Preface: With a clean 3-1 win over JDG, TES secured their spot in the LPL elimination tournament's winner's bracket final. In the future, just one BO5 victory would grant TES a ticket to MSI. The team's success against JDG was largely due to top laner Zuian's crucial plays, leading fans to tease TES manager Guo Hao for yet another successful SSR-level rookie pull.

The LPL playoffs featured a high-stakes winner's bracket clash between TES and JDG. Before this BO5, many spectators believed JDG would easily beat TES and advance, given TES's poor performance in the latter half of the regular season—aside from a sure win against WE, TES suffered upset losses to other teams, including "WBG and NIP" from the relegation group. Moreover, TES's roster wasn't particularly star-studded: top laner Zuian and support Fengyue were LDL players just a few months ago, while other LPL top-tier teams boasted "LPL superstars."

However, something unexpected happened for both LPL viewers and TES players: TES top laner Zuian had an explosive performance in this BO5, dominating JDG's top laner Xiao Xu throughout the matches. Many praised Zuian's high game IQ—in game two, playing as Sion, he noticed his teammates were struggling, so he proactively abandoned top lane minions to relieve pressure on his team. In game four, his Gnar completely crushed Xiao Xu in lane. After the match, Tian highly commended Zuian's outstanding play in an interview.

After TES advanced to the next round of the elimination tournament, many LPL fans noticed that the TES manager has incredible luck—every time, TES manages to pull an SSR-level card from their academy system. However, some TES supporters believe that manager Guo Hao's tendency to "gamble on academy players" is a potential risk. While top laner Zuian performed brilliantly, support Fengyue often held the team back; TES's vision coverage was frequently poor. According to official LPL data, TES's vision score was only higher than that of the relegation-zone teams. TES finished third in the regular season, but their vision score was dead last among the top-tier group.

One team between BLG and JDG will miss out on MSI!

After JDG's loss, many LPL viewers realized a harsh truth: JDG is likely to meet BLG in the loser's bracket, since BLG just lost to WE. If BLG defeats EDG in the loser's bracket, they will face JDG in a do-or-die BO5. Both BLG and JDG have already used their "second chances" (revival armor), meaning that one of the LPL regular season's "kings" will be eliminated in the top 6. No matter which one gets knocked out, they will miss the MSI.

In my opinion, the main reason JDG lost to TES is the "mechanical gap" between the two teams. Although JDG could gain an early gold lead through their jungle pathing, once teamfights broke out, TES players could outplay JDG with superior mechanics. That said, JDG's early-game jungle design was truly impressive: no matter where TES's jungler Tian went early on, JDG had vision to track his movements. If TES's teamfight execution had been worse, I think JDG could have advanced to the winner's bracket.

Conclusion

Who do you think will fight their way out of the loser's bracket between JDG and BLG? LPL caster Guan Zeyuan just "jinxed" BLG in the comments, predicting that BLG will easily defeat EDG 3-0, or at most 3-1. Do you think BLG could be upset by EDG? Tomorrow, WE will face AL in the winner's bracket match. Can WE create another miracle? (AL really doesn't throw away their game management—it seems tough for WE to win.)