FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) was the 2019 League of Legends World Champion, and Royal Never Give Up (RNG) was a 2013 and 2014 finalist. In 2026, both teams are allegedly disbanding and will no longer compete in the LPL.
FPX’s withdrawal was confirmed, while RNG’s isn’t as of yet, though very likely. In this article we look at the history of both teams, and what this means for the Chinese competition.
On the 25th of November, the League of Legends account posted on Weibo that the LPL is buying back FPX’s LPL slot (see screenshot below).
Image via Weibo.com
“At the end of last year, the league opened a buy-back of the club’s seat. In line with the original intention of continuously optimizing the pace of the event and the principle of voluntary application, the Alliance recently negotiated and agreed with the FPX (FunPlus Phoenix) eSports Club: FPX Esports Club will no longer participate in the LPL and related events from January 1, 2026. The two sides will work together to properly place the players and complete the follow-up repurchase.”
RNG’s case is more complicated. In short, they’ve dropped down from the LPL down to the LDL during Split 2. There, the team did not field a roster, and as such forfeited every ensuing match in both Split 2 Round 2 and Split 3.
Currently, the team has no members, and is looking to sell. The question is whether they officially disband or continue fielding no players. However, it’s all but certain that RNG will not play in 2026.
FPX hoists the trophy after winning the 2019 World Championship in France Image Source: Michal Konkol / Riot Games
FPX joined the LPL in 2018. After an unimpressive year, they added Tian and Doinb to their roster, and everything changed. With these two players, FunPlus Phoenix came third in Spring, then won the LPL Summer Split.
The Phoenixes qualified to Worlds, and the rest is history. FPX swept through the bracket, and beat G2 Esports 3-0 in Paris to become the 2019 World Champions.
Doinb’s curious mid lane picks remain famous to this day. For him, bruisers and tanks belong to the mid lane just as well as mages do. Mid lane Malphite, Nautilus, Kled, Renekton, Sion, he had as many signature picks as there were top lane champions in the game.
After that, crickets ever since. Despite sticking with the same roster, the team went 3rd and 7th in the next year. FPX had one more Worlds appearance in 2021, and then only bottom finishes every split after.
FPX’s history now comes to an end as the team has sold its LPL spot. The team has provided no explanation besides a poetic post on Weibo, but the most likely guess is that the League branch of the structure had been bleeding money for a long time.
The Phoenix will no longer be reborn.
FPX celebrates on stage after winning the 2019 World Finals in Paris. Image Source: Michal Konkol / Riot Games
Royal Club was a team from the earliest days of the LPL. With Uzi as their star player, the team reached the Worlds Finals in both 2013 and 2014. The marksman then left to join Oh My God, and Star Horn Royal Club was then demoted from the LPL.
The very next split, Royal Club acquired another spot to form Royal Never Give Up. With Uzi rejoining them in 2016, RNG made Worlds almost every year up until 2022, and was always a menace at the tournament.
Most notably, RNG is the single team with the most MSI trophies, at 3 – out of only 4 participations. By comparison, T1 attended 8 times and only won twice, and G2 won once with 7 appearances.
In 2023, everything collapsed. While Uzi was their star player, their real franchise starter was their mid laner Xiaohu. With the exception of 2021, Xiaohu had been part of the team since the very start. In 2023, he left to be replaced by Tangyuan. Suddenly, the team never found success anymore.
After two terrible years, Royal Never Give Up went on to have an even worse one. In the first half of 2025’s second split, RNG finished bottom 2. In the LPL, that means relegation. However, RNG then did not field a roster to play in the LDL, and surrendered every game as a result. Royal Never Give Up thus ended 2025 with a match score of 4-43. The organization also withdrew its academy team’s roster at the same time.
RNG and Kingzone DragonX are introduced on stage before the MSI 2018 Finals. Image Source: Riot Games
RNG’s former story of success hid deep mismanagement that eventually blew over. In June, RNG was ordered to pay $22.5 million to an unnamed plaintiff. This is just one of many court battles that Royal Never Give Up is facing.
In fact, Uzi still has a lawsuit standing against them for long-standing unpaid streaming revenue shares.
It is rumored that RNG is confirmed to be out of the LPL in 2026. With their withdrawing from all League competition since May, it’s not hard to believe either.
RNG Karsa is walking on stage with the looks of someone who’s about to win the MSI Finals. Image Source: Riot Games
The LPL has had a strange number of teams for a long time now. In 2013 and 2014, the league had 8 teams fight for the cup like every other region. However, in 2015, they expanded to 12 teams when the other regions only went to 10.
In 2018, they welcomed another two teams, then two more in 2019, and a 17th one in 2020. The LPL stuck with 17 teams for 5 years, before losing one in 2025.
For 2026, the LPL is all but confirmed to go down to 14 teams once more. This is nothing new; however, it raises the question of what format they’ll go for in 2026.
The LPL 2026 format hasn’t been announced yet, but 2025 started with a Group Stage for the Split 1. With 14 teams, it would mean two groups of four and two groups of three, so that likely won’t be adopted. Splits 2 and 3 should remain unchanged, sticking to round robins among two large groups.
We will provide updates as the LPL announces its format for 2026!
Featured Image Source: Riot Games
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