LGD Gaming is a Chinese professional esports organization located in Hangzhou. It is one of the oldest esports groups in China and has players who compete in Dota 2, Honor of Kings, League of Legends, Overwatch, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.
LGD's Dota 2 team worked with PSG Esports and reached the grand finals of The International 2018 and The International 2021. This partnership ended in September 2023. LGD's League of Legends team plays in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), which is the highest level of professional League of Legends in China.
LGD is also part of the Esports World Cup Foundation Club Support Program, which is funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. This program gives teams money for promoting the Esports World Cup tournament in a positive way and increasing interest in the event. Some people think this is a way to use sports to distract the public from Saudi Arabia's bad human rights record.
Dota 2
LGD Gaming's original Dota 2 team was created when the organization was founded in 2009. In April 2018, the French football club Paris Saint-Germain F.C. partnered with LGD, providing financial support and changing the team's name to PSG.LGD. After winning two major tournaments in the Dota Pro Circuit in 2017 and 2018, the team earned a direct invitation to The International 2018. There, they reached the grand finals but lost to OG in a 2–3 series.
The team kept the same players for the next season and received a direct invitation to The International 2019 after finishing in the top 12 of the Dota Pro Circuit rankings. In Group A, the team won 13 out of 16 matches, securing a spot in the upper bracket. They defeated Virtus.pro and Vici Gaming before losing to OG again in the upper bracket final. In the lower bracket final, they faced Team Liquid and lost 2–1, earning third place and $3,089,706 in prize money.
During The International 2021, the team went 15–1 in the group stage, advancing to the upper bracket. They won all their matches in the upper bracket, defeating T1, Virtus.pro, and Team Secret to reach the grand finals. However, they lost to Team Spirit in a best-of-five series 3–2.
The team did not change its roster for the 2022 season and faced Team Spirit again in a rematch. They finished second at the PGL Arlington Major after losing the final 3–1 but won the inaugural Riyadh Masters with a 2–0 victory.
The team earned a direct invitation to The International 2022, where they were expected to win but finished 5th–6th after losing to Team Aster.
In September 2023, the partnership between PSG and LGD ended. After this, the team will compete under the LGD Gaming name again.
LGD Gaming did not qualify for The International 2024, ending an 11-year streak of appearances. In the TI 2024 China Qualifier, they were defeated by Azure Ray and Team Turtle. This marks LGD Gaming's first absence from The International since they first participated in 2012.
League of Legends
LGD Gaming started their League of Legends team on February 20, 2012, with Zhou "Bug" Qilin as the leader. After the TGA Grand Prix 2012, LGD earned a spot in the Season 2 China Regional Finals but did not succeed after losing to Invictus Gaming. In 2013, Tencent created the first official League of Legends championship in China, called the League of Legends Pro League (LPL). LGD did not qualify for the LPL in both the spring and summer seasons of 2013 but joined the league in 2014, earning a place in the LPL Spring Split. During the 2014 LPL Spring Split regular season, LGD finished fifth and did not qualify for the playoffs. However, in the 2014 LPL Summer Split regular season, LGD placed fourth and reached the playoffs. In the playoffs, LGD lost to EDward Gaming 0–3 in the first round and then lost to Star Horn Royal Club 1–3 in the loser’s bracket, finishing in fourth place overall. LGD did not qualify for the 2014 World Championship after losing the final qualifying match in the 2014 China Regional Finals to OMG.
After failing to qualify for the 2014 World Championship, LGD decided to sign Korean players to improve their chances for the next year. They added bot laner Gu "imp" Seung-bin and top laners Choi "Acorn" Cheon-ju and Lee "Flame" Ho-jong from Samsung White, Samsung Blue, and CJ Entus Blaze, respectively. In the 2015 LPL Spring Split regular season, LGD finished sixth with a 7–5–10 record and qualified for the playoffs. In the playoffs, LGD surprised many by defeating OMG and Snake Esports, who had finished third and second in the regular season, with two 3–0 victories. This earned LGD a spot in the finals, where they lost 2–3 to EDward Gaming in a close match.