The LPL third split postseason is now underway. The third-seeded TES from the Summit Group took on the sixth-seeded LGD. Most fans expected TES to prevail easily given the perceived skill difference and TES's higher potential. But the outcome defied expectations. A hard-fought five-game series ended with LGD emerging victorious, dropping TES into the lower bracket where they will meet IG for a chance to advance to the top six.

TES played this BO5 in a disgraceful manner. None of the five players were blameless; each made mistakes. But the biggest problem was their core player, JackeyLove. In the decisive game, TES found a way to lose that only they could. Throughout the match, LGD held a consistent economic lead, at one point exceeding 5k. However, TES won two consecutive team fights and dragged the game into their power spike.

With a six-and-a-half-item Zeri paired with a Yuumi, and two massive tanks in the top and jungle, TES should have easily won as long as JackeyLove wasn't caught by Heng's Wukong in team fights. But in the final dragon soul fight, before his teammates could even move forward, JackeyLove saw the enemy Jhin and directly used his E to dash into the enemy's face. As a result, he was instantly knocked up by the Wukong. Once the AD carry died, TES's team fight collapsed in seconds, and LGD ended the game in one push.

The entire team's damage output was on JackeyLove, but he chose to initiate a team fight with his own body and died instantly. This move is absolutely indefensible. What's even more incomprehensible is that Heng had already revealed his vision. When he was hiding in the bush, the Trundle even used his pillar to check, confirming that Wukong was in the bush. Yet JackeyLove still ignored the Wukong and dashed straight into the enemy. It's completely unclear what he was thinking. The only explanation is that he wanted to go to the losers' bracket to "arrest" his old teammates.

The most frustrating part is that Shaoye played terribly in this BO5, yet his teammates somehow carried him to victory. This is where we must give credit to Tangyuan. He played exceptionally well in this series. Except for the third game where his Tristana kept jumping into danger, the other four games were flawless. In the first game, his Ahri was solid without mistakes. In the second game, his Akali dominated team fights, completely outclassing Creme in the matchup.

In the lost fourth game, the mid and support both tried their best. Tangyuan's rating was significantly higher than Creme's. In the final deciding game, his Sylas was crucial. He flanked and engaged in a 1v1 with Creme, preventing Viktor from joining the team fight. This meant TES lost a major damage source, so after JackeyLove died, they had no damage output. Thanks to his excellent individual performance, Tangyuan outperformed Creme in this BO5 and earned the series MVP.

Previously, everyone joked that Tangyuan only played well in scrims. Now it seems he was really held back by RNG. Perhaps he didn't dare to play his best before, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to end his contract and become a free agent when RNG went bankrupt. Now LGD has become a top dark horse. After reaching the top six, their next match is against AL. If they can maintain this form and the bot lane doesn't have major issues, they should have a fighting chance against AL.

After falling to the losers' bracket, TES is really in an awkward position. Their next match is against IG. No matter who loses, it's not what the audience wants to see, because whichever team gets eliminated will reduce the excitement of the playoffs. JackeyLove is really something—he deliberately died to go down and "arrest" IG. But the question is whether IG can withstand it. If they don't make the top six, IG won't even get a chance at the Regional Qualifiers. JackeyLove is really mischievous.

Conclusion:

The strength IG displayed during the "Knight's Path" stage was not far behind TES. However, TES always stabilizes for a while after a big loss. So it's unlikely that TheShy and Rookie will benefit from JackeyLove's demise. TES has at least the Regional Qualifiers to fall back on, but if IG loses, they have no hope at all. I hope IG can hold on.

So, what do you think of Tangyuan's performance?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!