Royal Never Give Up announced the departure of League of Legends mid laner Xiang “Angel” Tao yesterday, as well as coach Yang “Xiaobai” Zhong-he, after a disappointing split that saw the team barely make it into the LPL Spring Playoffs before being eliminated in the second round by finalist BiBili Gaming.
With fans questioning who will be the replacement coming into the Summer Split, RNG’s support Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming gave some hints about the mysterious player in his latest stream.
“Actually, I shouldn’t tell you because of NDAs,” he said, “but considering you guys are my family, I will tell you something… The player starts with the letter M and [his name] is four characters. That’s all you can know. Don’t leak it.”
While there is no confirmation yet, fans have already started narrowing down the candidates and guessing who the new mid laner will be.
Initially, some were thinking Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang—the former LNG mid laner and 2019 world champion—but considering what Ming said, it likely won’t be him.
Some have also speculated that Ming himself could be the starting mid laner, as he could role-swap from support. Speaking of role swaps, some fans considered the possibility of former RNG jungler Liu “Mlxg” Shi-Yu.
That said, the chances of either of them role-swapping are low, especially considering how difficult it would be for either of them to learn and adapt to such an important role. Not to mention that Mlxg is also retired.
With very few options left, the only free agent and the most fitting candidate is Li “Mole” Hao-Yan, who previously played for Invictus Gaming. He has more than five years of competitive experience and has played for some of the best LPL teams like BiliBili Gaming, EDward Gaming, Victory Five, and Team WE.
But his most recent performance was a 13th-place finish with IG at the end of the 2022 Summer Split, and he’s currently a free agent. He’s known for playing control mages Zoe, Syndra, and Ryze, which should fit with RNG’s mid-bot-centric identity.
The LPL Summer Split will resume after the end of the Mid-Season Invitational, which has JD Gaming and BiliBili Gaming as the two representatives from the Chinese region.
