Flandre makes the move to JD Gaming for 2024 LPL season
Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun has been officially confirmed by JD Gaming to be joining their roster for the 2024 season.
The 25-year-old veteran Top Laner is set to reinforce the Chinese top side with a bounty of experience. This move brings the roster one step closer to completion, with only the Mid Laner needed as the final player piece.
JD Gaming 2024 LPL Starting Lineup:
- Top Lane: Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun
- Jungle: Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok
- Mid Lane: ?
- AD Carry: Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk
- Support: Lou “MISSING” Yun-Feng *(Likely but unconfirmed)
Some Reassembly Required Still
As the off-season in the LPL continues, it winds down for some of the bigger name organizations as the more well-known players begin to sign and sort themselves. With that said, JDG are 4/5ths of the way towards a new completed roster. In an earlier coverage days ago, Strafe Esports detailed how both Jungler Kanavi and AD Carry Ruler were re-signed to the organization for another year.
We also detailed the unfortunate departure of both Mid Laner Zhuo “knight” Ding and Top Laner Bai “369” Jia-Hao from the organization. Both were moves that took place over the course of the last week, and were unfortunate blows to the roster’s overall firepower.
Therefore, the signing of Flandre does alleviate some of the pressure that Kanavi may have been anticipating heading into this next season, now down both his reliable top laner and star mid laner.
Worlds-Caliber Top Laner
One of the strongest selling points for Flandre is that he comes into JDG as a Worlds-winning player. He holds the title, along with four other players, for the 2021 Worlds win under the EDG banner. Despite all of 369’s accomplishments, he has never won Worlds, having stopped at the Semifinals all 3 times he has attended.
Trifecta of Death. Park "Viper" Do-hyeon, Lee "Scout" Ye-chan and Li "Flandre" Xuan-Jun of EDward Gaming posing during the League of Legends Worlds 2022 Group Stage. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesThe Missing Link
Of the current Mid Lane names available in the LPL, the most notable and obvious is former Top Esports Mid Laner Song “Rookie” Eui-jin. However, he is now rumored to be linked with the new NIP roster project.
The next strong candidate is BLG Mid Laner Zeng “Yagao” Qi, who is reportedly being enticed by his current team and his long-time former team. Before joining BLG, Yagao was seen as an incredibly strong Mid Laner for JDG, and was part of many of the team’s successful years for the half decade he played under their banner. The fact that he went to BLG and continued to enjoy a successful year as well, further highlights his championship qualities.
Yagao is currently the most likely person to succeed knight, but time will tell if he wants to step back into his old shoes, or continue forging a new path with this BLG roster.
Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
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