All LDL youth teams eliminated

Although the LPL hasn’t secured a world championship title in recent years, a significant number of LPL fans still regard it as the second-best region at Worlds. Yet, following TES’s embarrassment in the VCS and the all-Chinese BLG squad being shut out by G2 at the Mid-Season Invitational, many fans have become disillusioned with LPL’s strength. Some even sarcastically claim the LPL has no future because the region has been dominated by veteran players clustering together, which results in very few new talents emerging.

For example, this year’s only “Best Newcomer,” erha, was demoted to WBG’s secondary team after the return of support player Liu Qingsong. The distorted environment within the LPL makes it extremely difficult for rookies to break into the starting lineup, which has caused the LDL league under the LPL to completely decline. Especially this year, after the LPL officially allowed teams to disband their LDL squads, many LPL teams announced the dissolution of their LDL teams. The LPL’s lack of attention to the LDL league has directly led to a severe drop in the overall competitive level of the LDL.

In the recently held Youth World Championship, eight LDL teams participated, but all of them were heavily defeated by youth squads from other regions during the group stage. In contrast, the LCK region’s youth teams claimed first place in six groups. Currently, the LDL’s strength is roughly on par with wildcard regions, which is why only BLG’s second team advanced to the quarterfinals. However, BLG’s second team was eliminated by DK’s second team in the round of eight to six.

JDG creates a new low for LPL at the World Championship

Besides the poor performance of the LDL causing discussion, the LPL’s Galaxy Battleship, JDG, also left many fans speechless during the World Championship. JDG was soundly beaten by the Vietnamese team GAM in the group stage. It’s worth noting that TES was criticized for three years after losing a single game to GAM, but JDG was outright crushed by GAM in a BO3 series. This result deeply upset many JDG fans. From what I’ve seen on JDG’s fan forums and official accounts, most LPL fans believe that coach Chaf and mid-laner Scout should be held accountable for the loss.

JDG’s gameplay indeed angered many viewers because, in this BO3, they were dominated by GAM throughout the laning phase. They could barely hold on for the first 12 minutes, but after the 13th minute, GAM completely outplayed JDG. Some fans even suspect JDG deliberately threw the matches, since before the games, JDG’s jungler XUN openly complained to ELK that the tournament was forced participation by the organizers, and that winning would bring no benefits, so the whole JDG team was unwilling to practice.

After losing to GAM, JDG became the third LPL team to be defeated by a Vietnamese team, following WE and TES. However, WE and TES lost in BO1 matches, while JDG is the only LPL team to lose a BO3 series to a Vietnamese opponent. After GAM’s victory, their official account mocked that the fourth seed from LCP is stronger than the fifth seed from LPL. (It really feels like current LPL players lack any esports spirit, preferring to lose rather than train seriously. Personally, I don’t understand what JDG’s management and players are thinking.)