The third week of the LPL second-stage intra-group matches has ended. On the last match day, LGD and UP competed in the Nirvana group; UP sealed their first victory by sweeping LGD in two games. Now, among the six Nirvana-group teams, OMG alone holds zero wins. The other match that day was WBG against BLG—this BO3 was also without suspense, as the out-of-form WBG was cleanly swept by BLG.

WBG is truly a peculiar team. Whether facing strong or weak opponents, they consistently gain advantages during the laning phase. However, once team fights begin, the five players show zero coordination, scattering like sand and crumbling at the slightest touch. In the first game against BLG, WBG led by 1K gold within just 5 minutes; by 15 minutes, the economic advantage expanded to 2.5K, and they secured the stacking dragon at 17 minutes.

Normally, such a game should be unlosable, but WBG’s play was too chaotic. After taking the dragon, when they should have retreated, some wanted to pull back while others wanted to fight—this internal tug-of-war allowed the opponent to seize an opening and initiate a fight, instantly flipping the gold lead. Even then, WBG could still fight if they secured the dragon soul. Yet in the dragon-soul fight, four ultimates were wasted on a single support; not only did they lose the dragon, but they also suffered a team wipe.

Two disastrous team fights directly decided the match. The second game mirrored the first: Jiejie dominated early, securing grubs and dragons while maintaining a gold lead. However, they forfeited the stacking-dragon fight without contest, handing it over freely. The Baron fight was even more absurd—five players split across three positions; the top and jungle went to dive the backline, ELK alone face-tanked the frontline, while the mid and support duo watched from behind the wall, spectating.

Subsequent team fights remained incoherent: the LeBlanc was chased off by a solo AD, each player fought independently, and BLG picked them off one by one. It’s hard to believe this is a professional team—in team fights, each plays solo, five members stand in four different spots, divers hesitate to dive, initiators hesitate to initiate, and they cowardly crumble in every engagement. One match left fans despairing; even former veteran Liu Qing-Song seemed to feel agonized watching.

In terms of laning phase alone, WBG’s five players are actually decent. But when coordination is needed, it feels like zero communication. It seems Xiao Hu’s earlier interview remark about teammates being like strangers wasn’t a joke. WBG’s current issue isn’t hard to fix: if the team establishes clear shot-calling, significant improvement would follow. From recent matches, WBG lacks a core leader—everyone has their own separate ideas.

Take the stacking-dragon fight in the first game: ELK and Hang wanted to engage, but the others retreated, with mid and jungle fleeing faster than the AD—clearly a disagreement in opinion. Without unified decision-making, winning matches is tough. Thus, WBG’s urgent task is to designate a shot-caller. The coaching staff and management must order players to follow the shot-caller; even if decisions are wrong, the play wouldn’t look so disgraceful.

ELK definitely isn’t suitable for shot-calling. Previously at BLG, his calls involved directing the jungler to protect bot lane—in this meta, a strategy solely revolving around bot lane isn’t viable. Among others, top and support seem unfit. Mid or jungle could be chosen: Xiao Hu has rich major tournament experience; though he now only survives in lane, he could potentially command team fights. Jiejie is also viable—he initiates fights and can lead assaults.

Conclusion:

If they don’t establish shot-calling and unify everyone’s decisions, WBG will truly struggle to achieve results this stage. The first round of the Summit group has ended; if they adjust well in the second round, WBG still has a chance to squeeze into the top four. After all, last stage they reached third place in playoffs—this team’s ceiling isn’t low; currently, their coordination is just too poor.

So, do you think WBG’s five players are the right fit?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!