After the first week of the 2024 LPL Spring tournament, LNG Esports (LNG) is perhaps one of the biggest disappointments. It’s worth noting that LNG had a relatively favorable opening schedule, facing off against ThunderTalk Gaming (TT) and Oh My God (OMG), teams that are considered underdogs. However, they ended up losing unexpectedly to TT with a score of 1-2 and got stuck in the middle of the LPL Spring 2024 standings.
Not stopping there, LNG recently enraged fans by posting a video that included “shade” thrown at the team’s star – Scout. Specifically, a spectator in LNG’s video held up a cheer sign that read: “Go GALA! As for Scout, whatever, even if he plays poorly, I don’t care.”
Although this image only appeared briefly, fans quickly caught on. It is likely that these words allude to Scout’s somewhat disappointing performance at the 2023 World Championship. This has left many of Scout’s fans outraged, believing that LNG is intentionally treating this player poorly.
Immediately upon realizing the seriousness of the situation, LNG hurriedly deleted the video and posted an apology to fans. Furthermore, the staff member who edited and produced this video was also fired shortly after. Even the manager of the video editing team had to write a lengthy report to explain this incident.
Indeed, LNG’s heavy defeat at the 2023 World Championship left a very negative impression on the LPL audience. LNG needs to be aware of this to minimize the posting of controversial content like this. However, this oversight from LNG has inadvertently created additional pressure from the public on the members of this team.
Not stopping there, LNG will face quite a few challenges in week 2 of the 2024 LPL Spring season as they go up against strong opponents like Weibo Gaming (WBG) and JD Gaming (JDG). If they don’t perform well and suffer from too many “lackluster” losses, LNG will surely face even more pressure from the audience.