On November 5, 2015 it was announced that four of Midnight Sun Esports’ (MSE) players had been caught attempting to negotiate contracts with team NGL, while under contract with MSE. LOFS, Empt2, Chunx, and caNdy are the aforementioned players and will be banned from the LMS, with the first three being banned for one year and caNdy being banned for one split. NGL has also been banned from attempting a foray into the LMS, for a year. The LMS has lost four talented players and MSE is without the stars that brought them into the LMS.

The Banned Players

LOFS was widely considered the second best top laner in the region and one of the most talented players in the LMS, being the primary carry for MSE for most of the year. LOFS boasted flexibility as a top laner, performing well on both tanks and carries during the season. He  proved himself to be adept at wave management and splitpushing, allowing him to consistently leverage CS leads and have the highest CSPM of any top laner in the region  at 7. As such, he also received much jungle attention to be fully enabled.

Empt2, while not unanimously considered as a star player, was arguably the second best jungler in the region. He was very efficient with his jungle pathing, excelled at power farming and counterjungling the opposing jungler. However, he did stumble when it came to being a source of primary engage and sometimes paid little attention to caNdy. Nevertheless, he had a solid foundation and was only improving over time.

Chunx was not quite at the level of his teammates, but was just as important as the rest of the Hong Kong trio. Chunx was a fairly average player as laner,but he had arguably the strongest vision game of any support player in the LMS. He held the highest Wards Per Minute stat, at 1.48, and was even beginning to develop as a primary engager for the team. I wouldn’t call Chunx a playmaker, but he was at the foundation of MSE and often set them up for success.

Last, but not least, caNdy was a relatively new addition to MSE, as he was imported mid season from Korea. He often received little attention as a mid laner and was not very strong in the laning phase. As time went on, resources began to find their way to caNdy more often and he reciprocated. He aided in the vision effort and ended up becoming the key component in teamfights toward the end of the season. He didn’t show himself to be particularly special in a mid lane stacked region, but he had flashes of brilliance that showed that one day, he might have been.

The Consequences

The LMS is typically known for having a shallow talent pool due to its small population and military conscription. On top of this, many players elect to choose education or elo boosting over a professional career. While there are a number of top quality players present in the league such as Flash Wolves’ Karsa or ahq e-Sports Club’s Ziv, the talent takes a dip and there is little depth present.

Recent success at international events has made the top players more desirable, and with the lack of sponsors behind LMS organizations compared to the other major regions, it will become more and more difficult to retain them. Players like LOFS and Empt2, who were already beginning to challenge the top talent within the region, were especially crucial to the future success of the region.

Unfortunately, esports is often a very small timeframe in someone’s life and a year leave has been enough to make players in the LMS region give it all up. While the players on MSE were successful and could easily find themselves on teams in the future, it is is also rather daunting to do nothing for a year. The recent punishment may not only deprive the LMS of these talents for a year, but forever.

Considering the aforementioned talent pool, top teams are often hard to come by and the situation only worsens with such bans. With HKE rebuilding their roster from scratch and TPA looking to restructure, MSE was looking to be a top 3 team, with their already successful 4th place Summer split. However, now MSE will have to rebuild their roster from the ground up, in preparation for the Spring Split.

The players on MSE were all very legitimate talents and will not be so easily replaced by either MSE or the LMS. LOFS and Empt2 were already among the best and Chunx and caNdy were looking to make that same jump in 2016, propelling the team to a top spot. Now, the development of the players will be halted and Midnight Sun is in a rough spot for 2016.

It is unlikely that MSE will be able to put together a roster that is competitive with the limited talent pool, much less one that could rival their original roster. This takes another team out of the running, leaving for a very uncertain Spring Split, where only the Flash Wolves, ahq e-Sports Club, and Machi 17 have stable, competent rosters at the moment. The LMS has lost quality players, a quality team, and may even lose one of the more financially secure organizations, in Midnight Sun. Such situations bring uncertainty and the LMS is no stranger, but after a successful Worlds run, it is tiring to return to such disappointment.

Connect with the author at @Goomihooo