Gaming
esports
Chinese Team, American Dream: LMQ at Worlds
How a Chinese team came to represent North America, and why they should be proud.
LMQ Team Logo
© LMQ
Which is all well and good.
But maybe LMQ fits into the regional identity of North America already.
Immigrants sailing into New York past the Statue of Liberty in generations past could never have imagined the world of eSports. But just as those immigrants came to America in search of a better life, “richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement, regardless of social class or circumstances of birth”, so too do those in our world.
The song remains the same.
The Move
LMQ was the training team for the dominant Chinese organization Royal Club. It was in December of 2013 that LMQ announced its move to the North American region. They would reside in sunny California, and had a new title sponsor, iBUYPOWER. Royal Club’s top-laner, Xiao ‘GoDlike’ Wang - changing his handle to ‘ackerman’ - would join LMQ in their move. This was in the place of LMQ’s previous top-laner, Yao ‘Dreams’ Yuan, who moved to Royal Club in Wang’s place. LMQ’s substitute, Song ‘Wayoff’ Lei, also didn’t join in on the North American journey.
By all accounts, life on a B-team in eSports is a difficult one. Indeed, being on the B-team in any pursuit is difficult - from sports, to office politics, and everything in between - having to psychologically overcome the constant reminder that you’re not good enough, and remind yourself that where you are now is training for that moment when the stars align, and you get moved to where you actually want to be.
League of Legends World Championships 2013
© OnGamers
The appeal of moving to the North American region is obvious. Royal Club, with Wang in top lane, made it to the grand final of the World Championships in October, 2013, held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles - an incredible spectacle, the likes of which had never been seen before in League of Legends, let alone eSports in general. The energy created in the venue was palpable, to the point where even stream viewers could feel it. Despite getting bopped 0-3 by SKT T1, the energy of that large, passionate crowd, bathed in a red and blue glow, entertained by guitarists with lights on their heads as an entree before the main meal of eSports, is understandably addictive - something that competitive people can thrive on, feed off, and strive for.
On top of the lure of this kind of excitement and support, in the month following Worlds, LMQ defeated Royal Club 2-0 in the third-place match for that month’s National Electronic Sports Tournament in China. Even though Royal Club was two down on their Worlds roster, there’s a lot to be said for the burst of confidence a team would feel beating a Worlds finalist. Who's the B-team now?
And, yes, of course, there is the lure of a lower skill level in the NA region compared to China. Instead of being a second-tier team, they could experience the feeling of being great compared to those around them.
It can’t be ignored, though, how daunting it is to move to another country with your team-mates, where the language and culture is different to your own, in order to chase the dream to succeed, to be rewarded for your skill level.
If you feel this narrative sounds familiar, it should.
The American Dream.
LMQ in the Coke Zero Challenger Series
© LoL eSports
The Journey
LMQ came, saw, and conquered - to say the least - and began at the very bottom. Invited to the Coke Zero Challenger Series due to their Rank 1 in 5v5, they stomped their way through to playoffs, where they emerged champions with a 5-2 record and 16,000 delicious American dollars. They secured their spot in the NA LCS after the Summer Split by defeating yet-another Worlds 2013 team in XD.GG. This was a huge milestone for LMQ – finally, they had reached the same level in the new world as they had in their old world. Finally, they could prove themselves.
NA LCS was not as smooth of a run for them, and it took a little more effort to secure their place Summer Playoffs.
Then the drama hit.
If you Google search “LMQ League”, one of the first suggestions for the search is to add the word “drama”.
Questions were raised about who actually owned LMQ. Riot discovered critical information had been left out of paperwork, and a dance began about who owned what and who they were associated with. LMQ cut ties with the organization that was first registered as their owner in North America, and fired their manager, Xiaowei 'Sharon' Li, who was very popular with the NA fan base. The coach of LMQ, Peter 'PtotheD' Zhang, then quit, saying he could no longer stand the drama, and accused LMQ's new management of fabricating players' statements around the ownership issue.
Cutting through the “he-said she-said”, there is one important thing to note – there are players in the middle of it all. Players who had done incredibly well since moving to North America were now stuck in the middle of a conflict they obviously didn't understand, and were suffering a community backlash as a consequence. They had lost a manager and a coach under which they had achieved what was required, so far, to reach their goals.
So when the NA LCS Summer Playoffs rolled around, what could possibly be expected from LMQ? Their only stability in a place where everything was so foreign had been lost.
After being seeded into the semifinals, LMQ lost 2-3 to TSM. It came down to a best-of-five against Curse as to who gained the last NA place in Worlds, and when LMQ were 0-2 down, all seemed lost.
Picks and bans in Game 4 against Curse
© League of Legends
But LMQ pulled off an incredible comeback, taking the next three games.
Finally, after all their hard work, against all adversity, they had made it.
The Destination
Sometimes when all seems lost, games are our salvation. Our stability.
When life gets hard, sometimes escaping in a game is what calms us.
It's hard to know what could have possibly gone on in the minds of the players of LMQ throughout their journey, but whatever it was, they demonstrated great strength to make it to the World Championship groups.
It's fitting that LMQ was named after the mistress of LMQ's founder, Tian Ci, much like someone would name a boat after a woman they love. LMQ has traveled down a river more tumultuous than most, and finally arrived in the ocean where they belong - much like the journeys of those immigrants decades ago – to finally be recognized for their talent and hard work.
LMQ's story is not just a human story.
It's a story that encapsulates everything that America is supposed to stand for.
LMQ
© LoL eSports
They show us that if we work hard enough, we can overcome all adversity to achieve our goals.
They are deserving.
They are inspiring.
