Shernfire explains why he left Team Liquid, the LCS, and NA

Olivia Richman Published 18/05/2020

Team Liquid jungler Shern “Shernfire” Tai has confirmed that he’s leaving the esports organization, and North America as well.

Shernfire told his followers the news on Twitter and was met with a lot of support. Many League of Legends fans actually felt Team Liquid was making a mistake in letting Shernfire go, with some even saying they are now “former Team Liquid fans” because of how the organization had handled the situation with Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng and now with Shernfire.

Leaving Team Liquid

Read: https://t.co/8pnOub1Nn1
— Shern (@shernfire) May 16, 2020

According to Shernfire’s TwitLonger, Team Liquid has signed another jungler, resulting in them discontinuing their agreement with the Australian native. During that process, Shernfire revealed that he also didn’t receive any other offers from other LCS teams, resulting in him being forced to leave North America due to his visa. For now, he will be “chasing after Rank 1” during the summer split in Korean solo queue.

“This whole situation hurts a lot. As you guys know I worked for over a year so I could get a chance to join my dream team Team Liquid and prove myself. In some ways I did prove myself but in other ways I disappointed others,” Shernfire said.

He went on to say that it “hurts” to have the people he respects “lose faith in me,” but he hopes to grow from the situation.

“I am lucky to have a circle of people around me that continue to support and believe in my potential and success. I will continue to fight and, whilst I am sure I will continue to fuck up, I will keep moving forward until I succeed,” Shernfire concluded.

Shernfire ends rocky career with Team Liquid

Shernfire reached out to Doublelift on Twitter in 2018, asking the veteran if he’d help him earn a spot on Team Liquid’s academy roster. The famous North American ADC never responded, but that didn’t stop shernfire from pursuing his goal. Shernfire was 21 years old when he joined Team Liquid Academy in November of 2019. His original contract was set to expire in November 2021.

The rookie jungler was flown to Los Angeles just a few weeks before the 2020 LCS Spring Split as a substitute for Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen, who was having visa issues. He started scrimming the very day he landed. He opened up to WIN.gg about how nervous he was to play with his idols at TL. While he slowly found his voice and started to feel more worthy of his newfound spot on the LCS stage, the team was not performing up to par with him in the jungle.

Of course, this wasn’t solely Shernfire’s fault. The former LCS championship squad and MSI finalist had been struggling for various reasons throughout the split, including Doublelift’s negative attitude. Still, Shernfire was sent back to the academy roster once Broxah returned. Unfortunately, Team Liquid Academy wasn’t able to do much better with Shernfire on the team.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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