In the third phase of LPL's group stage, we have reached the second week and the third match day. After NIP secured a clean sweep against LNG, they faced LGD back-to-back. The two teams fought fiercely for three games, and ultimately NIP achieved their second consecutive victory. After changing their jungler and support, NIP's performance has indeed improved. Although Doinb still struggled a bit, both the jungler and top laner were able to step up, and the support's initiation was quite good; the path for the Knights seems promising.

In another match on the same day, the formidable IG clashed with the dark horse WE. IG lost to T1 in their debut but faced WE without much pressure, easily winning 2-0. WE, as a second-phase dark horse, hasn't been in great form lately, possibly due to an extended break affecting their performance. However, IG played exceptionally well, and Meiko has been surprisingly inconsistent in recent matches.

In the first game, IG nearly faced a setback. At the 28-minute mark, both sides were even in gold, but Cube's Gwen performed poorly in team fights, failing to take down the backline and instead getting solo-killed. This just shows that IG's players have superior individual skills compared to WE. The second game was a complete domination, with advantages across the top, mid, and bot lanes. Rookie went on a rampage, finishing 10-1-10, leaving Karis with no chance to retaliate, and they secured victory in just 29 minutes.

After watching both matches, IG's new jungler Wei actually performed reasonably well overall. In the first game, his Poppy had some ugly moments in team fights, but it did have its uses. In the second game, his Zac helped Rookie secure kills early on and kept the mid lane healthy. In terms of resource control, they consistently led WE in dragon counts. However, it's oddly abstract that Wei's post-match rating was lower than some of WE's players.

Last night at 11 PM, I checked Wei's ratings for the first match. There were 5,132 evaluations for Wei, with only 21.8% of viewers giving him five stars, while a staggering 56% rated him one star. Given his performance in the first match, a five-star rating seems quite inappropriate; a rating of two to three stars feels more reasonable. Yet, his performance didn't even warrant a one-star rating, which indicates that some fans are overly critical.

Everyone has a sense of who the one-star raters are, so I won’t dwell on it. Compared to Jiejie, Wei's aggressiveness is indeed not as strong, but he has brought significant changes to IG. Rookie has consistently faced ganks in the mid lane, and even in the mid to late game, Wei has been there to protect him, allowing for a comfortable playstyle. The synergy between the jungler and support has increased in frequency compared to the second phase.

Wei understands that the top and mid lanes are crucial. In small-scale skirmishes, he generally avoids stealing kills, and he is willing to take damage and initiate fights. TheShy and Rookie now have a much better output environment than before, which is evident. This type of team-oriented jungler seems quite suitable for IG, but communication still needs improvement. However, he has only just joined, and the phase has just begun, so there is plenty of time for adjustment.

Although WE is a dark horse, they are not considered a top-tier team, so IG's true strength still needs to be observed. When they face the strongest AL, we will see what their ceiling is. In the next match against JDG, there seems to be a chance for victory as well. JDG has not yet appeared in the third phase after swapping their jungler and support, and they didn’t win against IG in the previous second phase, making their hopes seem dim with this major personnel change.

Conclusion:

Winning the match but receiving low scores is indeed unfortunate for Wei. Since joining IG, he has been relentlessly criticized. The intensity of fan battles is quite extraordinary. Wei feels he needs to prove himself and show that his struggles during his time with his former team were not solely his fault. At the very least, he needs to lead IG to win two games against BLG.

So, what do you think of Wei's performance?

Feel free to leave your comments for discussion!