Preface: The S15 season has officially kicked off, and it's believed that the vast majority of players are paying attention to the recent matchups. The World Championship is just around the corner. This time it's hosted in the LPL region, where everyone is eager to keep the title at home. Even before the competition began, many insiders revealed that the LPL would form a top-tier training squad with very high strength, aimed at helping teams participating in the finals prepare. However, as players were gradually revealed, many netizens noticed that this lineup was even weaker than the Nirvana team's, like playing chess with a bad player who only gets worse. Notably, popular players Jiejie and Tangyuan both declined invitations and did not join the shadow plan.

LPL Nirvana training team faces criticism

Most players are quite familiar with the LPL region. As a former top global league, we have won several world championships. But in recent years, due to the retirement of some veteran players, the region's strength has sharply declined. Since the S11 season, LPL teams have been dominated by LCK teams, and in recent world competitions, there has been almost no direct clash opportunities. The closest was last year's BLG team, which fought a full five-game final against T1 but made critical mistakes at the last moment, allowing Faker's Galio to force a comeback, ultimately missing out on the championship trophy.

The S15 season will be held in the LPL region. Before the end of the third stage, many insiders revealed that LPL would assemble a top-tier training team to help world championship participants train by simulating LCK lineups and maximizing performance. However, as the competition progressed, the training squad members were gradually revealed, and the lineup's strength sparked widespread online ridicule. Many complained that this squad was even weaker than some Nirvana teams in LPL, questioning if training with such a team would only make the world championship teams perform worse.

Let's first look at the current roster: two top laners, zdz and zika; mid laners angle and care; bottom laners leave and 1xn; and support feather. Among these players, only Zika seems decent; the others are underwhelming. According to reports, the officials invited Tangyuan to join, but he outright refused. For junglers, Jiejie and Xiaohao were invited but both declined. Jiejie cited injury and the need for therapy as reasons for not participating in intense training. Some netizens joked that it would be better to wait for IG team to really become top 17 and have them join instead.

Indeed, this training squad looks quite mediocre. Players from WBG and JDG teams did not join, likely because the LPL officials knew inviting them was nearly impossible. The training fee offered might be much higher than before, but top professional players simply won’t accept. With the off-season finally here, these players will probably choose to rest rather than undergo ten hours of intense daily training. Even if the LPL wins the championship, these training players won’t gain any glory or recognition.

Farewell thoughts

Terms like "top training star team" and "shadow team plan" have been used to describe the LPL region recently, but when the players were officially announced, many felt the strength was really too low. Honestly, having these players participate is already quite good, especially care, who shows some selflessness. The training salary is definitely much lower than professional play, and the training intensity cannot be reduced. I feel that while these training squads have some impact on LPL teams’ chances to beat LCK, the main factor is still the players’ performance on stage.

What do you all think about this situation?