369 personally confirms move to Top Esports in 2024
Bai “369” Jia-Hao has personally confirmed on the Top Esports (TES) official fan group page that he has left JD Gaming and will be joining Top Esports in the following season.
369 will therefore be ending his near 2 year tenure with JD Gaming, to return to his former organization. He previously spent a total of roughly 3 years in total with the prestigious Chinese organization, having begun his career there in earnest. Prior to Top Esports, he had only played on their sister team, ‘King of the Future’. This roster was later rebranded to TES Challenger, however, 369 had moved on prior to the rebrand.
It’s Not Just About the Money
In a reddit post translating his posted message, 369 spoke on his reasons for deciding to leave JDG ahead of the upcoming season.
“JDG also tried to retain me, but it’s not just about the money. It feels like I let my brothers down in 2021. We will definitely make a comeback next year.”
In the initial portion of his statement, he addressed that JDG had indeed attempted to retain his services. Similar rumors/leaks have also suggested that most of the 2023 JDG lineup has been retained, including most notably Kanavi, Knight, and MISSING. However, the Top Laner elected to head back to his original organization, feeling that he ‘abandoned’ them in some ways in 2021.
Traveling back in time to study this moment, we notice several things. Leading into 2021, TES initially had an incredible split, finishing 3rd in the regular season. However, they ended the Playoffs in 4th. From there, it was 5th place in the Summer Split, 7th-8th in Summer Playoffs and a no-show for Worlds or MSI internationally-speaking.
This is especially heartbreaking considering TES had been performing exceedingly well in 2020. 4th in Spring, 2nd in Spring Playoffs, victory in Mid-Season Cup (replaced MSI that year), 1st in Summer, 1st in Summer Playoffs, and 3rd-4th at Worlds 2020.
Bai "369" Jiahao at Worlds 2022 in New York City. Credit: Lance Skundrich/Riot GamesUnhappiness Amidst Success
Despite an incredibly successful 2023 with JDG, 369 has cited unhappiness with his current situation. The Worlds Semifinalist (twice) has stated that his (and the team’s) performance at this Worlds has been criticized ‘so much.’
JDG’s monstrous performance in 2023 set high expectations for the team internationally. And while they were able to meet them at MSI, they were not able to replicate their success in Worlds. The crushing expectation has already seen Head Coach Homme bow out into retirement. And now it appears 369 is swiftly on his way out as well.
“Good luck to JDG. I don’t care anymore. The World Championship this year, (I) have been criticized so much. Maybe I will be happier if I perform well in TES. Let’s look at the results in the future guys.”
*Translation was done by a reddit user on the League of Legends subreddit. Due to this, some portions may not be entirely accurate in wording or intention. Original source for message here.
*JDG has now officially announced 369’s departure from the organization, confirming the rumors.
Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
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