Recently, EDward Gaming and the LPL organizing committee announced that player Lee “Scout” Ye-chan has officially become a “domestic player” in the Chinese League of Legends tournament after meeting all the approval criteria set by the organizing committee.
Scout has spent 5 years with EDward Gaming since moving to China in March 2016. The former SKT player is considered one of the veteran stars of League of Legends in China, belonging to the “third wave of foreign players” (a term referring to the stages of Korean foreign players joining the LPL, with the first wave including players like KaKAO and Rookie, the second wave consisting of Samsung Galaxy players from 2014, and the third wave being players who joined after 2014).
With Scout becoming a domestic player, EDG will be allowed to add another foreign player to their official roster, as currently, they only have the marksman Viper occupying the foreign player slot.
Therefore, as of now, the LPL has had 2 cases of foreign players becoming domestic players, namely Doinb and Scout. As for Rookie and SofM, both have yet to become LPL domestic players, despite meeting the “tenure” criteria.
To clarify this issue, “competing for 4 years” is just one of the conditions to become a domestic player slot in the LPL. Cases that are prioritized in the domestic player approval process mainly depend on some factors such as: achievements brought to the region, or having close ties to Chinese citizens (marriage). Rookie and SofM seem to meet the conditions; however, the final step requires the individual wishing to become a domestic player to proactively submit an approval application, and as of now, neither has taken this step.