Team WE, one of China's best League of Legends teams, is falling apart

This past weekend was a tough one for China’s League of Legends Team WE. The team managed a disappointing third place in the World Cyber Games finals, falling to fellow Chinese team OMG in the semi-finals. And while a bronze medal in a global competition certainly isn’t bad, the other news that emerged this weekend is much worse: apparently, the team is falling apart.

The details are still quite vague, but WE’s youth team coach Xiao Shou exploded on his weibo account about the departure of a team member, analyst Aaron. But Xiao Shou is alleging that the analyst has taken two players with him as well. Here’s a post from his weibo account in response to someone saying Aaron’s departure was “impossible”:

Impossible? He said he was going on holiday; instead he took two players with him to a new team, not going through the proper proceedings. How’s that impossible? What? Who wants to leave? Go ask your beloved Aaron. How can he say, “They wanted to come with me, I had no choice”?

Xiao Shou doesn’t name the departing players specifically, and all of this is difficult to confirm as the unraveling is still going on. It’s also not clear what China’s esports authorities will have to say about the departures if, as Xiao Shou suggests, the departing team members ignored standard procedures and possibly violated their contracts. But the rumors at the moment seem to suggest that the two departed players are none other than FZZF (Support) and Mann (Jungler).

Team WE has not officially confirmed these departures, but a post on the team’s official Weibo account early this morning does confirm some internal strife:

Following WCG there have been some disturbances within the team; we are currently in the process of trying our best to work things out. Our hopes are the same as everyone else’s: whatever else happens we want to keep the same players together onstage in competition. Before official confirmation there’s no way to give you all the final news, but we’d like to thank everyone for your care and support.

In short, it’s hard to be sure exactly what’s happening with WE, but it certainly isn’t good. And if Mann and FZZF really are on their way out, it could mean the beginning of a big shuffle in China’s competitive League of Legends scene. It could also mean the end of Team WE, since in addition to these two possible departures Caomei and team captain Misaya are also reportedly retiring.

(via QQ Games (Chinese))

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