The first match of the Quarterfinals, EDG vs BLG, is just around the corner. Right at the end of the summer regular split of LPL, we of Score.gg are honored to have an exclusive interview with the LPL English Commentator Barento Mohammed, aka Raz. He shared so many insights with us during the interview, including his summary of the 2019 LPL Summer Regular Split, his prediction of the Playoffs happening right now as well as the teams that go to the Worlds this year.
One of them draws peoples’ attention very much. For the Playoffs and Worlds, Raz is confident about Bilibili Gaming. Not only he gave a high expectation of BLG going along the Playoffs but also predicts that BLG is going to the Worlds eventually.
Let‘s take a look at the details of what Raz said. Below are the several aspects of how he reviewed the Summer Split and the predictions from him for the Playoffs and Worlds.
The Most Improved Team
“This is a very difficult one. I will just come out and say the most obvious, Suning Gaming. Suning Gaming was the team that we have high expectations for in the Spring Split. Definitely should’ve have been Suning Gaming.”
The Most Surprising Team
“I'll say Dominus Esports surprised me the most. So in the mid-season after MSI, I said that DMO wasn't going to be a Playoff team simply because I was a little bit worried about the strength of talent that they had. The strength that they had in Spring was the fact that they felt like they were a very smart team. And I felt as though they had direction. They had gelled together because they brought in the same team from the LDL to the LPL stage. So they already had the inbuilt synergy and how they wanted to play the game. I was constantly surprised by them because I was willing to say that when there was no hope they still consistently pushed that.
If we're just talking about playoff teams, there is another team that I think was probably a bigger surprise, certainly FPX once again. Because they were the third place in terms of the game, no game win rate historically. They were 87% win rate in terms of just pure games. That's a third to OMG's 2014 spring split, which is 89%. The second-highest win rate was the 2018 Invictus Gaming in the spring split, and then you have FPX, and EDG was right underneath. That's just like a Playoff of being able to really make history happen. So FPX being able to do that. And then on the final set of the regular split, they take down Top Esports with a 2-0 while role swapping. This team is insane. That's something actually so much inbuilt talent within the team. If there are naysayers, they have to watch these games and then they will think differently.
The Most Regrettable Team :
“There are two teams, and Team WE definitely is one of them. Team WE had a huge win streak. I think it was a five-series win streak at the very end of the split. In my eyes, they were the better team. Just in the current moment, if you're picking up all the top eight teams in the league (LPL), Team WE would be that team (I feel regrettable the most).
They would have a much more competitive series in the first round if they get into Playoffs. Let's think about the first round, if WE goes up against IG, they already beat them in the regular season. WE would have definitely gone a long distance in my eyes. If they would go up against EDG, that would be even more fun.
But yeah, it's very sad that they couldn't make it. I think at the end of the day it just comes as a lesson for teams that really just value the beginning. I have definitely been in the position as a coach in my prior years where you come out at the end of the split thinking, 'man we are a Playoff team. We should have been in Playoff'. But the most unfortunate thing is that the strength of the team at the very end doesn't really matter. It's more of the consistency through the split that gets you into the class to begin with. So I think that hurts for team WE.
Another team that I'm a little regretful for is Rogue Warrior actually. Because I mentioned at the end of spring when all of the roster changes came out and I felt that Rogue Warriors were a playoff team. You already bring in not only experienced members at the time but also you had this strong talent across the board. But as you can see the biggest problems we've all seen this now is that having strong players doesn't make you a strong team.”
The Most Disappointed Team:
“I think the most disappointed team will certainly be Rogue Warriors. In fact, I would say that's what it is. For me, it's not regrettable because if Rogue Warriors is going to the playoff, they are just get blown out. But it's more disappointed cause I expected more out of that team. So certainly that's where I would throw Rogue Warriors.
RW is a very promising team. I think we're talking about a-year-long disappointment, cause like while I introduced the team Rogue Warriors as a definitely a strong up-comer. It didn't pan out. That's unfortunate.”
Prediction for Playoffs:
“BLG, I think they're the second-best performing team. Yeah. So I think BLG should be able to take down EDG or Suning Gaming in a very quick fashion.” And then when BLG goes up to against FPX, FPX should be able to take the BLG. I don't think it's going to be quick. But I also think it's going to be like a 3-1 series. BLG will be fighting and it will be tough games. But I think FPX is always just the better team and will always have better execution and players. So yeah, just like that. Then I think FPX is going to go to the final.
It's funny, you're always like you have faith that one team will make the run and then they get stomped by the higher seeded team. So I think, the left side of the bracket is actually going to be a very consistent side where you know that BLG and FPX are the better performers.”
Prediction for LPL Teams Going to the Worlds:
When asking about what would be the three teams that Raz anticipated advancing to the Worlds. He listed FPX, BLG, and IG. Yes, that’s right, BLG again.
Raz predicted that FPX is going win the Summer Championship and advance to the Worlds as the first seed. IG, he expected, to earn points during Playoffs to advance to Worlds. While for BLG, he is very confident that if BLG is not going to earn the points, but this team will make through the Gauntlet and eventually going to the Worlds. Among his gauntlet list, he mentioned Top Esports, BLG, and JD with a chance as well. But when it really comes downs to the conversation of who is better between TES and BLG, and he named BLG.
“It really comes down to a conversation of who do I think is better between BLG and Top Esports. And I think BLG right now is a more complete team. They're consistent. Their team fighting is very strong. And I think the top lane and jungle match up to me is what's going to be a big difference there.” As Raz, commented above, he gave BLG such high praise.
He also deep analyzed that these two teams have completely different playstyle:
“BLG is an LCK style team that slows the game down. And Top Esports is a very fast team. They have the fastest win-time in the LPL. So that one I think is going to be the most fun series to watch if it ends up happening. I think BLG wins just because, once again, I think this all comes down to what kind of Top Esports shows its face.”
When talking about the intrinsic issue with TES, this is how he analyzes:
“I can be completely wrong if they just come out confident. They have 369 coming and they can be our finalists, or they show exactly what they did in the other international events and Playoffs. And I think that's my biggest worry. And I will say that's going to be a consistent issue.
The only consistent player is going to be LokeN, Ben and Knight. So if that's the case, TES would go the distance because Knight is just that good of a player.
I think that BLG is a much more consistent team and ADD is actually just an incredible top lane right now.”
Raz ranks Meteor the best Jungler in LPL right now even when comparing with RNG jungler Karsa:
“While I would vote Karsa as the best Jungler but Meteor recently has been outperforming him. So we're just talking about recency. I'll say the last three weeks. I would say Meteor is the best Jungler right now.”
Can BLG take down EDG as what Raz predicts? We shall see the Quarterfinals that happens soon.
Written by: Xixi
