Image credit: LoL Esports
League of Legends Pro League (LPL) squad Edward Gaming has announced on Dec. 16 that it has signed South Korean AD carry Park "Viper" Do-hyeon and Chinese veteran top laner Li "Flandre" Xuan-Jun to its lineup for the 2021 season, and that it has renewed the contracts of mid laner Lee "Scout" Ye-chan and support Tian "Meiko" Ye. The team also previously integrated head coach Ming "Clearlove" Kai back into the lineup as a jungler, effective Dec. 14.
Viper joins the team after a rocky 2020 season saw his team, Griffin, go from 2019 World Championship participation to 2020 spring split relegation at the hands of SANDBOX Gaming. The player then bounced around towards Hanwha Life Esports, but the team struggled to make an impact in the 2020 summer split despite their strong bot lane duo, Viper and Son "Lehends" Si-woo, holding the fort.
The player's team results may have been shaky, but his individual performance remained strong. The player's arrival to EDward Gaming bolsters the lineup at that position, after Wang "Hope" Jie's form suffered a relative dip in the LPL 2020 summer split. The two players are set to compete for the starting position, with their support player undecided yet.
The team previously switched Clearlove, who took a one-year break from competing, back into the jungle and has experience playing alongside Scout and Meiko. With the bulk of its core renewed, the organization is set to integrate Flandre and Viper into its system, receiving much needed upgrades in performance.
Viper's signing marks the first official transfer of the offseason from the League Champions Korea (LCK) circuit to the LPL, with former teammate Lee "Tarzan" Seung-yong and 2020 world champion top laner Jang "Nuguri" Ha-gwon set to do the same.
