Preface: The S15 season has officially started, and most players have surely been paying attention to the recent clashes. The Knights' Path in the LPL region has been fiercely competitive. It was originally expected that the Pinnacle group teams would overwhelmingly dominate the Nirvana group teams. However, after two matches, both Pinnacle group teams in the LPL region were eliminated. NIP and EDG successfully advanced to the knockout stage. Especially the BO5 match between EDG and WE surprised many fans. If EDG hadn't conceded a game, they might have been swept 3-0. It's puzzling why so many Pinnacle teams had such tough three-game battles with WE. Of the once Royal Three, only EDG remains.

LPL's Top-Level Favoritism Match

Most players are quite familiar with the EDG team. As a former top powerhouse in the LPL region, they won the World Championship in the S11 season. It was once thought EDG would continue their dominance, but the departure of their mid-laner Scout caused their performance to rapidly decline, even falling to the bottom of the league standings. This season, the feud between EDG and Scout ended completely. Unsurprisingly, Scout and his agency's controversial moves resulted in a compensation of over 30 million. For EDG, many outstanding players have left, and their once elite lineup no longer exists.

In the third stage, EDG from the Nirvana group maintained a fairly decent form, even topping the leaderboard for a time. After qualifying for the Knights' Path, few expected them to achieve great results, given the gap between the Pinnacle and Nirvana groups. Unexpectedly, in their match against WE, EDG almost swept the series and displayed top-level favoritism by conceding one game on WE’s home ground. Without that, EDG might have easily won 3-0 and advanced to the playoffs.

In the first game, WE performed well early on. At just three minutes, Monki’s variation secured a one-for-three exchange, quickly gaining the upper hand. WE was expected to continue their style, but in the dragon team fight, ZDZ’s Ornn landed a perfect ultimate. EDG not only secured the dragon but also scored a two-for-zero team fight, shifting the momentum in EDG’s favor. EDG grew stronger with each fight and comfortably won the first game at 30 minutes. In the second game, EDG caught WE invading their jungle within the first minute, achieving a flawless two-for-zero start. At 17 minutes, Angle’s Ahri secured a quadra kill, stabilizing the situation. A baited team fight near the Baron pit gave EDG match point.

In the third game, EDG showed perfect favoritism, knowing it was WE’s home turf. They chose a lineup they were less familiar with, and due to unfamiliarity with the champions, EDG was quickly dismantled. WE tied the series in just 24 minutes. Why call the third game favoritism? The fourth game clarifies this: EDG unleashed their signature skills. The top laner’s Aatrox played like a god descending from the heavens, giving WE no chance to respond and crushing them to advance. Fans jokingly said Nirvana’s grand perfection > pseudo-pinnacle. After this match, EDG became the sole survivor of the Royal Three. Looking back to the S7 season, their three teams were so spirited and ambitious.

Farewell Thoughts

Who would have guessed that two Nirvana group teams would sweep the Pinnacle group teams? Now some players worry about JDG and WBG, but based on previous regular season encounters, these two teams are unlikely to falter unless there is serious force majeure or match-fixing. Saying the chance of failure is zero is not an exaggeration. It’s hard to understand how WE managed to go the distance with Pinnacle teams but got dismantled by EDG so thoroughly.

What do all of you viewers think about this situation?