Former League of Legends world champion Invictus Gaming revealed its full 2020 LPL roster today, but Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo was nowhere to be seen.
The young Chinese AD carry was instrumental to IG’s success in last year’s LPL spring and summer seasons, helping to carry the team throughout a mid-year slump to advance to Worlds.
After winning Worlds in 2018, the team plummeted in the standings, losing their strong footing in the league and dramatically underperforming at MSI. Falling to North America’s Team Liquid in the semifinals set them back, causing a rippling effect on their team performance and landing them in an eighth-place finish in the summer season.
If it wasn’t for JackeyLove’s keen and confident playmaking, the team would’ve fallen to Top Esports in the 2019 LPL Regional Finals and narrowly missed out on Worlds. But the team bounced back and had a strong showing at Worlds 2019, advancing to the semifinals before losing to the eventual winners of the tournament, FunPlus Phoenix.
Following today’s news, it looks like JackeyLove will no longer be a part of the 2018 Worlds winning roster, with rookie Ding “Puff” Wang taking his place.
The details of his departure have yet to be revealed by the organization, but rumors suggest he’s moving on to rival team Royal Never Give Up. If this is the case, he’ll have to share playing time with both Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao and Lu “Betty” Yu-Hung.
In this scenario, it looks like a lose-lose situation for both IG and JackeyLove.
