During the offseason transfer period of the 2023 season, there have been many changes surrounding the roster of teams in the LPL. Two veterans, Doinb and Flandre, decided to take a break while Uzi has yet to return after the “Bilibili Gaming shock” last mid-season. The rosters of Royal Never Give Up, Weibo Gaming, as well as JD Gaming, Edward Gaming, and LNG Esports have seen significant changes. Additionally, two former Worlds champions, Ning and Baolan, have also returned after a period of “putting down their swords.”
However, the performance of these former champions has not been as good as fans expected. Both Ning and Baolan have joined Ultra Prime, and this team is currently at the bottom of the 2023 LPL Spring Split. Notably, UP is one of the teams with the most transfers in the LPL, as they have acquired not only Ning and Baolan but also Doggo – who once pushed Uzi to the bench while playing for BLG.
However, Ning is the name most criticized and mocked by fans. According to some opinions and audience evaluations, Ning ranks 19th among the junglers in the 2023 LPL Spring Split. But the interesting part is: there are only 17 teams in the LPL. The number 19 also includes reserve players (ThunderTalk Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas use 2 junglers per team). This means that Ning ranks lower than the reserves of those two teams.
Of course, Ning (who is known to be quite hot-headed and toxic) does not accept this assessment. He even demanded that fans provide evidence. However, before Ning’s fans could present any evidence, statistics from various tracking sites have already spoken for themselves. According to some data from Gol.gg, Ning has played 37 out of 42 matches (excluding the group stage) – a number that is not inferior to any jungler. However, other statistics tell a very different story.
Ning’s KDA is the lowest among the 19 junglers. In fact, even Xiaohao from Anyone’s Legend (the team ranked just above UP) has a higher KDA than Ning. He also has the lowest win rate (only 24.3%) and Ning’s gold per minute is also the lowest in the tournament (303, lower than XLB – the reserve player from NIP, who has 306). Furthermore, on average, Ning dies 4.1 times per game – the highest among the 19 junglers this season.
With such statistics, perhaps Ning understands that he has truly hit rock bottom in his career. Of course, UP is likely aware of this issue, and it is only a matter of time before they seek a replacement for Ning in preparation for the upcoming Summer Split.