As of now, Weibo Gaming’s achievements can be regarded as one of the most surprising stories of the LPL Spring 2022 and the League of Legends scene in general. Everyone knows that WBG has made quality personnel additions such as the return of SwordArt and TheShy’s joining the team in place of Bin. While these players have proven themselves, WBG’s ability to defeat strong opponents, including prominent giants, to achieve an unbeaten streak of 9 matches is truly shocking.
On their journey, WBG has defeated teams that were considered invincible before losing to WBG, such as EDward Gaming and LNG Esports. Notably, in their 2-0 victory over the reigning 2021 Worlds champion, WBG’s mid-laner Angel, often seen as the most inconsistent player on the team after Support ON, didn’t die a single time. Furthermore, Angel made the 2021 Worlds champion Scout look confused and “shut down” Doinb’s Ryze, which had a 100% win rate.
WBG has all the right elements: TheShy, SofM is in great form, Huanfeng is still performing well as always, and ON is becoming more and more stable. The teams chasing WBG are encountering numerous issues, and the few that could pose a challenge to SofM and his teammates, like Victory Five and Royal Never Give Up, have also had their own struggles. V5 has already been defeated, while RNG is also very inconsistent and recently surprisingly lost to Rare Atom, a team currently sitting in the lower half of the standings.
With the standout performances making him the most prominent player in WBG’s unbeaten roster, Angel must be the name mentioned the most. His stability and continuous improvement have allowed SofM to play more freely, as TheShy can hold his own while Angel no longer needs him to play “babysitter”. With the “burdens” lifted, SofM can now play according to his own style and shine against any opponent.
When talking about Angel’s revival and improved performances, we can’t forget a crucial name that WBG brought back at the beginning of the 2022 season: Easyhoon. The former SKT T1 player, known as “Faker’s Shadow”, is the most important catalyst that has helped Angel transform from a player deemed a weakness for WBG to one of the most outstanding names in SofM and his teammates’ 9-match unbeaten streak.
Among the current coaching staff of WBG, only Easyhoon has the championship gene, having previously won the 2015 Worlds title with SKT T1 in Berlin. WBG has the champion TheShy as a player, but they also need a coach with the mindset of a champion, able to understand the psychology and playstyle of champions.
Bringing Easyhoon back can be seen as one of the smartest moves by WBG’s management. For those who may not know, Angel is the only player in the current WBG lineup who was coached by Easyhoon during the Summer Split of 2018, the final stage of the former SKT T1 star’s time on the coaching staff of Suning.
Recently, WBG fans have noticed that Easyhoon often trains Angel individually. As we know, in the latest patch, some champions have made a comeback, such as Ahri, and in the LCK, this champion has started to be used again. Therefore, Angel needs to prepare for this champion. And who better to coach Angel than Easyhoon – who was both a rival and teammate, and the “shadow” of one of the best Ahri players in League of Legends – Faker? Particularly, it was discovered that Easyhoon trained Angel using Azir – the champion with the skin honoring him, to provide special training for Angel.
Easyhoon has not had a career as smooth and glorious as his younger brother Faker, but he is still one of the players who has won the Worlds title. And now, he is coaching Angel, sharing all his experiences to mentor him. It remains to be seen how long WBG can maintain their unbeaten streak and whether they can win the Worlds title in the Easyhoon era, but with their current performances, if Angel faces Faker, it would be one of the most meaningful encounters in the League of Legends scene.