LoL: Wei Joins Invictus Gaming in the LPL

Invictus Gaming are reinforcing their jungle position. The Chinese team announced on Friday, one day before LPL Split 3 kicks off, the signing of Yan "Wei" Yangwei. According to the club’s current statement, he is expected to share the position with Zhao "Jiejie" Lijie. Wei will therefore return to action, after being sidelined midway through the Split 2 by Bilibili Gaming in favor of Yang "Beichuan" Ling, with whom he had shared the spot since the beginning of the split. Wei eventually left the team last June.

In his most recent full split, Wei finished fourth in the LPL with BLG. The jungler has seen it all in China’s top league. A Spring champion in 2021 and 2022 with Royal Never Give Up, he also contributed to the second back-to-back MSI title in the tournament’s history. His move to BLG in 2024 to compete with Peng "XUN" Lixun proved successful, as he went on to claim the third domestic title of his career.

However, the 22-year-old has also faced difficult times. Following RNG’s MSI 2022 victory, Wei entered a gradual downward spiral. Although he reached the Worlds quarterfinals that year, 2023 and the early part of 2024 are best left forgotten. Before joining BLG, he posted one of the worst results of his career, finishing 14th in the LPL with RNG.

Invictus Gaming’s decision is therefore something of a gamble—made even more surprising by the fact that Jiejie may have been the best-performing player on the current roster. The 2021 world champion with EDward Gaming played a crucial role in IG’s resurgence in Split 2. Despite a promising roster on paper, the team ended Split 1 in 7th–8th place, before climbing to third in the following split. The 2021 world champions were then knocked out by BLG—without Wei in the lineup.

As a result, Invictus Gaming came just one best-of series short of qualifying for both the MSI and the Esports World Cup—an opportunity to return to the international stage for the first time since their semifinal finish at Worlds 2019. Repeating that Split 2 performance could, however, be enough to break the team’s five-year drought, with the LPL set to send four teams to Worlds this year, held on home soil.

The LPL transfer market has been particularly active in recent days. In addition to Wei’s move and the roster changes at JD Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix, EDward Gaming has signed support Wang "Parukia" Ping-Yang, while jungler Mao "Aki" An is joining ThunderTalk Gaming. To stay up to date, follow our Offseason Tracker. You can also explore updated lineups via our Transfers Hub.