LNG Esports have completely revamped their roster, clearly aiming to return to the top of
the LPL after a difficult 2025 season in which they failed to reach the playoffs. The 2026 roster will feature Xu “
sheer” Wen-Jie in the toplane, Kim “
Croco” Dong-beom in the jungle, Lee “
BuLLDoG” Tae-young in the midlane, AD Carry Li “
1xn” Xiu-Nan, and support Lou “
MISSING” Yun-Feng.
The team will be led by the 42-year-old South Korean head coach Choi “Edgar” Woo-beom, who is leaving Korea and LCK for the first time in his career. He was the head coach of Samsung Galaxy during the Worlds final lost in 2016 and the one won in 2017. He will be assisted by Lu “Viod” Fan, who remains with LNG. He was part of the coaching staff of JD Gaming’s super roster in 2023, which won both LPL splits as well as the MSI.
A Roster Blending Experience and Youth
LNG’s roster for the 2026 season is a blend of experienced players and younger talent. In the top lane, Sheer will only be entering his third year as a professional. He joined the LPL at just 18 years old with JDG, where he carried the heavy responsibility of succeeding Bai “369” Jia-Hao. He then moved to FunPlus Phoenix for their final competitive year in 2025, and despite some solid moments across those two seasons, he still has a lot to prove.
After only a few months in the LCK, Croco makes his return to the LPL. He is the veteran of this LNG roster. The jungler previously played for DRX in 2023, joined Anyone’s Legend in 2024, then spent the 2025 LCK season with OKSavingsBank BRION, where he helped steady the ship. He now returns to the LPL to mentor a young rookie, the 20-year-old South Korean midlaner Lee “BuLLDoG” Tae-young, who leaves the LCK after three years with the Freecs.
Finding the MISSING Peace
To round out the roster, LNG have secured the services of 1xn in the botlane, a young 21-year-old Chinese ADC who spent the past two and a half years with ThunderTalk Gaming. The team and 1xn enjoyed a strong Split 1 in 2025, finishing in a promising 5th–6th place, before losing Yang “Beichuan” Ling to Bilibili Gaming, a departure that heavily impacted their performance.
Finally, the second veteran of this roster is MISSING, who is entering his ninth year as a professional. He spent several years with Team WE, where he helped secure a top 3 finish in the Summer 2021 split alongside Zhao “
Elk” Jia-Hao and Cui “
Shanks” Xiao-Jun. He later joined JDG, working with Viod, and is a two-time Worlds semifinalist, an
MSI champion, and a three-time LPL champion.
A Playoff-Bound Team
So this is a roster made up of two experienced players, Croco and MISSING, to guide three younger players: Sheer, BuLLDoG, and 1xn. The team is in the Nirvana group,
the weakest in the LPL behind Perseverance and Ascend, and they are clear favorites in their group, having already defeated LGD and Oh My God.
The team has clearly not regained the roster of old that made impressive runs at Worlds with Lee “
Scout” Ye-chan, Chen “
GALA” Wei, and Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong, but they definitely have the potential to reach the playoffs. International qualifications may unfortunately be out of reach for now, but strong scaling towards the end of the year could surprise some of the top-tier teams.
LNG Esports 2026 roster:
- Toplane: Xu “sheer” Wen-Jie
- Jungle: Kim “Croco” Dong-beom
- Midlane: Lee “BuLLDoG” Tae-young
- AD Carry: Li “1xn” Xiu-Nan
- Support: Lou “MISSING” Yun-Feng
- Head Coach: Choi “Edgar” Woo-beom
- Assistant Coach: Lou “MISSING” Yun-Feng
For more roster changes, check out our Transfers Hub and Offseason Live Tracker.