FunPlus Phoenix have announced the return of Cai "
milkyway" Zi-Jun to their LPL roster, signing the 21-year-old jungler from
Royal Never Give Up. Milkyway was FPXâs starting jungler in 2024 and left a strong impression with his aggressive playstyle, carry potential, and
champion pool featuring picks like Kindred, Lee Sin, and Graves. He notably helped lead the team to a 5thâ6th place finish during the Spring Split.
2025 has been a rough year for Milkyway and Royal Never Give Up. During the first split of the LPL, RNGâs journey ended after just three best-of-five seriesâtwo losses and only one winâleaving them short of a playoff spot. Despite the promising addition of Milkyway, the team failed to find consistent form and struggled against even mid-table competition.
Things only worsened in the second split. RNG finished last in their placement group, behind Ultra Prime, and were moved to the Nirvana group. Due to the unique format of Split 2, the bottom two teams from the group were not only eliminated from the Spring Split but were also disqualified from participating in the Summer Split. As a result, both RNG and Oh My God were relegated to the LDL, Chinaâs academic league. RNG didnât take part in LDL Split 3 either, forfeiting all of their scheduled matches across both their main and academy teams.
After Milkywayâs departure at the end of 2024, FPX initially fielded Li "
sorrow" De-Ming for one series in Split 1 before bringing in Zhao "
Shad0w" Zhi-Qiang. Shad0w played a key role in the teamâs improvement during Split 2, helping FPX reach the Ascend group and qualify for playoffs, where they ultimately finished in 7th-8th place. However, internal conflicts between players and coaching staff emerged, leading to Shad0wâs departureâ
he has since joined Bilibili Gaming. His replacement, Ma "
iyy" Chen-Shuo, played four series, managing only one win and three losses. With hopes of improving on their Split 2 performance, FPX have once again turned to milkyway for Split 3.
