The first week of intra-group competition in the second stage of LPL has already ended. On the last match day, LGD from the Nirvana group made its debut. When competing against OMG, the two teams played a full three games, with LGD ultimately securing an opening win. Matches in the Nirvana group naturally don't attract much attention; what people are more looking forward to is the battle between BLG and WBG—the confrontation between BLG's ex and current duo, which concluded with Viper taking the victory.

The outcome of this match was hardly surprising. Before facing BLG, WBG couldn't even defeat NIP. The team's current state has slumped to a new low. Apart from the two brothers in the top and jungle positions, the rest of WBG's members are underperforming one after another. The spring buff that Xiaohu had has completely vanished. He can't win in lane, doesn't contribute in team fights, and sometimes even becomes a liability. Among this year's mid-lane drivers, he likely deserves a spot.

It's truly tough for Brother Zhao to have Hang as his support, but blaming only the support isn't entirely fair. ELK himself didn't perform well in lane either. Within the first two to three minutes, he was often pushed out of lane, repeatedly ending up farming under tower. With Hang being such an unpredictable player, the bot lane duo was consistently pressured. However, ELK himself believes that their champion picks weren't strong enough.

During the post-match interview, when asked by the media to evaluate the strength of the bot lane champion combinations in both games, Brother Zhao commented: "The opponents' duo selected champions with high early-game lane pressure, while ours were slightly disadvantaged." His statement isn't entirely wrong, but even in a disadvantaged lane, it shouldn't collapse so severely. To put it bluntly, getting crushed from the start isn't really about the champion combination.

BLG in this stage is truly exceptionally strong. Brother Bin consistently dominates in solo lanes, and with Knight returning to the league, his form has been restored. Most crucially, the bot lane duo's coordination has grown increasingly seamless, with both players trusting each deeply. When ON wanted to pick Bard in the second game, Viper decisively supported him. In the post-match interview, ON expressed: "I wasn't very confident with Bard myself, and I'm grateful that Viper believed in me."

After praising his current AD, Viper also asked ON in the interview if he had any words for his former partner. ON sent a message across to ELK: "Next time you face me, remember to ban my Bard." Viper also called out to Jiejie to meet in the playoffs. Given WBG's current state, honestly, their playoff prospects seem worrisome. In the second stage, they've played three matches and haven't won any—they can't even beat NIP. How can they talk about playoffs?

The LPL will now have a two-day break to accommodate the selection matches for the Petroleum Cup. After the hiatus, WBG will face IG—a team with a 3-0 record against one that is 0-3. Normally, this shouldn't be stressful, but IG might make roster adjustments for their next match. Recently, Rookie's fans hinted that in the upcoming game against WBG, Rookie will return to the starting lineup, while the young mid-laner Render has been solo queueing in the Korean server lately.

During the same period, none of IG's other members were online; only mid-laner Render was playing games. Typically, this situation means the others are training. Rookie is likely indeed returning. But honestly, changing personnel during a winning streak yields the worst results. Render's performance in these three matches hasn't been problematic. Rookie coming back now to reap the benefits seems inappropriate—what are the management thinking?

Conclusion:

If they change the mid-laner for the next match, WBG should have a chance to secure their first win. Xiaohu may not beat Knight, but facing the veteran Rookie, he might manage to perform. Suddenly swapping mid-laners would also force IG's other players to adapt their strategies, which definitely isn't beneficial for the team. Moreover, Rookie's current form surely isn't better than Render's.

So, do you think IG's mid-lane change is the right decision?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!