LGD Gaming

LGD Gaming
Short name LGD
Divisions Dota 2
League of Legends
Founded 2009
Location Shanghai, China
Manager Pan "RuRu" Jie
Partners Guizhou Laogandie Food
Taobao
Razer
Kingston HyperX

LGD Gaming is a professional eSports organization based in China, with teams competing in Dota 2 and League of Legends. The team is named after the team's main sponsor, Guizhou Laogandie Food. LGD's Dota team has reached The International for the last five years.

History

Dota 2

Early years

LGD Gaming was founded in 2009 by sponsoring a Defense of the Ancients team named For The Dream. For the Dream got the champion of Intel Extreme Masters Season IV Global Challenge Chengdu.[1][2] The team was hit hard in 2011, when 4 of the team's members left for Invictus Gaming, leaving only captain Gong "ZSMJ" Jian.[3] ZSMJ managed to rebuild the team by recruiting Zhang "xiao8" Ning, Yao "Yao" Zhengzheng, Xie "DD" Bin, and Liang "DDC" Faming. With ZSMJ's retirement a few months later, Liu "Sylar" Jiajun was chosen to take his place.[4]

The International 2012

With their lineup set, LGD received an invite to The International 2012. The team dominated the group stages, finishing 14-0 and topping their group. They continued this undefeated streak into the playoffs, defeating Orange eSports and Team Zenith 2-0 to earn a spot in the winner's finals. Against Natus Vincere, LGD suffered their first loss and were sent to the lower bracket with a 2-1 loss. Facing Invictus Gaming in the loser's finals, LGD could not make it to the grand finals, losing again 2-1 for a 3rd-place finish and $150,000 in prize money.

In October 2012, LGD added an international squad consisting of Rasmus "MiSeRy" Filipsen, Per Anders Olsson "Pajkatt" Lille, Theeban "1437" Siva, Sergey "God" Bragin, and Braxton "Brax" Paulson.[5]

The International 2013

With Huang "LongDD" Xiang replacing DD, LGD China received their invite to The International 2013. LongDD, however, suddenly retired in May[6] and DD was given his spot back on the team. With this roster change, LGD were stripped of their invite[7] and were forced to go through the qualifiers, which they won. LGD International also received an invite to the competition.

In the group stages, LGD China finished 8-7, and defeated Team Dignitas in a tiebreaker to earn a spot in the upper bracket. The International squad, meanwhile, finished 5-9, and were seeded in the lower bracket. LGD China were forced down to the lower bracket after losing to Alliance 2-0 in the first round. In the lower bracket, LGD China lost their first match 1-0 to Team Liquid, finishing in 9th-12th place and receiving no money. The International squad, meanwhile, defeated Mousesports 1-0, then lost to Fnatic 1-0, also finishing 9th-12th.

After The International, changes were made for both squads. The International squad replaced 1437 and God with Dominik "Black^" Reitmeier and Nicholas "xFreedom" Kelvin Ileto Lim.[8] After a few months, however, Pajkatt and MiSeRy left,[9] and the team dissolved shortly afterwards.[10]

On the Chinese team, Sylar was sent to RisingStars in exchange for Zhang "xiaotuji" Wang,[11] and xiao8 left the team for NewBee. After a few players were tried out, the team settled on Xu "Lin" Ziyang to replace xiao8.[12]

The International 2014

In the scramble for xiao8's replacement, LGD were too unstable to warrant an invite to The International 2014, and were once again forced to go through the qualifiers. After winning the qualifiers, the team finished 7-8 in the group stages, and advanced to the next phase after finishing 1-1 in tiebreaker matches against Mousesports and NewBee. After eliminating Team Liquid 2-0, the team lost to Cloud9 2-1, getting seeded into the lower bracket for the main event. In the main event, LGD defeated Invictus Gaming 2-1, then had to face the Chinese super team Team DK. Despite an amazing comeback in Game 1, LGD lost the next two games, finishing in 5th-6th place and winning over $650,000 in prize money.

After The International 2014, the team was thrown into turmoil. DD retired,[13] and xiaotuji left for NewBee.[14] LGD acquired many new players in the month after TI,[15] leading to a collaboration with Vici Gaming known as LV Gaming,[16] with 3 LGD players (Lin, DDC, and He "inflame" Yongzheng) being sent to the new team.[14] After the dust had settled, the roster consisted of Sylar, Yao, Yang "In July" Xiaodong, Zeng "Faith" Hongda, and Lei "MMY" Zengrong.

After a 9th-12th-place finish at the Dota 2 Asia Championships in February, more changes were made. xiao8, seemingly retired after winning The International 2014, returned to the team to replace Faith, and InJuly was replaced by Lu "Maybe" Yao. This team received an invite to The International 2015.

The International 2015

LGD finished the group stages with 5 wins, 2 ties, and 0 losses, giving them 17 points and first place in Group A. At the main event, they defeated Team Empire 2-1, but lost to their former reserve team CDEC Gaming 2-0 in the semifinals, putting LGD in the lower bracket. In the lower bracket, LGD defeated Virtus Pro 2-0 and Vici Gaming 2-1 before losing to the eventual champions Evil Geniuses 2-0, finishing 3rd and winning more than $2.2 million.

After TI5 finished, LGD acquired Bai "rOtk" Fan[17] and DDC[18] to replace xiao8 and Yao, who decided to become substitute players.

