MAD Lions part ways with star League of Legends jungler Shad0w

The MAD Lions League of Legends roster has had a phenomenal regular season in 2020, and the recent developments in its roster come as quite a shock to fans.

In its latest tweet, MAD Lions officially announced that its League of Legends roster would be parting ways with star jungler Zhiqiang "Shad0w" Zhao.

Today we part ways with @shadowlol. Thank You for your time with us this past year, from our Spring debut, to Dragon's Raging our path to #Worlds2020. We wish you all the best moving forward! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/QILQG2rfzu

— MAD Lions LoL English (@MADLions_LoLEN) December 18, 2020

The tweet reads:

“Today we part ways with @shadowlol. Thank You for your time with us this past year, from our Spring debut to Dragon's Raging our path to #Worlds2020. We wish you all the best moving forward!”

What surprised League of Legends fans most about this decision was that Shad0w was one of the biggest benefactors to the side. His Lee Sin is one of the best in the LEC, and casters and analysts alike have praised him for his incredible jungle mechanics.

Shad0w was one of the reasons behind MAD Lions having incredible Spring and Summer Splits in 2020.

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Shad0w parts ways with MAD Lions’ League of Legends roster

It was the first time that the organization qualified for the League of Legends Worlds Championship. Manager James MacCormack even tweeted about their success in August after the squad beat Schalke 3-1 in the playoffs.

Almost 8 months ago we lost 6-0 to 100 thieves Academy in one of our first scrim sets of preseason Boot Camp.Today we qualified for the world championship with 4 rookies on our roster.I couldn't be more proud of our amazing, lovable, mad, mad mad, MAD lions.

— James MacCormack (@MacCLol) August 28, 2020

James wrote:

“Almost 8 months ago we lost 6-0 to 100 thieves Academy in one of our first scrim sets of preseason Boot Camp. Today we qualified for the world championship with 4 rookies on our roster. I couldn't be more proud of our amazing, lovable, mad, mad mad, MAD lions.”

Our #Worlds2020 run ends with our loss to @supmass. Thank you to all of the fans that supported us through our first year in the @LEC.We started the year with 4 rookies, and they made it all the way to Shanghai when no one expected them to. We'll be back again in 2021! #goMAD pic.twitter.com/1uclH9QllV

— MAD Lions LoL English (@MADLions_LoLEN) September 29, 2020

Unlike the regular season, MAD Lions’ League of Legends Worlds run was not as impressive, and the squad could not make it out of the qualifiers and into the group stages.

Shad0w leaving the side can be quite a detriment to MAD Lions, as the jungler leaves quite a big hole behind.