After over one month of delay due to Covid-19, or Coronavirus, the LPL is finally back. After only a single week of play, the league went on pause due to the lunar new year and that pause was prolonged by the Covid-19 breakout. The league finally decided to move to online games, with players undergoing quarantines to make sure they meet health and safety sandards. With all that said, here is a dive into the first five matches of week two of the LPL spring split 2020.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
The first match of the return will be between LNG and OMG. In the first week of play, LNG won a match vs LGD and lost a match vs TOP. OMG only played a single match and were defeated by JDG. While fans are particularly optimistic with either of these teams, LNG at won a match, while OMG got dismantled in theirs. LNG also has players that have flourished in many recent metas, while many players on OMG have been struggling for a while.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
FPX will take on JDG for the second series. Despite being current world champions, FPX lost both of their series in week 1. JDG, on the other hand, won both of their series, and in a convincing manner. JDG also participated in the online scrims, where they won all 3 of their series. Kanavi, their jungler won MVP in 5 out of the 6 games won. Tian, on the other hand, seemed to struggle in week 1.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
TOP and RNG will play in the final series. TOP won both of their series in week one, with Knight picking up 3 MVPs as well as the title of player of the week. RNG on the other hand only played one series, and it was a loss vs BLG. With Uzi still on vacation and LangX underperforming vs his opposite number, RNG looked underwhelming. Whether Uzi will be back for week two or not is yet to be announced. Fans can’t but wonder though, would he be enough to take down TOP, if he were to play?
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Day two will begin with Dominus vs LGD. Both teams suffered losses in their first week matches, meaning that both teams will be thirsty for the win. Dominus got crushed by IG, and lost 2 to 1 vs Vici. LGD only played the one match, vs LNG and despite winning game one, lost the series. In what could be a very close series, Dominus does have the upper hand on paper, due to built-in synergy with most of their players being together for quite some time.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Tuesday’s only have two matches in the new schedules, and the second one for this week will be between Suning and eStar. eStar looked great in week 1, taking down Rogue Warriors and FPX. Suning, on the other hand, lost to the same Rogue Warriors that fell to eStar. While this match may seem like an open-and-shut case, there is a new factor to add in: Huanfeng. This young prodigy carry joined Suning during the break and seemed to bring new life to the team. Both teams participated in the online scrims, and while they didn’t face off, eStar struggled to perform well, while Suning crushed it with their new carry, losing only to JDG.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
With both teams playing earlier in the week, fans will get a better idea of how they look once those matches come to an end. That being said, at a first glace, RNG seems to have the advantage in every position, with or without Uzi. With veterans in every lane, except the jungle with XLB, RNG have the experience advantage as well. Unless something massive changed during the downtime, this should be a simple match to predict.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Second match of the second day will be between V5 and WE. Neither team looked particularly inspiring in week one, with both teams losing their matches 2 to 0. The main difference being that while V5 lost to EDG, who looked decent in week 1, WE lost to JDG, who looked on fire. Also, World Elite’s players have yet to fully unlocked their potential, as many are still young rookies, so nervousness during week one is to be expected.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In a clash between two heavily rosters, IG and VG will fight in our final series of the set. With IG’s bot lane being VG’s previous bot lane and Forge being previously Rookie’s sub, a lot of these players know each other. Hopefully, that will sparkle a future rivalry and make this match be worth more to the players. That said, IG had a dominant week one, winning both of their matches. Vici, on the other hand, fell to BLG and defeated Dominus, in two very close series.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Both of these teams have previous matches this week, and neither of them are looking too hot in those matches. Having said that, at least eStar looked good during week one, while the same cannot be said about LGD. While LGD does have good individual pieces, potentially better than those on eStar, they seem to lack synergy, which eStar has in spades. This match could potentially go one way or the other, with the series being a landslide or close one.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
BLG will make their return to the LPL on the fourth game of week two. Having defeated both Vici and RNG, Bilibili started off the LPL on the right foot. As previously mentioned, LNG had ups and downs during week one. While BLG may have looked better during week one, LNG will have already played this week, thus having warmed up already. Now all that’s left to do is find out whether BLG cooled-down or if they remain with their hands hot.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
EDG will have their first match of the week on Thursday, in the final match of the day. Their opponent will be Suning, who as previously mentioned, didn’t do well in week one but have picked up a reinforcement. EDG had a decent week 1. They defeated V5 in a convincing maner but fell to TOP. This match will also feature two new carries to the LPL, with Huanfeng playing his second match and Hope his third as starters for their respective teams.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Another team to have their returning match be late in the week, Rogue Warriors will look to turn things around. They lost to eStar in their opening match of the split, looking like a disjointed team. In their second match, they faced another disjointed team in Suning, who had two players that had just role swapped to new positions. And while they did emerge victorious from the second match, they still have much to prove if they want to make it into playoffs.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
With a plethora of young, talented players, Vici and WE clash in the second game on Friday. With most players having less than a year in the LPL under their belt, 19-year-old iBoy will be the most experienced player on the rift. Vici had two close series in week one, with one victory and one defeat. WE, unfortunately, suffered a crushing loss to JDG. While the potential is there for both teams, this should be a bloody game, but with a clear favorite.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
The final game of the set will be between Dominus and FPX. With neither team winning in week one, both will have the chance to change that earlier in the week. FPX does face the harder opponent, but Dominus won’t have an easy time either. Both teams could potentially come into this series 0 and 3 and will be eager for the win. Still adjusting to their new top laner, Khan, FPX and especially Tian seemed a bit out of sync during week one. Meanwhile, Dominus had their own growing pains regarding their new mid-laner Xiye.
And with that, we conclude our look into the first five days of week two of the LPL.
Starting next Friday, we will take a look at the final 2 matches of the week + the first 5 matches of the next week.
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