Week 2 of the LPL is already underway, as we still have two more days of games before it is finished. With week 3 just around the corner, here is a sneak peek into the upcoming games.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Starting off our fifth set of matches for week 2, Victory Five take on JD Gaming. Both teams are coming off losses, with JD being overwhelmed by FPX, and WE crushing out V5. Victory Five are still winless in this season of the LPL, as fans have already begun to worry about the team’s future performances. As for JD, while they did lose to FPX, the first two games they went toe-to-toe with the current world champions.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
One of the most affected teams by the imposed lockdown, EDG is currently playing without JieJie and headcoach Clearlove, and are unable to play Jinoo, due to their substitute jungler taking up an import slot. Under these circumstances, EDG were unable to keep up with Suning and fell 0:2 in their last series. eStar on the other hand, shook off the online scrims result, winning both of their matches, including one against the same Suning that took down EDG.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
The final match of the day will feature Bilibili vs Suning. BLG is coming off a loss to LNG, and Suning is coming off a previously mentioned win vs EDG. That said, EDG, that are still missing a few key pieces, aren’t as nearly strong as they could be. Meteor, from the side of BLG, seemed to be having a difficult time keeping up with Xx in the jungle and was a large part of the lackluster performance in their last match. It’s worth noting that BLG gave over the “fasting” Senna pick in all 3 of their matches, possibly hinting at Jinjiao not being comfortable on the pick
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Kicking off the final day of week 2, Rogue Warriors and Invictus Gaming face off. The situation both these teams enter this match couldn’t be more opposite. IG had a good performance this week, dispatching Vici in a 2:0 match, featuring TheShy on two games of Kalista in the top lane. RW, on the other hand, got dispatched in a quick series, courtesy of OMG. While it may be early on in the season, these teams already seem like they are in two separate leagues.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In what promises to be an exciting match, WE and RNG do battle on Sunday, March 15th. With both teams winning both of their previous week 2 matches, one of these teams will leave this week sitting at 3:1 in their overall matches. WE not only took down Victory 5 as they were expected but also took down Vici, who many saw as Vici favoured. On the other side of the rift, RNG demolished TOP in a 2:0 series and took down OMG in a series with 3 one-sided games. Despite Uzi not playing yet, Betty has looked phenominal in the carry role and should be playing in this match as well.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
LGD look to take on TOP in the final match of week 2. Both teams had to deal with losses this week, as TOP fell to RNG and LGD lost to both eStar and Dominus. Despite getting several advantages around the map, LGD seem lost and unable to translate those advantages into victories. TOP, on the other hand, got crushed in every lane vs RNG on Monday. Despite both teams suffering losses, one team still seems to have a gameplan, while the other is still looking for an identity for the team.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Kicking off week three, we have Victory Five vs eStar. Getting completely choked out in both of their losses so far, V5 need to start finding solid ground that they can begin to make a stand on. eStar, on the other hand, seem to have a good grasp of what they want. With Xaiobai being a rock in the top lane, the rest of the team is free to carry, with support ShiaoC also proving to be a carry, picking up 4 MVP awards in the teams 4 game wins last week.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In what could be an electrifying series, OMG do battle vs BLG. With Bilibili’s power level still being a bit all over the place, it is OMG that have surprised many. After a terrible start to the split, OMG bounced back after the break, taking down LNG in the first series back, and then taking RNG to a game three. A worthwhile mention is that OMG defeated LNG last Monday, and LNG defeated BLG last Thursday. And while that is no guarantee, it’s an inspiring thought that OMG fans should keep in their head.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
For the final match of day 1, Vici face JD Gaming. Vici seem to be having issues with their roster, with both Forge and Maestro MIA, possibly due to the lockdown. Vici suffered 2:0 losses in both their week two matches, with disadvantages in all their lanes. With iBoy stuck on Miss Fortune duty for all 4 of their matches, Vici seemed lost. JD, on the other hand, took a game off of FPX, who were playing with GimGoon in the top lane. Despite the series loss, JDG seemed to maintain their head well above water.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In a tale of two struggling teams, EDG take on Rogue Warriors. As mentioned above, EDG are still missing a few key pieces, will Rogue seem to be missing a shot-caller and in-game leader. In a match that could go either way, both teams will be looking to prove that they are worth more than the sum of their parts. The question remains: Will the parts missing from EDG prove to lead to the team’s downfall?
