Only a few hours remain until the first match of the LPL Spring 2022 officially kicks off. But just before the matches begin, international media has once again stirred controversy by releasing the ranking of the top 10 teams for the new season.
Accordingly, the top spot is not surprising with EDward Gaming being the chosen team. This team is one of the few that has retained almost its entire lineup (only parting ways with coach KenZhu) after the recent offseason transfer window. With the full roster that previously lifted the trophy at LPL Summer 2021 and the 2021 World Championship, it is not hard to understand why EDG is rated the highest among the 10 teams in this ranking.
However, in the rest of the ranking, T1 is placed just behind Gen.G Esports. Although Gen.G has changed almost their entire lineup, keeping only Ruler, the new members, aside from three former Griffin players, have never played an official match together. Their practice results have been very good, but everyone understands that practice and actual matches are very different. Not to mention, T1 currently has the bot lane considered the strongest in LCK, and at the recent 2021 World Championship, Faker, who is nearing the decline of his career, managed to contain Chovy well and made ShowMaker sweat to win by a narrow margin.
Notably, Top Esports, a team that also made some changes during the last offseason transfer window, is being rated the lowest among the 10 teams, even below Weibo Gaming and Bilibili Gaming. While it is true that TES could lose to WBG, which boasts “two gods” in TheShy and SofM, losing to a BLG that just formed a team is hard for LPL fans to understand. Especially since BLG has Uzi, Crisp, and Doggo, but Uzi’s form is still unproven, while Doggo is too young. Moreover, many Chinese fans believe that TES this season could be quite solid, particularly as their top side is very strong with Knight, Tian, and Zoom. Additionally, the entire team’s form has been rising after winning the 2021 Demacia Cup.
However, all rankings become meaningless once the matches begin. In reality, the strength of each team can only be reflected through their gameplay and the results they achieve in the upcoming time.