On May 14th, the last two matches of Round 2 of the Knockout Stage of MSI 2023 took place. The results were not surprising, as the higher-rated teams all claimed victory. At the same time, Golden Guardians became the next team to say goodbye to the tournament. Thus, only Bilibili Gaming remains as the only representative from the Play-In Stage so far.
Notably, in just the three games against BLG, ADC Ruler achieved 35 kills, only dying 5 times while also racking up 32 assists. It can be said that it was thanks to the outstanding performances of Ruler and Knight that JDG could completely dominate BLG. Especially, in all three matches, Ruler outperformed his younger opponent from BLG right from the laning phase.
However, JDG’s rise, supported by the trio of Kanavi – Knight – Ruler, has left many LPL fans feeling uneasy. One opinion shared: “In all three matches, 369 and Missing did not perform significantly better than Bin or ON. But JDG still won thanks to Kanavi, Knight, and especially Ruler playing exceptionally well. For comparison, while domestic ADC Elk had some baffling moments blocking for the team, it felt like every move Ruler made could help JDG crush BLG.”
Indeed, LPL fans have long hoped for a representative with all five members being domestic players to dominate international tournaments. The team most capable of achieving this is Royal Never Give Up, which has actually dominated MSI. However, this year RNG is not participating in this tournament. And Elk and BLG have shown that they do not have a reliable ADC since JackeyLove and GALA’s decline in form.
Relying on the performance of foreign players from Korea cannot satisfy LPL fans. JDG may win MSI if they perform well, but LPL fans will likely only be truly satisfied if a 100% domestic team takes the crown.