The LPL’s biggest dark horse has crashed!

After IG won the Demacia Cup despite missing TheShy and ROOKIE, many LPL viewers and analysts expected IG to be the biggest dark horse in the new season. Similarly, last year’s Demacia Cup winners AL were also underrated during the offseason but later demonstrated their true power. Therefore, many fans and insiders eagerly anticipated IG’s future performance, especially since most believed IG’s starting mid-laner ROOKIE was stronger than the Demacia Cup’s rookie mid-laner Renard.

However, what disappointed many LPL fans was that in the LPL season opener, IG lost 1-2 to WBG. This crushing defeat left many IG supporters disheartened, with numerous fans commenting on the official account, urging IG to give the rookie mid-laner Renard a chance, as ROOKIE’s performance was extremely erratic. (Playing a rabbit in the dragon pit during a do-or-die game truly baffled many LPL viewers.)

From my observation of LPL fans’ reviews of this BO3, it’s clear they are very forgiving toward rookies, yet quite critical of veteran players. Many fans even hope ROOKIE retires soon. Meanwhile, IG’s top laner soboro, known as the “Little TheShy,” received widespread praise in this match and earned the highest score of the BO3. (This 2004-born rookie top laner from IG shows promising potential for the future.)

JKL’s reverse redemption succeeds

JKL, a top-tier AD star in the LPL, has many loyal fans, though some critics believe he is TES’s weak point and that TES would improve without him. The first stage of TES’s matches drew much attention because JKL admitted on stream that he would rest and skip all TES games in this phase. Many LPL fans were curious whether TES could still perform well without JKL.

However, after TES’s first match against JDG, many fans realized that without JKL, TES’s strength dropped below even third-tier teams. TES’s new AD player jiaqi was heavily criticized, with many doubting he was even at LDL level. Last year, jiaqi was among the weakest players on RNG, so many TES fans couldn’t understand why TES management chose him to replace JKL. (JDG’s bot lane opponent GALA isn’t considered very strong, yet GALA dominated jiaqi in lane.)

In this BO3, TES’s most hardworking player was mid-laner Xiaonaiyou. In the second game against JDG, each time Xiaonaiyou died, TES lost high ground and the Baron. His solo five-man fight during team battles moved many TES fans to tears. Many JKL supporters, witnessing TES’s performance, hope TES can strengthen their support and jungle roles, as it’s obvious from the matches that these positions are not at LPL level, and even top laner 369 struggled in lane.