IG’s strength is acknowledged by LPL fans.

As the LPL Knights' Path ended, the league entered a brief offseason. During this period, many LPL fans debated the best roster of the regular season. Recently, an esports forum launched a voting event inviting fans to select their ideal lineup. Ultimately, IG’s top laner TheShy, jungler WEI, mid laner ROOKIE, and bot lane duo GALA and MEIKO were all chosen for the best lineup of the third split.

Besides IG players being highly favored by fans, in the championship voting event, 14,465 viewers believed IG would win the third split, accounting for 78% of total votes. This shows that a large portion of LPL fans consider IG the strongest team. TES came in second, AL third, and BLG fourth. (Considering AL were the second split champions, do you think AL can make a playoff comeback? BLG has become the “public enemy” of LPL, so their last place finish is expected.)

IG ranked below GEN and T1.

Besides LPL fans recognizing IG’s strength, Riot officially updated the LOL team rankings recently. IG surpassed AL to become the strongest LPL team, ranking only behind GEN and T1 globally. Many IG supporters feel third place is fair since IG didn’t participate in MSI or the Mid-Season Cup and therefore didn’t face T1 or GEN. Currently, IG can only be compared to AL, but if IG competes against GEN and T1, they will surely prove their true strength on the world stage.

According to the rankings, despite TES’s poor international performance, Riot still placed TES fourth. Meanwhile, AL and BLG, the “big and small kings” of LPL’s second split, have fallen to seventh and sixth due to recent losses. The LCK teams HLE and KT were ranked fifth and eighth. Those who watched HLE’s recent matches know that mid laner zeka and jungler Peanut have been inconsistent, often the team’s weak points. It remains to be seen if HLE can stage a comeback in the new season with buffs to assassin items and AP jungle cores.

IG needs to fulfill four conditions to qualify.

As a top LPL team, many fans wonder how IG can qualify for Worlds. Industry insiders analyzed IG’s path, concluding that IG must meet four conditions. The simplest is winning the Summer Split championship, which would grant IG the LPL’s first seed and direct qualification to Worlds without relying on other teams’ points.If IG fails to win the third split, they will have to depend on other teams’ results, since IG only accumulated 55 points in the first two splits combined.

In contrast, AL earned many points in the first two splits, totaling 105. So even if IG finishes second in the third split, their qualification depends on AL’s points. If AL wins the championship, IG must be runner-up in the playoffs. If BLG wins and AL finishes second and third, IG will need to compete in the play-in tournament for a Worlds spot. If TES wins with IG second and BLG third, IG will qualify directly as the second seed.

Conclusion

Although IG doesn’t have a large points advantage, given their current form, they have a strong chance to win the LPL title. What do you think are IG’s chances of winning the third split? If IG qualifies for Worlds, do you believe they can defeat GEN and T1 and bring the world championship to LPL?