During the offseason transfer period at the end of the 2021 season, Top Esports was one of the teams that underwent the most changes in the LPL, especially in the top lane position. They retained Knight despite attempts from Bilibili Gaming to lure him away and brought in Zoom (top lane), Tian, and Xiaopeng (jungle). TES’s goal is undoubtedly nothing less than titles and spots at international tournaments.
However, the team’s debut was not really smooth. Although they won the Demacia Cup 2021, in the actual arena of LPL Spring 2022, TES lost to Rare Atom – one of the strong teams in LPL Summer 2021. In that match, one of TES’s new names, Tian, did not perform well, and in the match against Ultra Prime, he had to give his position to Xiaopeng.
And although TES had to wait until the third game to secure a victory, Xiaopeng overall had a good performance. Notably, in the decisive third game, this player executed a Lee Sin kick that knocked out 2 members of UP during a skirmish near the bot lane. Thanks to this play by Xiaopeng, TES increased their lead over UP and began to snowball hard.
Xiaopeng’s performance has excited LPL fans, especially TES supporters. One viewer even bluntly remarked: “Did you see Xiaopeng kick 2 people? Actually, it was 3, including Tian.”
It can be seen that after a poor performance in the debut match, Tian’s position is now being threatened by his junior Xiaopeng. However, the LPL Spring 2022 has just started, and TES has only played 2 matches so far. There is still plenty of time for both Tian and Xiaopeng to improve themselves and prove they are the top choice for the jungle position of TES this season.