The third stage of the LPL Knight's Journey has officially started. The opening BO5 saw FPX, last in the Peak Group, take on NIP, the leader of the Phoenix Group. This match was a chance for champion jungler Jiejie to reclaim his honor. Should he guide FPX into the playoffs, it would show his ability is still strong, though not suited to IG’s playstyle. A loss would mean a complete loss of face.

The outcome is well known: after a fierce five-game battle, NIP defeated FPX 3-2 to advance to the playoffs. This BO5 was a milestone match in the LPL because since the Knight's Journey format began, Phoenix Group teams had never beaten Peak Group teams. Not only did Jiejie fail to lead his team to the playoffs, but his poor performance in the fifth game also ruined his reputation.

The final game was truly unfortunate for FPX. Despite a strong early lead, they were stunned by a NIP comeback and lost. Jiejie’s performance was terrible—calling him the "culprit" is no exaggeration. Let’s briefly review the fifth game to see how badly Jiejie performed: right from the start, NIP invaded the jungle aiming for a level one fight, and their support was controlled and gave up first blood immediately.

Even though the opposing jungler died early after only taking a red buff, he quickly moved into FPX’s blue side to kill Jiejie in a solo duel. Despite the jungle disadvantage, FPX’s bottom lane stepped up, scoring a double kill at six minutes with Xayah starting 2-0. Later, FPX secured a 0-for-5 dragon fight, and by seven minutes, the kill score was 8 to 1. With such a huge lead, FPX had no reason to lose if they played normally.

However, Jiejie was unpredictable. At 16 minutes, with the two carries pushing top lane, Jiejie and support entered the jungle to ward but didn’t retreat when they could. NIP capitalized on this with a 0-for-5 team fight, instantly closing the gold gap. This marked the start of NIP’s comeback. Many viewers wondered why Xayah was slow to join fights; the issue was with the jungle and support. With top lane safe, FPX could have avoided fights.

Knowing the AD carry couldn’t arrive quickly, the jungle and support tried to counterattack, losing all their advantage. It’s unclear who was directing, but the communication failure was significant. Later, at 18 minutes, while the weapon was pushing a lane and Jiejie was already dead, teammates chose to fight 3v5 and were wiped out again. FPX kept feeding kills and resources, as if they desperately wanted NIP to win.

Starting 1-1, Jiejie ended the match with a 1-7 record, nearly going negative beyond belief. Although the mid and top laners also made mistakes, Jiejie must shoulder the main blame because both team wipes were due to him. As the most experienced player in big matches, he should know how to handle advantage and manage the game, but honestly, this match showed none of that.

With teammates pushing towers, the jungler and support going for risky fights is not something a top-tier jungler would do. Most importantly, there were no neutral objectives in the top half (no jungle monsters at all), so warding there was pointless. FPX only needed to protect the AD and mid, push the top tower, and secure dragon vision in the bottom half to maintain their lead. The in-game leadership clearly misjudged the situation.

Conclusion:

That disastrous team fight wasted their advantage. The dragon would respawn in 2 minutes, and Elder Drake had 4 minutes left—this dragon was FPX’s priority. Securing it would put pressure on NIP. Moreover, the 2-minute downtime gave time to regroup for the Elder Drake fight. Yet FPX chose to ward the top side instead. After watching FPX’s decisions, Guan Zeyuan couldn’t help but criticize: undeserving of victory.

So, who do you think is most to blame?

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments!