Defeating WE 3-1, LNG successfully earned the final ticket to participate in the 2021 Worlds alongside other elite representatives of League of Legends from China such as FPX, EDG, and RNG.
Although they are the fourth seed from LPL and must start in the Play-In stage, with LNG’s current strength, breaking through and advancing deep into the Group Stage should not be too big of an issue.
What’s noteworthy is that while EDG, FPX, RNG, and LNG all represent the LPL league, in reality, considering their overall playstyle and current roster situation, each team possesses a distinct identity. Therefore, let’s explore the playstyles and key carry players of each of these teams!
EDG: Team Fights + Traditional Double Carry
The Double Carry strategy involves a lineup with two primary carries. When a team employs this strategy, at least 2-3 other members (excluding the support position) must sacrifice their benefits, striving to funnel resources (gold, experience, kills,…) as much as possible to nurture their carries, thereby laying the groundwork for victory.
Since the 2015 season, with the arrival of PawN and Deft, EDG has gradually become the team with the best combat style in the LPL region. Moreover, since the beginning of that season, EDG has placed great emphasis on prioritizing a playstyle centered around two carries. In fact, they have focused so much on this strategy due to its effectiveness that they have turned it into a “tool” for victory for most of their gameplay.
This season, with the addition of the “cannon” Viper, EDG has discovered a new winning formula. The synergy between the 2000-born player and veteran Scout has created an exceptional carry duo (Mid – AD) for this year’s LPL season. Thus, fundamentally, EDG’s style has not changed significantly as they still prioritize team fighting, but they have shifted their focus to build their gameplay around Scout and Viper.
FPX: Doinb’s System
What exactly is Doinb’s system? It would not be wrong to say that Doinb is the center and brain operating FPX’s entire playstyle. But that does not mean Doinb has to shoulder all the responsibilities alone.
Simply put, this playstyle transforms a mid laner into a “tool” to assist teammates or, conversely, can also turn them into a true carry to finish the game. Yet whether as a “tool” or main carry, one thing is certain: Doinb is the only mid laner who can effectively operate this playstyle. And because of the natural terrain advantage of the mid lane, whether in top, bottom, or jungle positions, the mid laner is always the quickest to engage, and Doinb has thoroughly researched this gameplay.
Of course, if FPX wants to achieve good results at this year’s Worlds, they should not overly rely on Doinb’s system. In this system, players in other positions are also required to have good coordination and laning skills. If their laning and coordination capabilities fall out of sync, Doinb’s roaming or control will become useless, and frequent departures from lane will heavily impact their power growth. Fortunately, the remaining players of FPX are also very skilled, which makes Doinb’s system even stronger.
RNG: Win Lane Win Game
Ever since Xiaohu became the top laner, RNG’s playstyle has completely changed. RNG currently places great importance on winning lanes in the early game to snowball quickly and finish the match. Once RNG can win their lanes, top laner Xiaohu can easily influence other lanes.
However, in reality, RNG is not just a standalone team; many often overlook the supporting role of Ming. GALA’s excellent performance as an ADC has a significant contribution from him. In difficult situations, the roaming of Xiaohu and Ming becomes the most crucial factor in RNG’s synergy. So, if RNG finds themselves in a situation where they cannot win lanes early, relying on GALA to reach the necessary power threshold to carry becomes the solution. Additionally, mid laner Cryin is currently not performing very stably due to a limited champion pool. However, this instability does not mean Cryin is RNG’s weak link; sometimes it can even become RNG’s advantage.
LNG: Tarzan
This team somewhat resembles JDG from the 2020 season. While the current version may not be the “standard” version from previous years, Tarzan’s core position in LNG seems to be similar to Kanavi’s role in JDG during the 2020 season. If Tarzan performs exceptionally well, LNG can perform excellently, but if Tarzan is restricted, LNG will find it very difficult to execute their playstyle. Of course, some may argue that Ale and Icon also performed well during the summer split. However, we still need to see if Ale and Leng Shao can maintain that level of performance at the upcoming World Championship, especially when facing top teams from around the world in the Play-In stage.
Regardless of the outcome, the presence of the four best representatives from the LPL Summer Split at this year’s Worlds is truly commendable. We, the passionate fans, should send our best wishes to the players and teams for achieving the best results. Hopefully, the audience will soon witness thrilling matches between the world’s top teams in this year’s tournament.