Peanut was brought to LGD Gaming from Gen.G Esports with what was rumored to be a record-breaking contract in the LPL, and expectations were high for him to lead the former Chinese champions back to their former glory.
However, after two initial rounds, the impressions left by LGD in general and Peanut in particular have only been disappointment to fans. Together with Suning Gaming, they have lost both matches, winning only a single game, and Peanut himself had a relatively offbeat performance in the recent 0-2 defeat against Dominus Esports.
Korean and Chinese media immediately dissected the case of the former ROX and SKT player. Some opinions questioned whether Peanut was the right choice to bring LGD back to the pinnacle of glory. Meanwhile, many Asian League of Legends fans harshly admitted: “I have no impression of Peanut other than that he looks quite handsome.”
These comments point to a harsh reality for the player nicknamed “Peanut”, that he is experiencing the most difficult time in his career and facing a true challenge in asserting his name.
The biggest drawback of Peanut, proven throughout his professional career, is his slow adaptation to the meta. Peanut’s playstyle is somewhat similar to SofM, focusing on sweeping jungle resources, leveraging the advantage in experience and items in the early to mid-game to dominate opponents.
With this playstyle, Peanut successfully led ROX Tigers to the LCK Summer 2016 championship and only lost to SKT – the 2016 World Champion. However, since joining SKT, Peanut’s performance has noticeably “dull”, partly due to the constantly changing meta and also because he has not been able to secure a regular spot in the lineup while competing with Blank.
Saying that Peanut is a victim of the meta is not entirely accurate; in fact, his slow adaptation has caused his skills to fall far behind other emerging jungle stars. A limited champion pool and an inability to effectively use tank champions has left Peanut almost completely out of the meta during the 2019 season.
As a result, whether he became the most expensive jungle superstar in Korea while at Gen.G, or the highest-paid player at LGD, Peanut has repeatedly left fans sighing in disappointment.
Peanut’s decline will undoubtedly leave many regrets for fans, as the best years of his career may well be a thing of the past, just like the disbandment of the ROX Tigers lineup years ago.
Of course, LGD Gaming has only gone through 2 rounds in the LPL Spring 2020, and it is still too early to conclude whether Peanut’s contract has been a success or failure. But the issues surrounding Peanut have already become glaringly clear, and what he needs to do now is improve his gameplay, if he does not want to slide down the career slope at just 22 years old.
