The 2024 Summer LPL has witnessed significant changes in the format of one of the oldest League of Legends tournaments in the world. Instead of a continuous group stage, teams will compete in a round called Summer Placements to be divided into groups, after which they will continue to play in a round-robin format as before to select teams that advance to the playoffs. Additionally, the LPL will be the first tournament in the 4 Major regions to implement the Fearless Draft pick/ban format to diversify the champions used. Before the official group stage began, in the Summer Placements round, most of the highly rated teams had impressive performances.
Among them, Rookie and his Ninjas in Pyjamas had quite an impressive journey in the Summer Placements, finishing this phase with 5 wins – 3 losses, ranking second in their group. However, everything turned 180 degrees when they entered the official group stage of the 2024 Summer LPL. As of now, Rookie and NIP have yet to secure a single win, let alone a match victory. NIP’s record stands at 0-3 with 6 consecutive losses. In fact, this result is even worse than that of Royal Never Give Up – a team that also has a 0-3 record but at least managed to secure 1 game win.
The performance of this former World Champion has left LPL fans worried. Although he is a foreign player, the LPL audience has long considered Rookie a legend of Chinese League of Legends. He, along with TheShy and JackeyLove, formed the atomic trio for Invictus Gaming’s success in 2018. Moreover, Rookie has also shown the highest loyalty possible, only leaving when IG was no longer able to keep him.
At this point, Rookie is considered a veteran in the League of Legends scene and is on the decline in his career. His NIP team is not a strong lineup that can compete for high rankings. Perhaps at this moment, NIP can only strive to perform their best in each match.