League of Legends World Champion and superstar mid laner for FunPlus Phoenix, Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang, is now officially classified as a Chinese resident player. The Korean is the first player in the league’s history to be granted residency in the LPL. The news broke late yesterday on FPX’s Weibo page.
The move will mean that Doinb will no longer take up an import slot on his team’s roster. Under LPL rules, a team may only have two players on their main roster from regions other than China. The rule, sometimes informally known as “the import rule,” is part of Riot’s interregional movement policy (IMP), and similar rules affect the majority of League of Legends’ official’ sanctioned leagues.
With their starting mid laner no longer taking up an import slot, FPX is free to add more international talent as it moves into the 2020 season.
The announcement comes as an additional boon for Doinb during a remarkable season. After his team’s dramatic defeat of G2 Esports in the finals of the League of Legends World Championship earlier this year, the charismatic player saw his stock rise dramatically. Over several months the mid laner has seen his popularity rise, amassing over 100,000 followers on Twitter in just a few months.
Doinb was at the centre of attention at the recent LPL All-Stars event, and again at All-Stars 2019 Las Vegas. LPL’s event was a red carpet affair, where Doinb and his FPX teammates wowed in designer suits. Meanwhile, at the light-hearted Las Vegas event, the LPL representatives, including Doinb, failed to replicate their Worlds 2019 success, but still turned heads and garnered more fans in the process.
Doinb’s new residency has firmly cemented him as one of the LPL’s premier stars. Furthermore, he’s in prime position to take advantage of his popularity and fame to leverage both a more lucrative contract and a possible spot on other LPL teams in the future. For now though, Doinb is staying put. He’ll continue with FPX through the 2020 season as they look to repeat the success of this year.
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