Former LPL top domestic AD falls from grace

Since ELK was fired by BLG management, numerous ELK supporters have complained about BLG’s harshness. Despite having one year remaining on his contract, BLG preferred to break the agreement rather than keep ELK. This move disappointed many fans, especially since ELK was once praised by many BLG fans as the top domestic AD in the LPL. However, during the transfer period, many BLG fans turned against ELK, blaming him as the team’s weak link and holding him responsible for BLG’s failure to advance beyond the round of 16 at the World Championship this year.

Because ELK was rejected by BLG’s management, many of his fans hoped he could take revenge against BLG in the Demacia Cup. However, as the tournament progressed, many ELK fans felt devastated. ELK’s performance in the Demacia Cup was far from that of a top LPL player; instead, he became the weak point within WBG. Especially in the match against OMG, ELK’s play was mocked by many viewers as if a Diamond-ranked player mistakenly entered a Challenger-level game. OMG’s AD player Starry scored 17 kills with Caitlyn in the first game to win MVP, and in the second game, he used Aphelios to aggressively engage and instantly kill ELK.

Guan Zeyuan’s sharp post-match critique sparks wide attention

After the all-Chinese roster WBG was swept by OMG, well-known LPL commentator Guan Zeyuan publicly joked that buying “KR jungle and support” players would improve team strength. Last year, AL was a second-tier LPL team, but after signing jungle Tarzan and support Kael this year, AL quickly rose to become a top LPL team. Similarly, OMG acquired jungle Starry and former T1 support Moham, both LCK rejects, and then decisively crushed the powerhouse WBG. (Personally, I feel the jungle gap isn’t that big, but the support difference is really obvious.)

Following Guan Zeyuan’s public jest, MSI champion mid-laner Cryin also reviewed WBG’s matches. Cryin believes the main reason WBG lost to OMG is that WBG’s bot lane duo was ineffective. ELK’s lack of lane pressure allowed JIEJIE’s jungle to be compromised, and support Erha is more of an LDL-level player who is inferior to OMG’s support in both initiating fights and vision control. Cryin predicts that WBG may replace support Erha with another player in the future. Since AD player ELK has a high market value, forcibly terminating his contract would cause WBG significant losses.

WEI leads IG’s plunge to rebirth!

As this year’s LPL streaming giant, IG, despite TheShy resting during the new season and ROOKIE missing the Demacia Cup, still has many fans eager to see IG’s performance in the tournament. Except for mid-laner ROOKIE, the other four players are all IG’s main members. However, what shocked many IG fans was that IG’s current lineup couldn’t even defeat EDG. It’s worth noting that EDG is a gatekeeper-level team in the LPL playoffs this year, yet IG was completely shut down and beaten by EDG.

Many IG fans felt sorry for ROOKIE after seeing IG’s poor performance, believing ROOKIE will be heavily relied upon next year. At the same time, some viewers began mocking IG’s jungler WEI, saying he is leading the team’s dive into decline despite previously promising in an official video to guide IG to good results. From the Demacia Cup matches, WEI appears to be the weakest player on IG, with many viewers thinking WEI’s wins over BLG were mostly due to riding on the strong performances of top-laner TheShy and mid-laner ROOKIE. Without TheShy and ROOKIE, WEI seems to lack any real leadership ability.