The regular season of the second stage of LPL will start in less than a week. Recently, the official announced the format and schedule of the new stage. Compared with the first stage, the second stage lacks the Resilience group. There are only Summit and Nirvana groups. The Summit group plays double round-robin BO3 matches, with the top four directly advancing to playoffs, and the bottom four participating in the Knight's Path. The Nirvana group plays single round-robin BO3 matches, with the top four advancing and the bottom two eliminated, ending their S16 journey.

Regarding the schedule arrangement, for the first four weeks, there are three BO3 matches every Saturday. For the remaining period, there are two matches daily, with Mondays and Tuesdays off to accommodate the EWC Oil Cup selection matches. Overall, there are matches every day. On the opening day, there are three matches: the opener between TES and IG, followed by WBG vs AL, and finally NIP vs WE. JDG and BLG will face off the next day.

Both TES and IG have made roster adjustments during the transfer period. According to the officially announced list, TES has changed its jungler and AD. IG hasn't officially announced yet, but except for the jungler, all other positions have been changed. Breathe has confirmed his joining, with Meiko partnering Jiaqi in the bot lane. The young mid laner who led the team to win the Demacia Cup is likely to start. Rookie, affected by the breakup incident, seems to need to avoid the spotlight temporarily and look for opportunities to return later.

When these two teams compete, there are quite interesting points to watch. Brother just returned, and it's unclear if his form has recovered. If he gets outperformed by Jiaqi, it would be somewhat embarrassing. Meiko is also in a similar situation, having rested for a stage, and his current capability is unknown. After roster adjustments, the team needs a long time to磨合. Personally, I feel IG's chance of winning is relatively low, especially since Tian played for TES in 2024.

After Tian's return, TES fans have been quite抵制 against him. In the team's super topic, posts criticizing him are everywhere. Even in Brother's live stream, there are many trolls stirring up节奏. Seeing his teammate being criticized, Brother, with his great character, directly stood up to support Tian. He told fans: Don't be swayed by the chat. The second stage is about to start. Say more words that benefit team harmony. If anyone asks again, just say you're here.

Although Brother is great, some of his fans are somewhat narrow-minded. Those who criticize Tian are mostly Brother's fans. They believe that TES's lack of achievement in 2024 is largely due to the jungler. After more than a year, still holding such resentment is indeed a bit abstract. But if we consider former BLG jungler Wei, it might be understandable why fans are so emotional.

Tian's return is already confirmed. Continuing to argue is meaningless and only affects TES's team atmosphere. What fans should do now is not to create internal conflict, but to cheer for the players. Because TES has matches every day for the first three days. After playing IG, TES will face AL, followed by WE. To aim for top four and direct playoff advancement, they probably need to win about two out of the three matches.

The schedule for the EWC selection matches穿插 during the second stage has also been released. Teams ranked 7th to 14th will first play single-elimination matches to determine two teams for the double-elimination tournament. The final two winners, along with the LPL second stage champion, will participate in the Oil Cup. EDG lost 1:2 to UP in the first round and is already out of the Oil Cup. LGD also suffered a similar fate, being directly 2:0 swept by TT.

Conclusion:

Among free agent junglers, Tian is already the strongest. If TES really replaces him with Beichuan, the outcome might not be better. What fans should worry about now is whether Fengyue can keep up with Brother's节奏. The jungler shouldn't be doubted; although Tian tends to lose focus in late game, in early game节奏, few in LPL are better than him.

So, who do you think is stronger, IG or TES?

Welcome to leave comments and discuss!