As 2026 begins, the LoL S15 season is nearing its conclusion. Wishing everyone daily joy and smooth progress. In ARAM, fiery Brand and methodical Jayce are staples. The S16 season has seen significant shifts in the LPL pro circuit, with stars such as TheShy, JKL, and Meiko taking temporary leaves. The LPL’s total team count has dropped from 16 to 14.

The two teams exiting the league were once flagship representatives of the LPL. FPX needs no introduction, being one of the triple championship teams. The reason for Xiao Fenghuang’s departure is simple: lack of profit. Most LPL clubs now face this issue, and if the parent company refuses to invest further, individual owners find it hard to sustain the team. Moreover, FPX has never been favored by the LPL officials.

Recently, Doinb revealed during a livestream that when he heard FPX was quitting the league, he wanted to help his old team. He contacted LWX and planned to gather Ale, Shadow, and Iwandy to form a second-tier team. However, when Doinb tried reaching out to the parent company’s owner, he learned FPX had already applied to withdraw two years ago. In the end, he gave up, and the S9 world champion team quietly vanished from the LPL.

As for RNG, during the S7 to S9 seasons, they were also a prominent face of the LPL. Besides their S championship, they won almost everything possible. Their exit reason differs from FPX’s — it’s entirely due to the owner's mismanagement that the team collapsed. At their peak, the owner manipulated player contracts, forcing stars like Xiangguo, Baiyun, and Uzi into retirement, and later failed to pay salaries, causing a series of wage scandals.

With the club nearing bankruptcy, RNG still tried to squeeze more from players. Geju, who played at RNG for a while, recently disclosed in a livestream that Tangyuan’s contract was extremely restrictive; he couldn’t leave unless the club folded. No wonder RNG players quickly found new teams during the transfer window, but Tangyuan’s next team remained undecided for a long time due to contract issues — luckily RNG eventually collapsed.

Geju also revealed that Tangyuan’s salary at RNG was very low. Transitioning from streamer to player, he earned the same wage as Tangyuan. Blogger Lianlian Hongcha recently posted that Geju’s monthly salary at RNG was just a few tens of thousands, while Tangyuan’s pay at LGD rose to over a hundred thousand. Astonishingly, Tangyuan still had to work as a game companion on weekends to barely make ends meet.

A salary of tens of thousands per month might cover expenses, but at RNG, all players experienced delayed payments, and Tangyuan was no exception. It was said before that contracts were all signed by a minor named Xiaoming, who couldn’t even start streaming after retirement, showing how abnormal RNG’s contracts were. Tangyuan’s move to LGD marks his farewell to that cage. This year at the Demacia Cup, he performed well, leading LGD to the semifinals.

Could it be that Tangyuan was just pretending to be weak at RNG? After all, RNG doesn’t hold back on weaker players. His smooth exit might mean RNG thought he wasn’t strong enough. Otherwise, even if the team was collapsing, they would have tried to hold him back to make a huge transfer fee. Such a club managing to operate in the LPL for over a decade is truly bizarre. The officials fail to protect even the most basic player rights, which explains why the LPL is losing its shine.

Conclusion:

From being a pillar of the LPL to now being widely criticized, RNG really squandered a great hand. But the closure might be good, otherwise many players would be forced to retire due to contract restrictions. It’s a pity for Uzi, MLXG, and others who were forced out at their peak. If they had been able to switch teams, the LPL’s popularity might not have declined so rapidly.

What are your thoughts on RNG?

Feel free to leave your comments and join the discussion!