LoL: Milkyway joins FunPlus Phoenix in the LPL

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 FPX’s 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 5th–6th 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, RNG’s journey ended after just three best-of-five series—two losses and only one win—leaving 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, China’s academic league. RNG didn’t take part in LDL Split 3 either, forfeiting all of their scheduled matches across both their main and academy teams.

After Milkyway’s 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 team’s 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 Shad0w’s departure—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.