UPDATE: LMQ management clarifies that, since LMQ has qualified for LCS, they are now independent and no longer in financial trouble. Royal Club, however, will be sold.
The roster of Royal Club at S3WC, a time when Lan Mei-Qi was already supporting the team out-of-pocket.
Information has recently come to light that Tian Ci, owner of Royal Club Huang Zu and LMQ Tian Ci, has given up on the team and been missing. In his absence, his wife, Lan Mei-Qi, has been handling the financials. However, the financial stresses have gotten to her, and she will have to sell all property. In a video taken from her YY stream—something similar to Twitch—Lan Mei-Qi states she tried her hardest and was paying everything from her own pockets and she is sorry that she will have to sell Royal Club.
The video goes on to state that she has been managing the team and her family without much support from Tian Ci for a year, including when RC was at Season Three World Championships. In addition, she has suffered emotional stress, as the community has come to blame her for the team's downfall and lack of success this spring, as she was solely responsible for them financially.
In addition, it was revealed that Tian Ci has not been paying anything for LMQ aside from the team house rent. She has been paying for other things such as food herself. Since the team qualified for the LCS, however, this is no longer a concern. It was also suggested, however, that Uzi, who was promised to join LMQ should they qualify for NA LCS summer, would not be able to come to North America because of lack of funding.
Other rumors circulating include the possibility that owners of OMG have purchased Royal Club. Recent changes to the lineup indeed suggest new management, as corn, a well-known Chinese solo queue player, joined the team for International Esports Tournament, and though the team got 2-0'd by Invictus Gaming, corn faired well in the mid lane against Liu "Zzitai" Zhi-Hao.
If the rumors are true and OMG's owners do pick up Royal Club, their access to talent could shore up an extremely successful roster. All this is still up in the air, however.
As much of this information is still very speculative and changes are not set in stone, we ask you to bear with us and keep checking for updates and they become available.
UPDATE 1: The information provided also includes claims that iBuyPower are "stingy," which implies that they refuse to help LMQ cover costs incurred and not paid by Tian Ci.
UPDATE 2: Xiaowei Li posted on her twitter that LMQ is now an independent organization with no financial problems. Whether this means that Uzi may still arrive in NA or they are only stable without him remains to be seen.
Hi guys! LMQ is not tied to Royal Club anymore, we are now an independent organization in the US and we have no financial problem:)
— Xiaowei Li (@LmqSharon) April 28, 2014
UPDATE 3: Information has been received from windeyes, a friend of LMQ's manager that, because LMQ are in the LCS, they are no longer in financial trouble.
Thank you to Felon Lee and Garry "Aegyo" Chen for providing insight and translation. Additional thanks to Felon Lee for tracking down sources.
