CTBC Flying Oyster

Founding and Inaugural Season

CTBC Flying Oyster was founded on 26 January 2022 when CTBC Sports Entertainment, a subsidiary of CTBC Bank, acquired the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) league spot from Machi Esports. The organization built its inaugural roster by recruiting former players from Machi Esports and J Team. The starting five were top laner Hsu 'Rest' Shih-chieh, jungler Huang 'Gemini' Chu-hsuan, mid laner Chen 'Mission' Hsiao-hsien, bot laner Sung 'Atlen' Ya-lun, and support Lin 'Koala' Chih-chiang. This core group would form the foundation of the team's early success.

In their debut 2022 spring split, CFO immediately proved to be a contender. They finished the regular season in third place after winning a tiebreaker match against fellow newcomers Deep Cross Gaming. This placed them in the winners' bracket for the playoffs. They swept Meta Falcon Team and then defeated the second-place J Team to advance to the semifinals. There, they secured a convincing 3-1 victory over the defending champions, PSG Talon, which qualified them for the spring finals in their very first competitive split. The finals series went the full distance, but CFO narrowly lost to PSG Talon, finishing as runners-up.

First Championship and World Championship Debut

CFO entered the 2022 summer split with an unchanged roster. They finished the regular season in fourth place, again securing their spot after a tiebreaker victory, this time over Frank Esports. In the playoffs, they defeated Frank Esports in the first round and then narrowly beat the first-place PSG Talon in the second round to advance to the semifinals. There, they took a convincing victory over Beyond Gaming. This win was crucial as it qualified CFO for the 2022 League of Legends World Championship as one of the PCS's two representatives. In the summer finals, CFO faced Beyond Gaming once more and swept them 3-0 to claim their first-ever PCS championship title.

This championship victory marked a rapid ascent for the new organization, establishing them as a major power in the Pacific region within a single year. The qualification for Worlds 2022 provided the team with its first taste of international competition on the biggest stage.

Consistency and Transition to the LCP

The 2023 season demonstrated CFO's staying power. They finished third in the spring regular season with a 12-7 record. Their spring playoffs run ended in the lower bracket semifinals with a 1-3 loss to Frank Esports, resulting in a third-place finish overall. In the summer, they placed fifth in the regular season with a 9-9 record but fought through the playoffs bracket to reach the finals once again. In a rematch against PSG Talon, they lost a close 2-3 series, finishing as runners-up. This result earned them a spot at the 2023 World Championship, where they were eliminated in the play-in stage after a 0-2 loss to Team BDS, placing between 19th and 20th overall.

In 2024, CFO finished first in the spring regular season with an 8-2 record. However, their playoffs run was cut short by a 0-3 loss to the Japanese team SoftBank Hawks in the lower bracket semifinals, placing third. They took third in the summer regular season as well, but their playoffs ended with a 1-3 loss to Frank Esports, resulting in a fifth-place finish. This period set the stage for a major league restructuring in 2025.

Dominance in the New LCP Era

In 2025, the Pacific Championship Series was succeeded by the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP), and CFO was selected as one of its partner teams. They started the new era strongly, finishing second in the inaugural LCP season kickoff regular season with a 6-1 record. They defeated Talon 3-1 in the finals to secure their second domestic title overall and the first-ever LCP championship. This victory also earned them a spot at the new First Stand Tournament. In the group stage there, CFO finished second with a 3-1 record, their only loss coming to South Korea's Hanwha Life Esports. They were eventually knocked out in the semifinals by Europe's Karmine Corp, placing third to fourth overall.

CFO's dominance continued in the mid-season split. They completed the regular season undefeated with seven series wins. In a hard-fought final, they narrowly defeated Vietnam's GAM Esports 3-2 to win their second LCP title. This victory qualified them for the main event of the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational, marking their first-ever appearance at the tournament. At MSI 2025, CFO was knocked out in the second round of the lower bracket by the Chinese team Anyone's Legend.

A Historic Treble and Unique Distinction

CFO saved their most dominant performance for the third and final split of the 2025 season. They began with a flawless 3-0 record in the Contender group to advance. They maintained a perfect record through the group playoffs and then dominated the season playoffs. They capped off the year by sweeping Team Secret Whales 3-0 in the grand finals to become the LCP season champion. This victory secured their qualification for the 2025 League of Legends World Championship.

By winning all three LCP splits in 2025, CFO completed a domestic treble. More significantly, their qualifications throughout the year led to a historic achievement. CFO became the only team from any of the five major professional leagues, the LCK, LPL, LCP, LEC, and LTA, to have qualified for all three of Riot Games' major international League of Legends events in a single competitive season: the First Stand Tournament, the Mid-Season Invitational, and the World Championship.

Team Identity and Evolution

The team's name, CTBC Flying Oyster, is central to its identity. It is a bilingual pun where the Mandarin Chinese name, 'feimuli' (飛牡蠣), sounds similar to the English word 'family'. The founders intended this to create a double meaning, directly referencing the corporate slogan of their owner, CTBC Bank: 'We are family'. This phrase was adopted as the official team motto, emphasizing a unified organizational culture.

Visually, the team's branding has evolved. The original logo emphasized the 'Flying Oyster' imagery. Before the 2022 summer split, this was changed to a new design that prominently features the team's abbreviation, CFO, rendered in the organization's colors of blue and yellow. Following their landmark 2025 season, the team entered a significant rebuilding phase, with reports indicating an almost entirely new roster was being constructed for the 2026 LCP season.