IG Faces Early Elimination Risk Due to TheShy
Before the 2025 season kicks off, IG was the team that “shook” the transfer market in the LPL by bringing in a slew of big names. With the return of TheShy, Rookie, along with new faces like Meiko, Jiejie, and GALA, IG is viewed as the “super team” in the LPL, capable of defeating any opponent. However, when the LPL actually kicked off, things were not as easy for IG. In fact, this team was easily defeated by Doinb’s NIP with a score of 2-0, leaving them without an early ticket to the playoffs of LPL 2025 Split 1.
This weekend, IG will face FPX to secure a playoff spot for themselves. If they fail, they are likely to be eliminated right from the group stage, and this “dark” prospect is closer to IG than ever, all because of TheShy. Accordingly, LPL audiences have discovered that TheShy is “performing poorly” in ranked matches with a meager win rate of just 45%. To make matters worse, TheShy was even “outplayed” by a retired player, 957, which has raised further concerns among fans.
It is worth noting that TheShy has previously stated that playing ranked in League of Legends is not very meaningful, so audiences can empathize with his history of continuous losses mentioned above. However, a concerning aspect here is that TheShy has not participated in practice with his teammates for a considerable time. According to a report from Sohu regarding the LPL, TheShy hasn’t touched League of Legends from January 24 to February 7 (about two weeks). This has caused quite a few LPL fans to express their anger and “criticize” his practice attitude.
IG and TheShy Need to Step Up to Meet Expectations
Indeed, with the massive investment in acquiring many stars like IG, fans have the right to expect better results from this team. Comparing a bit to TES in the 2024 season (a team that also “spends big” for the current season), they demonstrated dominance in the LPL Spring 2024 group stage, only losing to BLG. Meanwhile, IG has not achieved this even in their victory against RNG, relying on individual brilliance to win.
The lack of convincing gameplay from IG currently is causing fans to doubt the strength they possess. The situation with TheShy may just be the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and has led to heavy criticism towards this player. Therefore, the IG team needs to put in maximum effort in the coming days to defeat FPX and temporarily silence the doubts from the public. If not, they could very well become a “laughingstock” for spending money on stars but delivering incredibly poor results.