After defeating the 2020 Worlds runner-up – Suning in the first round of the LPL Summer Playoffs 2021, LNG Esports continued to create a second seismic shock, as they didn’t even need a fifth game to annihilate the former LPL champions – Top Esports in the second round of the Playoffs.
LNG’s victory helps the unicorns continue to write their fairy tale story this season, while also indirectly putting an end to Top Esports’ chance to participate in Worlds 2021. Knight has followed in the footsteps of his “rank climbing buddy” SofM, watching Worlds 2021 from home on TV.
This also means that all 4 representatives of the LPL who participated in last year’s Worlds, including Top Esports, JD Gaming, Suning, and LGD Gaming, have had to say goodbye to this competition this year.
In the LPL Summer 2021, TES and SN at least managed to get through the group stage, while JDG and LGD experienced a disastrous season being eliminated early. All 4 teams have no chance of participating in the LPL Worlds regional qualifiers as the Playoffs stage hasn’t even passed halfway.
Looking at the performance of this quartet, the most noticeable common point leading to their failures is the issue of team composition. LGD is the team that suffered the most from continuous roster changes and faced numerous backstage problems. Before the summer split, there were even rumors that the LGD organization was considering disbanding their League of Legends team.
The other 3 teams, TES and JDG, maintained their roster compared to the previous season, while SN had to part ways with captain SwordArt right after the conclusion of Worlds 2020. On the surface, it seems that the strength of 3 out of 4 LPL representatives at Worlds 2020 remained intact, but in reality, they did not strengthen; they even weakened noticeably as all their competitors spent heavily to enhance their lineups or benefited from the meta.
RNG unexpectedly created a sensation by moving Xiaohu to the top lane and achieved results beyond expectations, alongside the rise of young AD carry GALA. Meanwhile, EDG, FPX… splurged to bring in high-profile contracts such as Flandre, Viper, Nuguri…
We can understand this as the theorem: “When you stand in an environment where everyone is moving forward while you stand still, it means you are falling behind.” In other words, the lack of roster changes, coupled with the loss of key players and the decline in performance of stars, has caused the “Four Kings” of LPL last year to collectively “fall from grace.”
The fierce competition and swift “power shifts” are characteristics of the LPL, and these 4 teams are even living witnesses to that dizzying cycle. Last year, TES acquired JackeyLove and Karsa, Suning bought SofM, JDG officially acquired Kanavi after a loan season from GRF, while LGD also brought in Peanut.
All were blockbuster contracts, with A-list stars that these teams brought in with ambitions to dominate. And their goals became reality, as TES and JDG shared 2 LPL championships, LGD secured a berth at Worlds, while SN even claimed the runner-up position at the World Championship. They were also the ones who toppled Invictus Gaming, FunPlus Phoenix, and Royal Never Give Up – the previously dominant forces of the LPL and the 3 representatives at Worlds 2019.
In the last 3 seasons, no LPL team has been able to qualify for Worlds for 2 consecutive years, which may be the most emphatic affirmation of the fierce competition rules of this tournament, and perhaps TES, JDG, and SN know what they need to do in the 2022 season to reclaim their positions.