In China, professional players of League of Legends have a tough time. The competition is fierce, and the pressure is even greater. A young top laner, Qi “PandaC” Xin (19), made the jump to the professionals because his predecessor was replaced: But the pressure was too much for the young man. After a loss, he wanted to buy something to eat… a grave mistake.
This is the situation:
- PandaC is a young LoL pro in China. He played for the academy team of LNG Esports for 5 months. He occupies the “lonely” top lane in LoL, often a thankless job – as the top lane is isolated and prone to ambushes.
- The pro team he wanted to join, LNG Esports, has had a mediocre season in the Chinese pro league LPL, currently sitting at 8th place with a 7-8 record – far below expectations.
- Despite this, LNG has “Super-Carry” Doinb as a mid laner, who dominated the LoL Worlds 2019 and became the world champion. With Tarzan, LNG also offers one of the best junglers. LNG should actually be higher up.
A month ago, PandaC got a chance to help LNG secure a good playoff spot. In the middle of the season, the 21-year-old top laner Ale was benched. LNG apparently identified him as a weakness. The team placed PandaC in the starting lineup.
LoL rookie is thrown into playoff race, breaks down
What went wrong? As a Chinese website reports (via LaiTimes), the pressure of playing on a professional team was simply too much for PandaC.
In videos, you can see the player sweating and even crying during his last professional match against the team Rare Atom. It is said that after a match, his match area was full of tissues.
The situation is escalating, as the season in China is currently in its hot phase, and LNG needs to secure a good playoff spot. But nothing seems to be going right.
In a crucial match against the supposedly weaker team “Rare Atom,” PandaC was criticized for his champion selection: The match ended in a 2-1 loss.
Now the fans are worried that he will completely fall apart in the important match against Weibo Gaming on Friday, the 12th, where “TheShy,” one of the best top laners in the world, plays.
E-sports in LoL is stressful, but it can also be a lot of fun:
What else is there? A few weeks ago, at the end of July, PandaC’s team played against V5 and lost the game 0-2. After the match, PandaC wanted to get something to eat at a supermarket. But the cashier recognized him and said:
“PandaC, you didn’t perform well today.”
According to his colleague, top laner Ale, whom he replaced, this greatly affected PandaC (via youtube):
He is now afraid to shop in that store. If he has to, he looks through the window first. He wants to make sure the cashier is not in the store. Only if he isn’t there, he goes shopping.
Ale about PandaC
Ale sees a good part of the blame for the situation resting on himself. If he hadn’t played so poorly, poor PandaC wouldn’t be in this situation now. There is an enormous pressure in a LoL match, especially on the top lane.
Ale says: PandaC was born in 2003, almost still a child. He urges fans not to bother him. PandaC hardly laughs since the game against V5. Only when he has his favorite food, a beef stew, does a smile occasionally flicker across his face. But otherwise, he seems unmotivated.
One can only hope that young PandaC finds a way to cope with the pressure that weighs on him. The decisive match to see if LNG secures a good spot in the playoffs will take place on Friday, August 12.
Team reaches playoffs – but without PandaC
Update, 12.8. 2022: By now, the last game of the regular season has been played. LNG has clearly won 2-0 against Weibo Gaming. With this victory, LNG Esports has slipped to rank 7 and secured a playoff spot (via reddit).
However, Ale played again in the top lane. PandaC was not deployed.
Ale was able to hold his own against the strong top laner from Weibo Gaming, TheShy, and was even voted MVP in the first match on Olaf with a 3-0-2 record.
Some believe that the “top lane” has a completely unique role in LoL:
Expert explains that a role in LoL is so bad that only psychopaths like to play it