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In the closing match of the night, FPX face WE. With GimGoon returning to the roster for both their week 2 games, FPX seemed to regain their form. While Khan is certainly not to blame for their poor week 1 performance, the team thrived under the return of their old top laner. Supercarry DoinB also seems to be back in action, picking up 4 MVPs in their 4 game wins. Across the rift from them , WE also had a good time in week two. With both teams shaking off their slow start to the split, FPX and WE are both hungry to maintain their high-level performances.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
After nearly a week, LNG will once again find themselves on summoner’s rift on Wednesday. The team had an interesting week 2, finishing 1 and 1. The curious part of that is that they lost the match that many considered them to be favorites in, and won the match that they were viewed as underdogs. Up against Victory Five, who could potentially be 0 and 4, should they lose both their Saturday and Monday matches, LNG should be wary of their performance, less they find themselves losing as the favorite once again.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
TOP will take on Vici for our second match of week 3, day 3. TOP will be looking to remain on the TOP of the table, while Vici will be looking to break free of a difficult week 2. With the whereabouts of two key players to be unknown to the public, Vici seem to be struggling to maintain themselves. TOP, on the other hand, remain a largely unproven team, since the return of the LPL. The had a convincing loss vs RNG, and LGD aren’t the best looking team right now, so they remain in the grey area.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Wrapping up day 3, JDG face BLG. Both teams share a lot of history, as well as seemingly opposite trajectories at all times. In splits that BLG do well, JD Gaming seem to struggle, and the splits that JD have a good performance, tend to be BLG’s worst splits. With both teams wanting to contend with the top tier teams, this is a match that will tell a lot about both these teams going forward in the split. It’s worth noting that star top laner, Zoom, remains MIA for JD Gaming.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Dominus take on WE for the first match of Thursday. After a 1 and 1 week, Dominus will look to be a bit more stable. In their wins so far, 2 games vs LGD and 1 vs Vici, they seemed stellar. But in the losses, 2 games vs Vici, FPX, and IG, they seemed helpless. For a team with playoffs in their eyes, this is unacceptable. WE, on the other hand, will be coming off two back-to-back matches vs teams that went to worlds last year, in RNG and FPX. Whether these matches will take an emotional toll on WE, is yet to be discovered.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
In what seems the most likely to be an open-and-shut case match of the week, LGD will face Invictus Gaming. Two teams that found themselves on opposite sides of the table at the start of the split, IG should, theoretically, have the upper hand. While LGD do seem to have a mountain to climb, IG are known to throw games every now and again. And despite the team’s poor performance, LGD’s carry, Kramer, seems to remain on point, putting on great performances.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
FPX and Suning will do battle in the final match of the night. While FPX seem to have regained their form, Suning remains a mystery. With their performances being all over the place, it is hard to get a grasp on what is the identity of Suning. While this may be a result of many things, the most likely is that they are a group of young players, with SofM and SwordArt being their two veteran players. While it is unlikely to happen in the immediate future, only time will tell if Suning will find an identity or not.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Speaking of lacking team identities, Rogue Warrior will face LNG on Friday. Neither team has a strong grip on the split so far, and neither team seems to know what to do with a gold lead. While LNG have looked good in a few of their matches, they have yet to impress their fans. With both Xx and Maple arriving during the off-season, they both seemingly need to work on their synergy. RW, on the other hand, also have a few players that seem to lack synergy with each other. In fact, their entire top side seem to be consistently on different pages, when it comes to decision making.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
EDG will face JD Gaming, with both teams not wanting to lose sight of the top teams. EDG are currently going through difficult times, and they seem to be unable to keep up with the other teams. Meanwhile, JDG look to maintain Kanavi’s high-tier performances and hopefully keep up with the teams that are yet to lose a match. While we aren’t certain when the missing EDG players will join the squad, we are yet to see Zoom, from the side of JDG.
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Image Courtesy of Leaguepedia
The final game that will be discussed in this post is between RNG and VG. This match will be a true battle of the carries, were Betty will face off against iBoy. Betty has been performing very well in the split so far, putting on fantastic numbers and doing a superb job during team fights. Meanwhile, iBoy hasn’t had the same amount of success as Betty but has also had top tier performances. As the shot caller of the newly-formed roster, iBoy will hopefully be able to help Vici rise and improve from their week 2 performances
And with that, we conclude our look into the last 2 days of week 2, as well as the first 5 days of week 3.
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