The performance of LPL teams at MSI 2023 was night and day compared to Worlds last year. An all-LCK final has become an all-LPL final, and China is currently the most dominant region in the world. They appear to be one step ahead of the meta, and due to this, performed better in the draft. The next step is to prove that the region can not only stay ahead, but also make an appearance at Worlds that isn’t just a single front-runner whose counterparts choke for no reason in the Group Stage. They need to drop the “one-team region” moniker.
The mighty victors of MSI return. Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk has been crowned king once again, as he comes close to completing an “Infinity Gauntlet” of sorts. With an LPL, LCK, Worlds, and now MSI title, it’s time to wonder which region might be feeling his wrath next year. Should he head to the LEC for a victory there, and then quietly retire to North America to finish his collection of League of Legends (LoL) accolades? I digress. It’s clear that JD Gaming (JDG) are the best team in the world right now. Halting the LCK’s poster child in the upper bracket semi-finals with a close five-game series, they ended up lying in wait in the finals for a rematch that would never come. After falling to JDG in the upper bracket, Bilibili Gaming (BLG) quashed the age old “one-team region” narrative with dominant victories over the LEC’s G2 Esports, a clean sweep over the LCK’s first seed Gen.G, and a swift silencing of the world’s most accredited runners-up, T1. However, they faced JDG in the final, and unfortunately for BLG, the match-up went the same way it did the last two times.
Luckily enough, I think that the direction in which League of Legends esports is heading is of great benefit to the teams from the LPL. As seen at MSI, the lower bracket showed that despite falling to JDG, BLG could best every other team in the tournament. In previous years, this chance would not have been afforded to them. An early inter-regional head-to-head would have demolished the potential of what a gifted team could show. They would be perceived as weaker than the Gen.Gs or T1s of the tournament, while LEC representatives such as G2 could get away with losing at the same stage of the tournament and were compared in terms of strength accordingly. However, we came to learn this was simply not true.
Another thing to consider is that MSI’s “play-in” stage this year featured the double-elimination format at the main event. It was then announced that Worlds will be using the same Swiss-system format in the Group Stage that has been present within the Counter-Strike pro circuit for years now. Therefore, we now have the knowledge that no team can be eliminated from Worlds contention via a best-of-one (Bo1). This should be great news for a dominant region, as Bo1 matches - with their high potential for variance - always favour the underdog, and saw the defeats of both FunPlus Phoenix in 2021, and Top Esports in 2022. This is especially true considering the Chinese teams’ typical playstyles. They have a tendency for aggressive plays that seek out windows of opportunity to bring the fight to their opponents, as opposed to the more consistent slow grind of the Korean teams.
If China can remain a region that is keen to adapt throughout the length of these now deeper-running tournaments, and can perform in long series, then it may be truly unchallengeable as the superior force in LoL esports.
As far as roster changes go, amongst the top teams, it came as a small surprise that Weibo Gaming might be looking to make a change to the Jungler role. While he is still signed to the organisation, and despite a decent performance in spring, Hung "Karsa" Hau-hsuan has been cast out of his position for summer by Wei "Weiwei" Bohan, formerly of BLG. “Weiwei” is a player who has shown prowess in multiple styles of jungling, with an apparent lean towards a Carry-esque playstyle over his career history. As to whether Weibo are looking to adopt this style, we don’t know, but it didn’t seem like “Karsa” was incapable of doing this. So, it’ll be interesting to see if there is a marked difference in the way that the team approaches the game following this change.
After the rebrand from Victory Five finally concluded as we entered spring 2023, Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) looked like a promising team. Despite the loss of Song "Rookie" Eui-jin, the storied Korean Mid Laner who found victory at Worlds 2018, it was expected that their third place finish in LPL Spring 2022 might mark the beginning of an upward trend, given the new backing from one of esports’ oldest and most prominent organisations. However, “Rookie” proved to be a bigger catalyst than expected, and after his move to Top Esports, NiP’s spring season was a disaster. It’s good to see that, despite the setback, the Ninjas aren’t here in the LPL now to merely enjoy the show. They’ve made changes to a number of positions coming into summer in the hopes of recreating the magic of last year. Xiang "Angel" Tao, known best for his tenure in Suning Gaming, and their Worlds run in 2022 that saw them defeat previous MSI champions G2 and fall short in the final only to Dplus KIA (formerly DAMWON Gaming), will be taking the Mid Laner position from Tan "Dream" Wen-Xiang.
This alone should be a large upgrade for the organisation, and if their changes to both the Head and Assistant coach positions can support “Angel” in a return to his previous form, then NiP could become a force to be reckoned with. One that they desired to be coming into the summer split, and hopefully they can challenge for playoffs at least.
Overall, however, I expect the results of summer to not be too dissimilar to those of spring - with some minor exceptions. I don’t think it’s up for debate that JDG will continue to the top the league, with them presenting the best form of any team in the world right now. Edward Gaming and LNG Esports have all the necessary pieces to repeat their deep runs into playoffs coming into summer. What might differ is Weibo’s placement after their roster changes, although my expectations for them remain in the fourth or fifth place region. After their playoffs run in spring and their performance at MSI, BLG might be able to leverage their newfound experience to place higher in the regular season. It would be nice to see Top Esports break into the top five, as I don’t believe they realised their potential in spring, and for NiP to finish closer to the middle of the table at the very least with their commitment to change. However, whichever way you slice it, a great year lies in wait for the LPL. All the teams need do now is seize it.
