Two major upsets shock the LPL! Four Korean imports shine, Elk struggles, and JDG disappoints

Hello to all LPL viewers and League of Legends summoners, this is Tianxia Game Hub.

The Demacia Cup matches are underway. Previously, the most anticipated clash between WBG and JDG ended with WBG's victory. It was assumed these two teams were the strongest, but the Demacia Cup revealed other skilled contenders.

In the two matches held yesterday and today, both WBG and LNG suffered defeats, creating two major upsets.

LPL rocked by double upsets, four Korean players step up

Yesterday’s match between WBG and OMG produced the first upset. OMG, a team overlooked during the transfer period, swept WBG with a low-value roster. To briefly introduce OMG’s lineup: last year they abandoned an all-Chinese roster and brought in Korean support Maham, and this transfer period they added a Korean jungler.

The new lineup consists of Hery, Juhan, Haichao, Starry, and Moham. These five players mostly had low market value during the transfer period and were unwanted by top teams, with many on the verge of being dropped.

However, in the match against WBG, OMG displayed outstanding performance and successfully pulled off an upset victory.

In the recently concluded match between LNG and JDG, LNG also defeated JDG 2-0, another upset. Similar to OMG, LNG’s two Korean players performed exceptionally well: mid laner Bulldog and jungler Croco.

Croco has previously played in the LPL, while Bulldog is making his debut. The strong performance of these two Korean mid-jungle players was crucial in both upsets. Of course, LNG’s and OMG’s local players also delivered impressive plays.

Elk struggles, JDG’s performance disappoints

In the OMG vs. WBG match, the bottom lane duo Starry and Maham successfully outperformed Elk and Erha. After multiple deaths against JDG, Elk continued to struggle against OMG, making mistakes like dying top lane to Starry in the first game and being dominated in lane overall.

Starry, playing Caitlyn, scored 17 kills throughout the game. His early tower dives and mid-game ultimate for clearing waves were highly effective.

At the jungle matchup, Jiejie picked Lillia in the second game but focused mostly on farming without much impact. He was outpaced early by Juhan, fell far behind, and although he managed some kills through team fights, OMG controlled the decisive late fights and secured the win.

JDG’s performance was even more disappointing. It’s unclear if CFO’s mid-jungle duo is struggling to adapt to the LPL, as they were clearly outperformed by the Korean mid-jungle players. Bottom lane Gala was not much better than Elk; as the team’s main carry, he was solo killed by 1xn in the first game, while Sheer’s Rumble dealt massive damage and repeatedly targeted Gala successfully.

In the second game, Sheer played Sion and dealt the highest damage of the match, earning back-to-back MVP awards.

Underdog teams rise, can they shock the favorites?

These two victories represent triumphs for LPL’s overlooked underdog teams. During this year’s transfer period, attention focused mainly on top teams, while lower-ranked squads were largely ignored and seen as merely supporting players for the elites.

Unexpectedly, the Demacia Cup quickly brought surprises to the audience, as these lower-ranked, underestimated teams performed remarkably well.

In my opinion, this success owes much to the players’ individual efforts and team synergy, along with some luck. With the current meta lacking dominant champion lineups, upsets are more likely. Whether these wins reflect genuine strength or just fleeting fortune remains to be seen, and we need to watch upcoming matches to draw conclusions.

Although JDG and WBG are still in their adjustment phases, their poor performances despite high-value rosters are frankly disappointing. Hopefully, both teams will carefully review their failures and strive to perform in line with their team valuations.