In the second stage of the LPL group competition, the third week has already begun. On the previous match day, the dark horse team NIP faced off against the fully-crowned AL. One team was riding a strong momentum, while the other was in a slump. Before the match, viewers thought NIP had a chance to defeat AL, but after watching both games, it became clear that NIP is still essentially in a state of rebirth. Apart from their bot lane player Asam, who could suppress Hope in lane, the remaining positions of NIP couldn’t gain any advantage over their counterparts.

NIP’s Korean import jungler Guwon was even more outrageous than the veteran Cream. When using Rumble’s ultimate to roast enemies, he swept them away. In the decisive team fight, he even swept the opposing jungler right into his own AD carry’s face, seemingly afraid that Asam wouldn’t die fast enough. Having no early-game rhythm was already bad, but his team fighting was so abstract. However, aside from Asam, the rest of the team didn’t perform well either. If just 1-2 more players had stepped up, NIP could have relied on their bot lane advantage to defeat AL.

Although AL’s form has improved somewhat, Hope’s laning remains a major issue. The only good news is that during the break, AL revisited lane-swapping strategies. While they couldn’t swap early, switching lanes in the mid-game allowed all three lanes time to farm. For AL currently, this is one of the few methods they can find to break the situation. But whether it’s effective remains unclear, especially since they only defeated NIP.

Another match was WBG versus WE. This matchup itself held little suspense. Although WBG’s form wasn’t great, facing a WE that started 0-5 without winning a single small game was still within their grasp. In this BO3, WBG’s three lanes all achieved lane advantages. It’s hard to believe, but WE’s best performers were actually the newly joined Erha and Tyrion. The remaining three brothers were increasingly underwhelming.

Cube was completely crushed by Zika. The Korean import duo was even more outrageous: About losing to ELK was understandable, but Karis was also beaten by Hajihu. Xiaohu’s form had been low for quite some time in this stage, yet WE managed to help him regain his touch. In the first game with LeBlanc and the second with Twisted Fate, Xiaohu even equipped the Book of Murder—a rare sight. An older Xiaohu having such a big advantage to use the Book of Murder truly shows the huge gap between the two teams.

After this loss, WE’s record in the second stage reached a major match 0-6 and small matches 0-12. Other teams with zero wins mostly couldn’t win major matches, but a team that hasn’t won a single small game is quite rare. In the final match of the first round, WE will face IG. If they still fail to secure their first small-game win, then WE would truly be the undisputed human-machine team in the Summit Group, unable to defeat anyone within the group.

The debut performance of the new jungler Tyrion can only be described as average. Compared to Monki, there’s still some gap. However, being a newcomer joining a team that’s continuously losing, he needs time to adjust. The former captain Monki wasn’t kicked out; he was overwhelmed by pressure. After AL recruited Teacher Ma, the originally substituted coach had a recurrence of leukemia. Monki not only had to play matches but also had to handle post-game analysis.

With strong self-esteem and the team failing to achieve results, Monki couldn’t bear the pressure and voluntarily requested a break. Honestly, Chaoxiong has skill, but his current teammates are too weak. They couldn’t gain lane advantages, and when he tried to invade to open up the game, the opponents always supported first, leading to him being caught and crushed. Given the team’s current situation, achieving good results is unlikely. Taking a break to adjust his mindset is actually a good thing.

Conclusion:

If they get swept by IG in the next match, then WE’s first round would be major matches 0-7 and small matches 0-14. Fortunately, the Summit Group only has eight teams, so WE can only lose up to 14 small matches. If there were two more teams, they might actually break the 0-16 record. Having a dual Korean import lineup and achieving such results is truly somewhat abstract.

So, do you think WE will plummet to 0-14?

Feel free to leave your comments and discuss!