Roster

ID Name Birthday/Age Position Join date
Sylar Liu Jiajun December 20, 1992 1 Aug 2014
Maybe Lu Yao - 2 Mar 2015
rOtk Bai Fan - 3 Aug 2015
MMY Lei Zengrong - 4 Aug 2014
DDC Liang Faming - 5 Aug 2015
Yao Yao Zhengzheng November 7, 1990 3 Aug 2011
xiao8 Zhang Ning November 14, 1989 4 Mar 2015

League of Legends

Pre-LPL

The team had a chance to qualify for the Season 2 League of Legends World Championship, but lost to Invictus Gaming 2-0 in the Regional Qualifiers, finishing 3rd-4th.

2013

In the Tencent Arena Grand Prix Winter 2012, LGD failed to make it out of the group stages, finishing 1-2 in their group and failing to qualify for the first season of the League of Legends Pro League. In the Summer 2013 Grand Prix, LGD once again finished 1-2 in the group stages, failing to qualify for the Summer season.

2014

After winning the Winter 2013 Grand Prix, defeating Vici Gaming 2-1 in the final, LGD earned a spot in the 2014 LPL Spring Promotions. In the 4 team round robin, LGD topped the group with a 3-0 record, qualifying for the Spring season.

In the Spring, LGD finished 4-4-6 in the regular season, finishing in 5th place. This was not enough to earn a spot in the playoffs.

In the Summer, LGD finished 4-6-4, finishing in 4th place and earning a spot in the playoffs. In the playoffs, LGD failed to win a game, losing 3-0 to EDward Gaming in the winner's bracket, and 3-0 to Star Horn Royal Club in the loser's bracket, finishing 4th in the playoffs. This performance earned LGD a spot in the Regional Qualifiers for the Season 4 World Championship. LGD would lose 2-0 to Star Horn Royal Club, and after defeating Invictus Gaming 2-1, LGD would lose to Oh My God 2-1, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the World Championship.

2015

MaRin signed for LGD Gaming shortly after leading SK Telecom T1 to victory at the 2015 World Championship.[19]

LGD improved their roster by picking up 3 South Korea players: AD Carry Gu "imp" Seung-bin[20] and top laners Lee "Flame" Ho-jong[21] and Choi "Acorn" Cheon-ju.[22] imp was a member of Season 4 World Championship winners Samsung White.

With the expansion to 12 teams, LGD was ensured a spot in the LPL Spring season after their performance last Summer. LGD finished the regular season 7-10-5, in 6th place. Unlike previous years, this was enough to earn a spot in the playoffs. LGD reached the finals with 3-0 victories over Oh My God and Snake eSports. Going up against EDward Gaming, LGD put up a fight, but lost 3-2, finishing in 2nd place and earning then 200 Circuit Points.

In the Summer Season, LGD finished 6-12-4 in the regular season, finishing 5th place. In the playoffs, after qualifying for the 4 team final stage, LGD defeated Summer regular season and Spring playoff champions EDward Gaming 3-0, earning a spot in the finals and securing a spot at the 2015 World Championship by earning the most circuit points.[23] In the finals, LGD defeated Qiao Gu Reapers 3-2, finishing first place in the Summer Playoffs.

Roster

ID Name Birthday/Age Role Join date
Funny Li Yuan-Hui (李元辉) - Top Lane May 2016
Eimy Xie Dan (谢丹) - Jungler Dec 2015
We1less (formerly PAinEvil ) Wei Zhen (韦朕) July 16, 1997 Middle Lane May 2014
imp Gu Seung-bin (구승빈) June 7, 1995 AD Carry Oct 2014
Pyl Chen Bo (陈博) November 6, 1994 Support Sep 2012

References

  1. ↑ "Intel Extreme Masters Season IV Global Challenge Chengdu". ESL World. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Intel® Extreme Masters Season IV - Global Challenge: Chengdu (DotA)". e-Sports Earnings. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  3. ↑ "DotA News: Only ZSMJ remains behind for LGD - GosuGamers". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "DotA News: Sylar replaces ZSMJ in LGD - GosuGamers". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Dota 2 News: LGD Gaming expands with an international squad - GosuGamers". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "LongDD retirement pending? Kicked from LGD?". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Dota 2 News: LGD.cn invitation to TI3 revoked, TongFu invited - GosuGamers". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "LGD International Rebuilt: Interview with Brax". joinDOTA.com. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Dota 2 News: Pajkatt and Misery leave LGD.Int; team flirting with disbandment - GosuGamers". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Dominik Reitmeier". Twitter. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "LGD and RisingStars do a player swap". joinDOTA.com. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "LGD-Gaming - Timeline Photos - Facebook". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Dota 2 News: DD announces retirement - GosuGamers". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  14. 1 2 "Newbee电竞俱乐部:经过与LGD电子竞技俱...". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  15. ↑ "LGD电子竞技俱乐部LGD.战旗TV战队人员调整公告". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "ViCi Gaming - Timeline Photos - Facebook". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  17. ↑ "LGD-Gaming". Twitter. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "LGD-Gaming". Twitter. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  19. ↑ Lingle, Samuel (2015-12-10). "MaRin joins LGD Gaming". The Daily Dot.
  20. ↑ "LGD-Gaming". Twitter. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  21. ↑ "League of Legends". GameSpot. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "LGD最后的引援！！！_we吧_百度贴吧". Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  23. ↑ "2015 Season/Championship Points/China". eSportspedia's League of Legends Wiki. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
EDward Gaming		 League of Legends Pro League winner
Summer 2015 		Succeeded by
Royal Never Give Up
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