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JackeyLove renews contract with Invictus Gaming, Ning, West, and The Shy join iG

Kelsey Moser
West and Ning wearing iG T-Shirts (iG weibo)
West and Ning wearing iG T-Shirts (iG weibo)

AD carry Yu “JackeyLove” Wenbo has renewed his contract with Invictus Gaming’s League of Legends roster, according to the team’s weibo. iG’s announcement also included the news that ex-Young Miracles AD carry and jungler Gao “Ning” Zhenning and previous Game Talents AD carry Chen “West” Long have joined the team. As their final addition, Korean top laner and streamer Kang “The Shy” Seunglok, henceforth known as Threshy, also joined iG.

JackeyLove announced free agency on weibo earlier this offseason. Due to age restrictions, he did not start for Invictus Gaming during his previous year contracted to the team. He played for Young Miracles in the City of Heroes tournament that qualified iG’s new sister team for the League of Legends Secondary Pro League. Recently, he achieved Rank 1 on the Korean ladder playing primarily Kog’Maw and Draven, though he now sits at Rank 2.

Young Miracles placed Top 2 in the LSPL three splits in a row, but lost their ability to qualify for the LPL in six different best-of-fives that would have granted them a slot. Ning played as an AD carry for the team for the year of 2016, but switched to jungle in 2017 after the team’s support, Shi “Ming” Senming joined Royal Never Give Up. Ning’s transfer to iG marks the end of an era for YM.

West joined Game Talents as a promising rookie partway through the 2017 LPL Spring season. Though the team was ultimately relegated, he showed a great deal of promise. Invictus Gaming has not made it clear which of these AD carries will start for the team. Ning may take over the jungle role, as iG started rookie Chinese jungler Wen “Rio” Fuhua, toward the end of the 2017 Spring split.

As a final addition, Invictus Gaming announced that Korean top laner Kang “The Shy” Dong-geun has transferred from Team WE to Invictus Gaming. The Shy came to China at the end of 2014 at the age of 16 and began streaming. He is known to Chinese fans as “the first ranked Riven.” According to iG’s announcement, he will change his ID to Threshy going forward.

Despite finishing third in their group, Invictus Gaming got swept by Newbee Gaming, the fourth place team of Group B, in the first round of 2017 Spring playoffs. This marks the third consecutive playoffs in which the team has lost the first round.

May 20th, 2017 marks the end of the 2017 Spring and Summer offseason in the LPL. More announcements are expected to come shortly. Check back with Yahoo Esports for more information.

You can follow Kelsey Moser on Twitter @karonmoser.