The off-season has ended, and as we look forward to the LPL returning in January, many people are questioning exactly which teams will be crowned the new Kings of League of Legends. Seeing Invictus Gaming carry the Worlds trophy home, many new viewers may be interested to know exactly who are the Team Liquid, KT, and Fnatic of the LPL region.
According to LPL English Casters Raz and Clement, the answer is clear. As it was in the past, and will continue to be, iG will take first place, as the King of the World returns home with eyes on their home trophy. For the record, this is how Raz and Clement envision Season 9.
Raz: “2 birds with 1 stone, we both said IG would be #1 and that hits it!”
There is no questioning IG when it comes to their dominance in the regular season. By having the early game, lane focused meta, fall right into the laps of two of the best solo laners in the world, Rookie and TheShy, the stars have definitely aligned for the World Champions. Raz highlights the growth of JackeyLove and Baolan from 2018 Spring to Summer, getting rid of the doubts about their inability to teamfight, and nerves in general as they refine themselves to match the other top Bot Lane duos in the LPL. Clement adds to this by reinforcing JackeyLove’s more than exceptional performance at Demacia Cup.
There was also no argument for the second place, as no strangers to the Mt Olympus-esque view of the LPL region, Royal Never Give Up are the silver medalist for both casters. Raz simply does not believe that the recent changes of AmazingJ for Letme, Karsa for MLXG and DanDy and Green Tea joining the coaching staff will have any negative effects on the results that this all-star team can produce. Just as Clement states, RNG is a well-oiled machine that DanDy has taken ownership of. The team’s identity has been set with their strengths clearly outlined and proven to be a formula for success. Though Clement argues that the RNG changes are a step down, both he and Raz agree on RNG sitting comfortably in the second place seat.
cr: @RNGRoyal Twitter
The third place is where the Casters finally divide, as Raz puts Suning as his 3rd place spot and Clement opts to pick Topsports Gaming after their performance at the Demacia Cup that the World definitely deserves to see more of.
Starting with SN, Raz believes them to be a team that just hasn't received the time to build cohesion. Coming from essentially 3 different teams, time is crucial for the development of team synergy, before their real potential, which is high on paper, can be actualized on the stage. To Raz, these kinds of issues should be fixed going into Summer where they can fulfill Maple and SwordArt’s goals of reaching top 3 and subsequently going to Worlds.
cr: TOPSPORTS电子竞技俱乐部
Clement: “Mid-Jungle is just way too important. It’s important in every single meta!”
Clement believes the newcomers of TOP will prove to be worthy opponents to usurp the top 3 of the LPL. Having gathered the young, hungry, and raw talents of Knight, 369 and Xx, paired with LoKen and Ben’s unification may be just enough to take the bronze. He emphasizes the importance of the Mid and Jungle duo in not only the current meta, but in virtually every single meta that we have seen. Mid and Jungle is exactly what we saw TOP excel at, even surpassing players such as Maple and H4cker for SN.
Both teams present themselves with a similar X factor, and are toe-to-toe, racing against time. The team that commits the longest amount of time to refine their team synergy over and over into a fine katana capable of slicing all the way through the lower echelons of the LPL, and eventually each other, will emerge as the one team worthy of obtaining a seat and ticket next to iG and RNG at the next World Championship.
Written by: Benson Cheng @1337sn1per
Edited by: Caramelized @iced_caramel11
