Famous Former Coach Points Out LPL’s Failures Against LCK, Related to Faker
At this point, it can be said that LPL is being far outpaced by LCK. In 2023, this region only brought home one MSI championship from JD Gaming. Moving into 2024, LPL left empty-handed in all international tournaments. On the opening day of First Stand 2025, they also lost 0-2 to LCK’s representative. According to Coach ZhuKai – one of the most successful coaches in LPL history, the reason is that this region lacks mid laners as skilled as Faker.
Specifically, the former coach of Royal Never Give Up stated: “The reason our ‘all-China’ rosters cannot win championships is that we do not have a mid laner of sufficient quality. Ask yourself, has there been any domestic mid laner who has won the Worlds? Meanwhile, looking at LCK, Faker has won it five times already?”.
Former coach ZhuKai also mentioned that currently, LPL lacks skilled mid laners, and next, the support position. “That’s why when Knight appeared, he immediately became a top talent. Previously, we always had to rely on imports from LCK.”
But LPL Also Fails to Create Opportunities for Players to Showcase Their Skills
In reality, while LPL is scarce in skilled mid laners, LCK has an abundance, to the point where superstars like Scout or Doinb do not even have the opportunity to showcase their abilities. Furthermore, the negative aspects of youth leagues also hinder LPL’s development compared to LCK. Meanwhile, LCK almost always has at least one player each year who can reach world-class level.
Currently, the situation has not improved. In fact, the “super team” BLG only changed one jungler position and immediately became absent from the First Stand tournament. If the situation does not improve, it is entirely possible that LPL will continue to leave empty-handed against LCK in 2025.