EDward Gaming is one of the most decorated Chinese League of Legends esports organizations in history, but EDG's 2020 League of Legends Pro League season was a down year to say the least. EDG managed to secure the 6th seed in the 2020 LPL Spring Playoffs by the skin of its teeth only to be eliminated by FunPlus Phoenix in swift 3-1 fashion. EDG missed the summer post-season entirely after finishing 10th place in the 2020 LPL Summer Split. 

In the off-season, EDward Gaming has made a flurry of moves to return to its power as one of the strongest teams in the LPL, and should its roster perform to what's expected on paper, EDG is an immediate favorite for the LPL title. 

EDG began the off-season in very quiet fashion. Despite the free agency window opening on November 16, EDG's first move was in December, which was simply to allow jungler Yu "JunJia" Chun-Chia's contract to expire. However, once EDG started making the big moves, it certainly didn't stop. 

Ming “Clearlove” Kai, who served as head coach for EDG in 2020, is coming out of retirement to return as the team's starting jungler. 2021 will mark Clearlove's seventh LPL season starting in the jungle for EDward Gaming.

South Korean AD carry Park "Viper" Do-hyeon, who most recently competed in League of Legends Champions Korea with Hanwha Life Esports in 2020,  has been signed as EDG's new starting sharpshooter. 

EDward Gaming also solidified the top side of its map by signing versatile LPL veteran Li "Flandre" Xuan-Jun to the top lane. Flandre made his LPL debut with Snake Esports in April 2014 and remained with the organization through its rebrand to LNG Esports in May 2019 until his contract expired last month. 

EDward Gaming also retained mid laner Lee "Scout" Ye-chan and support Tian "Meiko" Ye. Scout made his debut as a mid lane prospect slotted behind Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok for SK Telecom T1 before joining EDG in March 2016. Meiko made his LPL debut with EDG in the 2015 LPL Spring Split and has also renewed his contract with his hometown organization. 

EDward Gaming has also looked toward the future by signing another mid laner behind scout. Kim "Gori" Tae-woo, who somewhat ironically was a young prospect behind Faker in the 2020 season for T1 Esports, has been added to the roster alongside top laner Huang "xiaoxiang" Xiang, jungler  Zhao "Jiejie" Li-Jie and bot laner Wang "Hope" Jie.  Most recently, EDG announced it had parted ways with top laner Zhao "Aodi" Ao-Di to finalize its 2021 LPL roster. 

EDG has yet to announce how its coaching staff will be reconfigured now that Clearlove has returned to professional play. Check back here and on our Twitter below for more updates as news continues throughout the free agency period.

All images by: EDward Gaming

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