After Invictus Gaming was officially eliminated from the race for a playoff spot in the 2021 LPL Summer Split, the team recorded a shocking statistic. This marks the first time in 7 years, since the 2014 LPL Summer Split, that IG has failed to reach the knockout stage of the LPL.
An interesting detail that perhaps not many people expected, because before IG won the championship at the 2018 Worlds, the LPL was known for teams like Royal Never Give Up, EDward Gaming, OMG, WE… as the top tier teams. IG was rarely considered a true championship contender, and before 2018, the team was mostly associated with Rookie.
It can be said that Invictus Gaming held the status of a mid-tier team in the LPL for many consecutive years. They rarely faced crises or declines, but also didn’t have many opportunities to rise to the top. Things only started to look up when this team pursued an aggressive foreign talent recruitment policy, first recruiting Duke in the 2017 season, followed by TheShy.
Along with the emergence of young talents from local training camps like Ning and JackeyLove, IG’s roster became more balanced and powerful, no longer just a one-man team, but instead competing fiercely in the championship race of the 2018 LPL Summer Split, culminating in their rise to the top by winning the Worlds that year.
In the following season, IG won the LPL, and although their success streak was halted afterward, they still managed to finish in the top 4 of both MSI and the 2019 Worlds.
However, things took a turn for the worse when JackeyLove parted ways with IG at the end of the 2019 season. The former World Champion plummeted without brakes over the next 4 seasons, despite a brief glimmer of hope with a top 1 finish in the LPL Spring 2020.
Yet, IG lost in their very first Bo5 match of that season, and now, more than 2 years later, this team has yet to secure any victories in the LPL playoffs after two and a half years.
During this summer season, they didn’t even make it to the playoffs. What has left many IG fans truly bewildered is the performances of Rookie and TheShy – their two star players. Rookie has long harbored thoughts of retirement, while TheShy no longer seems interested in the professional arena. The lack of enthusiasm is perhaps the most noticeable aspect of this duo’s performance. They truly seem to have lost the motivation to strive further.
Though they may not want to admit it, most IG fans likely realize that: The era of success with IG’s golden generation has truly come to an end. Nevertheless, the story of this team is likely to be discussed and debated for a long time. In the position of Rookie or TheShy, do we have the right to be satisfied with what we have achieved, even if their glory lasted only a brief year?
Yet, even the briefest glory is perhaps far better than the long, struggling days before, when the desire for titles was just a distant dream. And perhaps, going through nearly 4 years without a title with IG will help Rookie understand this better than anyone else.
Achieving the pinnacle with a Worlds championship is something not every player is fortunate enough to experience, so it’s understandable that Rookie and TheShy feel satisfied and fulfilled with that. As for IG currently, they seem to be preparing for a complete overhaul, stepping into a new era in the history of this team.