In recent years, teams that have won the World Championship from the LPL region have all faced a “free fall” in performance. From Invictus Gaming (IG) to FunPlus Phoenix (FPX), these teams have struggled to maintain stable results after their world championship wins. They often go through a period of catastrophic performance before the entire championship-winning roster tragically falls apart.
In the case of EDward Gaming (EDG), this team seems to be heading down the same slippery slope. EDG had an extremely poor 2022-2023 season, consistently being eliminated early in the qualifiers. As a result, they lost a series of key players such as Scout, Flandre, Meiko, and Viper over the past years.
As the Spring 2024 LPL group stage progresses, EDG has found themselves in an even more “dire” situation, sitting at the bottom of the standings with 7 losses. They are the only team in the LPL without a single win in the group stage. And EDG’s luck has taken a turn for the worse as their best-performing player – JieJie has suffered a serious injury.
According to the latest announcement from EDG, JieJie fell in the bathroom and suffered a head injury on February 23. The player was subsequently taken to the hospital and is currently in special care. It is highly likely that JieJie will not be able to compete in the upcoming LPL matches due to this injury.
It should be noted that JieJie has been the standout player for EDG during this tough period. Even though EDG is at the bottom of the standings, JieJie still ranks high in important metrics such as damage contribution and kill participation. Without his exceptional performance, it is likely that EDG would not have won any matches in the current Spring LPL season.
Therefore, it wouldn’t be surprising if EDG continues to face defeats, even “sweeping losses” in the upcoming matches without JieJie. In the history of this tournament, the team WE once had a dismal record of 0-16 in the 2022 Summer LPL. It would not be unexpected for EDG to replicate that unfortunate record this season.