Paris Saint-Germain and iconic midlaner Huang ‘Maple’ Yi-Tang have returned to League of Legends with the Talon Esports LCP team.
It makes the APAC region even more competitive after Talon failed to qualify for MSI behind CTBC Flying Oyster and GAM Esports.
Earlier this year, PSG ended their multi-year partnership with the Asian LoL team but remained with Talon’s Rainbow Six squad.
Now, PSG are back in LoL and have brought sponsors Qatar Airways with them as jersey sponsors, which probably helped coax Maple out of retirement.
The 27-year-old only spent 223 days without competing, having transitioned well into full-time streaming.
The availability of Maple may have also encouraged PSG’s return, considering his popularity.
Maple is one of Taiwan’s greatest ever League of Legends players, having attended eight World Championships.
Three of those appearances were with PSG, and another four were with the notorious Flash Wolves.
Maple will be reunited with two of his former Flash Wolves members, jungler Hung ‘Karsa’ Hao-Hsuan and Lu ‘Betty’ Yu-Hung.
He also had an infamous stint in North America playing for the storied Team SoloMid (TSM).
It means that Talon and midlaner Chu ‘FoFo’ Chun-Lan have mutually agreed to part ways.
PSG Talon’s League of Legends Worlds bid
The signing of Maple is a clear statement of intent as PSG Talon look to return to the top of their region.
However, competition in Southeast Asia has become much fiercer since Maple’s departure.
The APAC region has now combined into the LCP, featuring the top teams from Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia.
It means Talon, who attended the last two World Championships, have struggled this season and missed both First Stand and MSI international events.
This is thanks to Vietnam’s GAM Esports, who nearly beat G2 Esports at MSI, and LCP champions CFO from Taiwan.
The Taiwanese organisation have proven to be a special team with CFO’s MSI heroics feeding over 2,000 fans with fried chicken.
Their star player, Tsai ‘HongQ’ Ming-Hong, is almost 10 years younger than Maple, which will make for a fascinating mid lane match-up.
Still, PSG Talon have a solid chance of Worlds qualification later this year with three spots open for LCP teams.
Talon finished the last split, the LCP Mid Season Qualifying Series, in third and came second back in Winter earlier this year.
You can bet on PSG Talon’s LCP games and Worlds qualification with LoL betting sites.
In my seven years of esports writing, I’ve introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I’m most proud of the latter.
