuyển của Griffin". GameK (in Vietnamese).
  6. Zijdenbos, Arend (19 August 2019). "2019 LPL Summer playoffs schedule announced". Daily Esports. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  7. Newell, Adam (15 December 2019). "LNG signs Maple and Xx ahead of 2020 LPL season". Dot Esports. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  8. "LNG Esports on Weibo". Weibo. LNG Esports. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  9. "LNG Esports on Weibo". Weibo. LNG Esports. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  10. Lupasco, Cristian (1 April 2021). "Here are the results for the 2021 LPL Spring Split playoffs". Dot Esports. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  11. Kelly, Michael (5 September 2021). "Last 2 teams qualify for Worlds 2021, set the field for the competition". Dot Esports. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
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