After TSM’s lineup was defeated by Evil Geniuses in the 2022 LCS Championship, the team released star jungler Mingyi “Spica” Lu. Heading into the next League of Legends transfer window, the former North American champion and 2021 Spring Split MVP is an unrestricted free agent—and a valuable one at that.

Spica participated in 166 LCS games for TSM between 2019 until his termination.

The jungler, who is still just 21 years old, tweeted the good news on September 6 to indicate that he is now able to communicate with other League organizations in front of the 2023 season.

“TSM has terminated my contract, so I am a free agent, effective today,” he wrote in the update. “Thanks to all the fans for the four years of overwhelming support. I’m excited for what’s coming next.”

The Chinese-born jungler has yet to announce if he has found a new team.

With this roster change from TSM, Spica’s four-year association with the heavyweight League organization comes to an end. The 21-year-old signed up for the team’s Academy roster in April 2019 and later made appearances in the starting lineup for brief periods during the regular season that spring and a pivotal playoff series during the summer postseason.

For the 2020 spring season, Spica rejoined TSM’s development squad after his Academy team finished third-fourth in the playoffs. He was permanently added to the main squad at the start of the summer.

TSM and Spica both benefited from the move almost immediately: the League team, which also featured Bjergsen, Doublelift, and Biofrost, finished fourth in the regular season before going on an incredible lower bracket run to defeat FlyQuest 3-2 in the grand final to win the 2020 LCS Summer Split playoffs.

Following a humiliating 0-6 loss in the Worlds groups, veterans Bjergsen and Doublelift announced their retirement from competitive League play.

In 2021, Spica and the team returned with new additions including Huni, PowerOfEvil, and high-profile signing SwordArt. The squad had impressive achievements, placing third in the Mid-Season Showdown and first in the summer regular season. Spica received his first All-Pro nomination and the LCS MVP award as a consequence of the latter performance.

The squad finished fifth or sixth in the Championship in the 2022 Spring Split, missing the playoffs.