Former Liquid jungler Shernfire joins Dire Wolves as coach

They say there’s no place like home and former Team Liquid jungler Shern “Shernfire” Cherng Tai could, in a sense, be returning home.

Shernfire and Dire Wolves announced earlier today that the 22-year-old will be rejoining the organization, this time in a coaching role. The roughly minute-long video features Shernfire talking about the move and his optimism to improve the League of Legends roster’s second-place finish in the OPL Spring Split Playoffs.

Shernfire said on Twitter he’ll be coaching the team remotely from Korea and will continue practicing in solo queue for the remainder of the year. At time of writing, he’s yet to comment on if this means his days as a professional player are over. 

Shernfire began his career with Dire Wolves in 2014 as a substitute before leaving to play on various teams in North America. In 2017, he returned to the organization and helped capture four first-place trophies before leaving to return to North America.

Liquid signed the Oceanic jungler in November 2019 to play on TL Academy. Shernfire filled in on the main roster in 2020 due to visa issues with Broxah, where he posted a 2.5 KDA across six games with the squad going 2-4. On TL Academy, he performed much better in the regular season but stumbled in the playoffs. The team was swept by Evil Geniuses Academy in the quarterfinals. 

After Liquid signed former Dignitas jungler Jonathan “Grig” Armao to its Academy team on May 10, the organization decided to part ways with Shernfire, allowing him to explore new opportunities. In a TwitLonger, Shernfire expressed how it hurt to be removed from his dream team and having those he respected lose faith in him. 

The OPL returns Friday, June 5 at 1am CT with The Chiefs Esports Club vs. Pentanet.GG