Visa Denied Twice: TES Turns to 369 Ahead of S16
Top Esports, one of China’s best-known League of Legends clubs, has a roster problem that no amount of practice can fix. The team said its starting top laner, known in-game as ZUIAN, was rejected in two visa interviews and cannot fly out with the squad at the start of the S16 World Championship. Until the paperwork is resolved, veteran player 369 will take the starting spot.
For readers outside the scene, the World Championship — usually shortened to Worlds and branded S16 for this season — is the biggest annual tournament in competitive League of Legends, drawing teams from Korea, China, Europe, North America and beyond. Players travel to a host region and compete for weeks. A missing starter is not a minor inconvenience; rosters are built around five players who practise together for months.
Top Esports, often called TES, competes in China’s premier league, the LPL. ZUIAN is a young top laner who earned his place in the starting five. 369, whose name comes from his birthday, is a far more familiar figure to Chinese fans: an experienced top laner with a long LPL career and previous appearances on the international stage. He is the kind of substitute a team calls when it needs someone who has already stood on that stage.
The club said it is still trying to arrange a third interview for ZUIAN and will keep working to bring him to the event. In the meantime, it said it is adjusting training plans and tactical preparation to absorb the disruption. The tone of the statement was calm, but the underlying message was clear: the team cannot wait for the visa process to finish before it starts preparing.
Visa rejections are a recurring headache in esports, where players travel constantly and tournament hosts change every year. Players are young, some have limited travel history, and interviews are decided by consular officers who may know nothing about competitive gaming. Teams have learned to build contingency plans, register substitutes early and keep paperwork in order, but surprises still happen.
For fans, the timing is painful. Worlds is the moment when months of domestic play are supposed to pay off, and the top lane is a position where individual matchups can decide entire series. Throwing in a replacement days before the event changes how the team drafts and how opponents prepare against it.
There is also a human story here. For a young player, missing Worlds is not just a lost tournament; it is a missed chance to be seen by a global audience, to test himself against the best, and to build the kind of reputation that shapes a career. The club’s public support suggests it understands that, even as it makes the hard call to field someone else.
TES has not said when a decision on the third interview will come. Until then, the team trains with 369 in the lineup, fans debate whether experience beats continuity, and one young player waits for a stamp in a passport that may or may not arrive in time. The tournament, as always, will start without waiting for anyone.