Former FunPlus Phoenix jungler Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang has joined Top Esports, the Chinese organization announced today.
The 21-year-old had been a part of FPX since December 2018 and helped the team win the League of Legends World Championship in November 2019. He left FPX this offseason after their lackluster campaign at Worlds 2021, where the Chinese squad came in last place in Group A.
Top Esports expects Tian to play a big part in the League roster the organization has put together for 2022. “As a top-level jungler, he showed penetrating insight and outstanding performance on the court,” Top Esports said in its official announcement. “We believe that Tian’s arrival will help the whole team to progress together.”
Top Esports finished fourth in the 2021 LPL Spring Split playoffs in April and top eight in the LPL Summer Split playoffs in August. Thus, they didn’t qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational or Worlds last season. The organization has made multiple roster changes this month, having renewed mid laner Zhuo “knight” Ding’s contract and parting ways with jungler Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan, support Liang “yuyanjia” Jia-Yuan, and top laner Bai “369” Jia-Hao.
The Chinese team also signed jungler Wang “Xiaopeng” Peng and top laner Zhang “Zoom” Xing-Ran alongside Tian. Top laner Huang “Wayward” Ren-Xing was promoted from the academy squad, too. Top Esports is changing its coaching staff for 2020 as well. Former supervisor Luo “Crescent” Sheng has been promoted to head coach following Chen “WarHorse” Ju-Chih’s departure.
With all of these changes, Top Esports has officially finalized its roster for the 2022 LPL Spring Split. The team will consist of Zoom, Yu “Qingtian” Zi-Han, Wayward, Tian, Xiaopeng, knight, Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo, and Wang “Zhuo” Xu-Zhuo.
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