JD Gaming

JD Gaming (JDG), officially Beijing JDG Intel Esports Club,[1] is a Chinese professional esports organization based in Beijing. It has two League of Legends teams: a main roster that competes in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), the top-level league for the game in China, and an academy roster named Joy Dream that competes in the League of Legends Developmental League (LDL), China's secondary league. Both teams were formed on 20 May 2017 after e-commerce company JD.com acquired the LPL spot of the QG Reapers[2] and the LSPL (now LDL) spot of Now or Never.

JD Gaming
Logo of JD Gaming
Short nameJDG
GameLeague of Legends
FoundedApril 2017 (2017-04)
LeagueLPL
Based inBeijing, China
StadiumJDG Esports Centre
CEOShao "Choice" Xiao-Hang
Championships
Parent groupJD.com
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese京东电子竞技俱乐部
Traditional Chinese京東電子競技俱樂部
Literal meaningJingdong Esports Club

Prior to the acquisitions, JD Gaming had an all-female League of Legends team and an Overwatch team, both of which saw only minor success and were disbanded.[2]

History

Most of the QG Reapers' players and staff joined JD Gaming after their organization's acquisition by JD.com on 20 May 2017. JD Gaming's first roster consisted of top laner Kan "Kabe" Ho-man, junglers Kim "Clid" Tae-min and Chang "Xinyi" Ping, mid laner Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang, bot laners Xu "Barrett" Qiubin and Lee "LokeN" Dong-wook, and supports Hu "Cloud" Zhenwei and Zuo "LvMao" Minghao. The team's first tournament was the 2017 Demacia Cup, which they placed ninth to twelfth after losing 0–2 to LGD Gaming.

JD Gaming was placed in Group B for the 2017 LPL Summer Split, placing fifth in their group with a 6–10 record. The team qualified for the 2017 National Electronic Sports Tournament (NEST) after defeating Edward Gaming 2–0 in the qualifiers. JD Gaming was able to make it to the NEST finals, where they lost 0–2 to Invictus Gaming. Following NEST, JD Gaming underwent several roster changes: Kabe, Xinyi, Doinb, Barrett, and Cloud left the team, while top laner Zhang "Zoom" Xingran and mid laner Zeng "YaGao" Qo joined to replace the vacant positions. The newly revised roster of Zoom, Clid, YaGao, LokeN, and LvMao placed fourth in the 2017 Demacia Championship after losing 0–2 to Invictus Gaming once again.

During the 2018 LPL Spring Split, JD Gaming was a member of the league's eastern conference, where they placed fourth with a 10–9 record. This placement qualified them for playoffs, where they placed seventh to eighth overall after losing 0–3 to Bilibili Gaming. JD Gaming placed third in the 2018 LPL Summer Split eastern conference with a 13–6 record and qualified for playoffs, where they placed third again after defeating Rogue Warriors 3–0 in the third place match. The team was unable to qualify for the 2018 World Championship after Edward Gaming knocked them out of the 2018 LPL Regional Finals with a close 3–2 victory.[3] JD Gaming took first place at NEST 2018 after defeating Topsports Gaming 2–1 in the finals.

Clid and LokeN left JD Gaming during the offseason on 20 November 2018. In December 2018, junglers Sung "Flawless" Yeon-jun and Đỗ "Levi" Duy Khánh were acquired from Rogue Warriors and 100 Thieves respectively,[4][5] while bot laners Ju "Bvoy" Yeong-hoon and Gu "Imp" Seung-bin joined from Young Miracles and Team WE respectively to complete the roster. The new roster placed seventh to eighth in the 2018 Demacia Cup.

JD Gaming placed eighth in the regular season of the 2019 LPL Spring Split, barely qualifying for playoffs as the last seed. The team went on to exceed many analysts' expectations by making it to the grand finals[6][7] after taking upset victories over Team WE, Royal Never Give Up,[8] and FunPlus Phoenix,[9] who were fifth, fourth, and first respectively in the regular season. However, JD Gaming was ultimately swept 3–0 by Invictus Gaming in the grand finals.[10][11][12]

It was announced on 13 May 2019 that Levi and Bvoy had left JD Gaming, with the former returning to his former team, GAM Esports.[13] On 23 May 2019, jungler Seo "Kanavi" Jin-hyeok joined JD Gaming from Griffin.[14]

JD Gaming placed tenth in the regular season of the 2019 LPL Summer Split, missing playoffs. The team was unable to qualify for the 2019 World Championship after narrowly losing to Invictus Gaming in the first round of the regional finals. Imp retired and left JD Gaming at the end of 2019,[15] and was replaced with former Top Esports bot laner Lee "LokeN" Dong-wook. With this new roster, JD Gaming took third place at the 2019 Demacia Cup, defeating Vici Gaming in the third-place match.

