Top Esports is one of the teams with the most personnel changes in the LPL after the transfer period at the end of the 2021 season. However, this team currently has a performance that is not particularly impressive. They have only won 1 match and lost 1 after 2 games played, and this is certainly not the result that TES management desires. Notably, TES lost to Rare Atom – a team that is not highly regarded in the LPL region.
Although they somewhat regained the trust of fans by winning against Ultra Prime, it was still a very tough match for TES. The only bright spot for TES in that match was the performance of rookie Xiaopeng. Chosen to replace the 2019 World Champion Tian, Xiaopeng played well. Notably, the Noxian Guillotine on 2 members of UP in game 3 helped TES snowball, leading netizens to joke that he had “kicked Tian to the bench.”
But according to Xiaopeng himself, when chatting with a friend on a stream, the TES coaching staff still preferred to play with Tian in the lineup. Before the match against RA, he wasn’t even allowed to practice for a single session. Only after TES lost to RA did Xiaopeng get to practice for half a day.
Normally, LPL players have 2 practice sessions, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. According to what Xiaopeng revealed, TES faced RA on January 12 (Vietnam time) and on that day they lost to RA. Since it was a match day, Xiaopeng could only practice in the evening. The leaked conversation came out on January 17 (Vietnam time), and Xiaopeng also mentioned that he could only train for half a day. This means that from January 12 to 17, excluding the match day against UP (January 15), Xiaopeng trained only twice in 5 days, each for half a session.
Currently, TES or LPL have not made any statements regarding Xiaopeng’s accusations. TES’s current record stands at 1 win and 1 loss, and in the two matches, TES has used both of their junglers, Tian and Xiaopeng. Each has shown certain strengths and weaknesses. However, if Xiaopeng’s claims are true, it appears that TES is indeed not treating its members fairly. If not resolved amicably, this could create “underlying waves,” affecting both team harmony and performance in the upcoming matches.