Despite JD Gaming failing to make League of Legends Worlds 2024, their mid laner Zeng “Yagao” Qi will be present at the event due to LNG Esports’ Lee “Scout” Ye-chan facing legal issues and travel restrictions.
This is undoubtedly a big setback for LNG, coming into Worlds 2024, as they will be missing one of their most important players.
Why is LNG Scout not playing in Worlds 2024?
Scout is currently unable to travel to Europe for the League of Legends Worlds 2024 tournament due to legal disputes with his former team, EDward Gaming.
This particular issue stems from incidents more than a year ago when Scout joined LNG Esports while still being under contract with EDward Gaming. The reason for his departure was due to EDG being unable to pay Scout’s salary according to the contract due to salary caps.
This led to EDG suing Scout which lead to the LNG mid laner paying the amount ordered by the court. EDG were still unsatisfied with this resolution and decided to sue Scout again leading to a travel ban as a result.
There have been certain rumblings on social media speculating Scout’s possible return to the starting lineup. However, as it stands, Yagao will be playing for LNG Esports at Worlds 2024. In the event where Scout’s travel ban is uplifted, Yagao will be ineligible to participate.
Many fans have been critical of this move due to Yagao’s unprecedently poor performance in the Summer Split.
It is not harsh to say that a major reason for JD Gaming’s absence at Worlds 2024 is due to Yagao’s inability to perform well in important matches. It will be quite interesting to see how well Yagao can bounce back at the biggest event of the year.
In other news ahead of Worlds 2024, European legend and current T1 Esports Academy Support Martin “Rekkles” Larsson has been listed as T1’s official substitute for Worlds 2024.
Rekkles has spent the entirety of 2024 in Korea competing in the LCK Challengers League with T1’s Academy roster. While it is unlikely Rekkles starts over Ryu “Keria” Min-seok, it will be exciting to see Rekkles back in Europe.
