Meiko officially departs from EDG, heads to TES for LPL 2024 season
Former EDward Gaming (EDG) franchise player Tian “Meiko” Ye is now on the move to Top Esports (TES). This move would simultaneously bring TES one step closer to completion and end a 9-year-run with EDG. This also marks the second roster move for EDG in this off-season.
Franchise for Life?
When Meiko burst onto the scene, he quickly gained acclaim for his proficiency and aptitude for the game. After an extremely brief stint on Rayunion (a now disbanded Chinese roster), he joined EDward Gaming in December 2014. Since then, he has remained with the organization until today.
Meiko is a Worlds title holder, having won Worlds in 2021 alongside his fellow teammates on EDG. He is mostly characterized by his style of play, and is recognized and credited as the team captain and main shotcaller for EDG during his time with the roster.
EDG’s Fate
His departure from EDG does throw into question the fate of the rest of the roster, especially if Meiko was the main driver behind their success and mid-game decision-making. EDG had a fairly unassuming year in 2023.
Their initial hot start of placing 2nd in the LPL 2023 Spring season and 3rd in Playoffs, quickly petered out by Summer. An 8th place finish in the Summer season and 5th-6th in Playoffs saw them having to battle through the LPL Regional Finals (barely losing to Weibo Gaming to finish 3rd).
Meiko’s departure from EDG was not an entirely surprising move, and perhaps not an entirely unjustified one. EDG has historically struggled as a middle-of-the-pack organization within the LPL.
Despite their Worlds title, for the majority of their time in the regular season, they have hovered around the middle. This has held true since 2018. The one season where this differed, was when they brought on, at the time rising talent, Park “Viper” Do-hyeon. With his help, their results went from a 10th place finish in LPL 2020 Summer, to a 2nd place finish in LPL 2021 Spring.
This is also not the first move made by EDG’s roster, with Chu “FoFo” Chun-Lan having already left after a 1 year run with the organization.
Top Esports 2024 LPL Starting Lineup:
With Meiko officially headed for Top Esports, the organization is one step away from completing their 2024 roster.
- Top Lane: Bai “369” Jia-Hao
- Jungle: Gao “Tian” Liang
- Mid Lane: Lin “Creme” Jian
- AD Carry: ?
- Support: Tian “Meiko” Ye
AD Carry player Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo is currently signed on a contract until 2025, however, it has not been officially confirmed if he will continue with TES.
Top Laner 369 already made a heartfelt return to TES less than a week ago, Tian was re-signed as their Jungler, and newcomer Creme has been added to replace outgoing Mid Laner Song “Rookie” Eui-jin.
Credit: LoL Esports
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