In the third stage of the LOL leagues, matches have started one after another. After securing two consecutive victories, the official IG account announced: Meiko has become the torchbearer for the 12th World Sports Games, the 90th torchbearer. This represents the esports industry, and it can only be said that LPL's only Grand Slam truly shines. Aside from Meiko, former IG legend KID also shared some new updates about Jiejie during a recent livestream.

Previously, during Ale's livestream, he mentioned that Jiejie had terminated his contract and returned home. KID stated that IG asked him to clarify, saying that the news about Ale's contract termination was not true. However, it seems that Jiejie has indeed returned home, as KID implied: "What if he comes back one day, and we play practice matches together?" The implication is clear; Jiejie is currently not at the base, but his contract with IG is still valid, suggesting he hasn't been released yet, and there may still be a chance for him to return. It's unclear whether he is still under contract or not.

Riot Games plans to increase international events.

After the conclusion of MSI and the Oil Cup, the competition has returned to the league stage. Recently, the game director of Riot Games gave an interview to Korean media, where the executive stated: "In the future, we will strive to increase the frequency of international events." It seems that the success of the Vanguard Tournament has shown Riot that audiences are eager for international competitions. It is estimated that the number of international events will rise to four in the coming years, although the duration of each event will not be very long.

In addition, Riot also addressed the issue of the blue side having a higher win rate. The official response was: "We have been discussing creating maps that are symmetrical in all directions. However, the advantage of the blue side in matches lies in the BP phase, where they have the right to choose a champion. Yet, during the mid-season tournament, the FLY team preferred the red side, leveraging counter picks to create advantages. Riot is looking for a balance, but there shouldn't be any changes in the short term."

DK secures their first victory in the new stage.

The LCK third stage group matches have been underway for four days. After a surprising defeat in their debut, DK, who fell into the Rebirth group, finally got off to a strong start with a 2:0 victory against BFX in their last match. Xu Xiu, whose individual skills were questioned, clinched the MVP, performing well in both games. In the first match, his Card was pivotal, achieving a score of 6-0-11, while in the second match, his Orianna had a late-game score of 1-3-11.

Xu Xiu's recent performance has indeed been somewhat inconsistent; when he's strong, he dominates the Rebirth group, but when he's weak, he becomes a liability. After this win, he even mimicked Palmer's celebration on stage. While others look cool doing this, Xu Xiu's version made it seem like the venue was too cold, and the child was freezing. Moving forward, DK needs to step up their game, hoping to secure the fourth seed.

Viper achieves the first pentakill in LCK history.

Besides DK, Hanwha Life, who suffered a clean sweep by Gen in their debut, also came back for their second match against KT, winning with a score of 2:0. This BO3 was quite interesting; to accommodate Zeka, who was not in good form, HLE banned four mid-lane champions in the first game. However, Zeka was still solo-killed by BDD. Despite this, Viper shone in the bot lane, going 10-0-7 on Varus, leading his team to victory.

In the second game, Viper continued to carry, using Jayce to secure the first pentakill of LCK's third stage, finishing with a score of 10-1-3. If the mid-laners of these two teams were swapped, it seems HLE would have a real chance to compete with GEN and T1. Currently, Zeka's skill level is not on par with BDD, and against top players like Doinb and the veteran Lee, he is bound to become a weak link. After facing NS on the 31st, Hanwha will once again battle T1 on August 2nd.

Conclusion:

The win rate of the blue side in matches is indeed higher than that of the red side. Riot's comments regarding the BP issue are just one factor; the terrain and lane swapping have a significant impact. With the introduction of lane swapping strategies, it becomes challenging for the red side to capitalize on counter picks, while the terrain for neutral resources is more favorable for the blue side. Without changes to the map, achieving balance will be quite difficult.

So, what do you think? Why is the win rate of the blue side higher than that of the red side?

Feel free to leave your comments and discuss!