Clearlove to start for EDG for the first time in over two years

The old-time face of EDG, Ming “Clearlove” Kai will be making his return to action. He will be replacing current starting jungler Zhao “JieJie” Li-Jie in the team’s first match of week seven against team WE.

Clearlove and EDG

Clearlove has not touched the LPL stage in more than two years. Not only that, he will be making is re entrance at a critical time for EDG. The current number one ranked team in the LPL, and the World just suffered a big loss. RNG 2-0’d EDG in week six which has lessened EDG’s grip over the rest of the region. EDG still sits in first place but only by a half game. All eyes will be on Clearlove as the fan favorite makes his return. But also all eyes will be on him as EDG needs him to turn back to clock and play at an elite level.

Clearlove has been apart of the EDG organization for nearly a decade now. After coming over from team WE in February of 2014, Clearlove was part of the main roster for six years. In those six years, Clearlove helped lead EDG to five LPL titles, a MSI title, and multiple World championship appearances. After his performance started to dip, Clearlove moved to a sub role. Eventually he transitioned into coaching during the winter of 2019. After a year of coaching, it was announced that Clearlove was making his return to the roster as a substitute jungler. The announcement stated he would split time with JieJie. But EDG has been dominant in the LPL with Jiejie at the helm. Because of this, Clearlove has not gotten any playing time yet.

JieJie benched for Clearlove

Jiejie has held his own in the LPL but has never been an overwhelming force in the jungle. In their last series against RNG, Jiejie was outclassed by first team all-pro jungler, Yan “Wei” Tang-Wei. It is unknown if the roster swap is coming from performance issues.

The match Clearlove is starting in against WE is on July 25, which also happens to be the legendary player’s birthday.

WE are currently on a three series win steak and have catapulted to number six in the standings. This series will not be a walk in the park for Clearlove, especially since WE jungler, Jiang “Beishang” Zhi-Peng leads the team in player-of-the-game honors. At the very least, the match will be interesting to see if Clearlove can prove himself and can potentially push EDG to the next level.

Spectators can catch the game live on twitch on the official LPL channel as Clearlove’s EDG takes on WE at 7 AM EST