It can be said that throughout his career, Ruler has never approached such an outstanding achievement in League of Legends history as a player. It should be noted that this is the first year for this player in the LPL. But he quickly adapted and claimed almost every glory. In fact, Ruler even won a Gold Medal at the ASIAD. Ruler’s journey would have been perfect if it weren’t for the loss to T1. After that loss, JDG ended their “Golden Road” while Ruler continued to miss out on the World Championship title.
JDG’s loss can be described as a “perfect” defeat. Because that loss encapsulated all the most exciting elements of an Esports match: the stunning moments from the players, the wrong decisions, the high-ping drafts, and the best performances possible from both teams. But when it comes to the loss, Ruler has a different perspective. He believes that JDG could have avoided defeat if they hadn’t been too hasty in trying to “counter” T1’s “off-meta” playstyle.
Specifically, JDG’s AD Carry shared: “We had seen through the scrim results, and in the matches where T1 faced Weibo Gaming and LNG Esports. I thought they would continue to pick Varus – Ashe. So we also picked Varus – Ashe to counter them (in game 3). But then we realized that we didn’t need to follow them. We picked it even though we had never practiced this pair of champions. While we could have chosen Xayah or Kai’Sa as usual, maybe the match would have been different.”
Ruler himself also knows that Zeri is not really a good choice. However, when he intended to pick Tristana, his teammates advised against it. Therefore, even though he wasn’t truly confident with Zeri, Ruler still picked this champion.
Ultimately, Ruler’s comments also show that he truly understands JDG’s issues, as well as implicitly acknowledging that T1 was too strong at that time. The regrets are certainly there, but perhaps that will also serve as motivation for Ruler to strive harder in the upcoming season.