JD Gaming did not make any additional roster changes going into the 2020 LPL Spring Split, and finished second in the regular season. This placement gave JD Gaming a bye to the semifinals, where they swept defending world champions FunPlus Phoenix in an upset result.[16][17] JD Gaming then defeated Top Esports in a close series at the grand finals, earning their first LPL title.[18]

Current roster
JD Gaming League of Legends roster
PlayersCoaches
Role Handle Name Nationality
Top 369 Bai Jiahao China
Jungle Kanavi Seo Jin-hyeok South Korea
Mid knight Zhuo Ding China
Bot Ruler Park Jae-hyuk South Korea
Support Missing Lou Yunfeng China
Mid Yimeng Substitute player Chen Mingyong China
Top M1kuya Substitute player Chang Xiao China
Head coach

Yoon "Homme" Sung-young

Assistant coach(es)

Chen "Xiasu" Long

Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Substitute player Substitute
  • Injured Injury / Illness
  

Roster updated 9 December 2022.

Tournament results
Placement Event Final result (W–L)
9th–12th 2017 Demacia Cup 0–2 (against LGD Gaming)
5th 2017 LPL Summer Split (Group B) 6–10
Qualified NEST 2017 Qualifiers 2–0 (against Edward Gaming)
2nd NEST 2017 0–2 (against Invictus Gaming)
4th 2017 Demacia Championship 0–2 (against Invictus Gaming)
4th 2018 LPL Spring Split (East) 10–9
7th–8th 2018 LPL Spring Playoffs 0–3 (against Bilibili Gaming)
3rd 2018 LPL Summer Split (East) 13–6
3rd 2018 LPL Summer Playoffs 3–0 (against Rogue Warriors)
3rd 2018 LPL Regional Finals 2–3 (against Edward Gaming)
1st NEST 2018 2–1 (against Topsports Gaming)
7th–8th 2018 Demacia Cup 1–2 (against Edward Gaming)
8th 2019 LPL Spring Split 9–6
2nd 2019 LPL Spring Playoffs 0–3 (against Invictus Gaming)
5th–8th NEST 2019 1–2 (against Invictus Gaming)
2nd Rift Rivals 2019 LCK-LPL-LMS-VCS 1–3 (against LCK)
10th 2019 LPL Summer Split 6–9
3rd 2019 LPL Regional Finals 2–3 (against Invictus Gaming)
3rd 2019 Demacia Cup 3–0 (against Vici Gaming)
1st 2020 LPL Scrims League 3–0
2nd 2020 LPL Spring Split 12–4
1st 2020 LPL Spring Playoffs 3–2 (against Top Esports)
1st 2020 LPL Summer Split 13–3
2nd 2020 LPL Summer Playoffs 2–3 (against Top Esports)
5th–8th 2020 World Championship 1–3 (against Suning)
3rd–4th 2020 Demacia Cup 2–3 (against Team WE)
4th 2021 LPL Spring Split 12–4
5th–6th 2021 LPL Spring Playoffs 1–3 (against FunPlus Phoenix)
12th 2021 LPL Summer Split 7–9

References
  1. Fudge, James (6 June 2021). "JDG Gaming Signs Two Year Naming Rights Deal With Intel". The Esports Observer. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  2. Moser, Kelsey (20 May 2017). "Major Chinese e-commerce site JingDong buys LPL team QG Reapers and LSPL team Now Or Never". Yahoo Esports. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  3. Donigan, Wyatt (15 September 2018). "EDG keeps World Championship hopes alive". ESPN. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  4. Li, Xing (14 December 2018). "Levi to head back to Asia, sign with JD Gaming". Dot Esports. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  5. Torres, Xander (14 December 2018). "Levi moves over to the LPL and joins JD Gaming". VPEsports. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  6. Li, Xing (19 April 2019). "JD Gaming can finish a Cinderella run in the LPL final vs. IG". Dot Esports. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  7. Kolev, Radoslav (19 April 2019). "The black eight miracle: how JDG came to contest world's best team for the LPL title". VPEsports. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  8. Kolev, Radoslav (6 April 2019). "LPL playoffs: Zoom carries JDG to unlikely victory over RNG". VPEsports. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  9. Kolev, Radoslav (13 April 2019). "Monstrous Gangplank sends JDG to LPL finals over FPX". VPEsports. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  10. Yu, Liang (21 April 2019). "Invictus Gaming defeat JD Gaming to lift maiden LPL trophy". Xinhua. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  11. Li, Xing (21 April 2019). "Invictus Gaming sweep JDG in the LPL final". Dot Esports. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  12. Oak, Yudae (21 April 2019). "League of Legends: Invictus Gaming Defeats JD Gaming in the Finals and Lifts the 2019 LPL Spring Trophy". Invenglobal. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  13. Endres, Elena (16 May 2019). "Levi set to rejoin GAM Esports". Dot Esports. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  14. Kim, Kevin (23 May 2019). "Former Griffin jungler Kanavi joins JDG". Korizon. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  15. Geracie, Nick (20 November 2019). "[OFFICIAL] imp retires from professional League of Legends". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  16. Matthiesen, Tom (27 April 2020). "League of Legends: JD Gaming sweeps world champions FunPlus Phoenix out of the LPL Spring Playoffs". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  17. Heath, Jerome (27 April 2020). "JD Gaming upset FunPlus Phoenix in 2020 LPL Spring semifinals". Dot Esports. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  18. Lupasco, Cristian (2 May 2020). "JD Gaming take down Top Esports to win 2020 LPL Spring Split". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
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