LPL 2022 Spring Split Week 3 Preview

Week 3 of the LPL 2022 Spring Split is just about to start. Teams are already starting to grow apart, with EDG, FPX and LNG sitting at the top of the table, undefeated so far. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the table, ThunderTalk Gaming, LGD and Team WE are currently winless. Week three will be a much shorter week and will only feature matches until Thursday, after which the LPL will pause for the Lunar New Year. The teams will be off from Friday the twenty-eighth till February ninth, as the LPL will resume on the tenth, which is a Thursday. With that said and out of the way, here is a preview of week 3 of the LPL 2022 Spring Split.

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Week 2: Day 6

Match 1: LNG vs Team World Elite

Starting off Saturday’s matches, LNG will take on WE. LNG currently sit at the top of the table, winning their three matches, and only dropping a game to Rare Atom. Doinb looks like he integrated well into the roster, fitting right in with LNG accelerated play style. Tarzan and Light have also been playing out of their mind, especially Tarzan, who picked up four MPV votes in six game wins.

Meanwhile, Team World Elite sit at the bottom of the table. Despite their 0:3 record, Team WE looked good in quite a few of their losses, picking up a game against Victory Five and against Top Esports. Strength of schedule has not favoured WE, who will, most likely, head into the Lunar New Year break with no match wins to their name.

Prediction: LNG

Match 2: JD Gaming vs FunPlus Phoenix

The second match of the day features JDG and FPX. JD Gaming picked up their first series win, defeating LGD in a clean 2:0 series. Hope, a bot lane carry, is also now eligible to play, after waiting out week 1 due to a tardy signing from the side of JDG. While LPC was serviceable, Hope is viewed as an upgrade, who already picked up 1 MVP vote in 1 series played. With all that in mind, JD Gaming will have to have their best performance this split, if they will want to take down FPX.

Despite the rest that FPX underwent, they still look like a top team. After upsetting RNG, a team that many had as a top-four team, they surgically eliminated both LGD and Anyone’s Legend. While neither one of these teams are heavy hitters, FPX won in a very clean and convincing manner.

Prediction: FunPlus Phoenix

Match 3: EDG vs OMG

EDG will look to continue their winning streak against OMG. Undefeated so far this split, EDG only dropped one game, which was in their 2:1 win over Ultra Prime. While EDG are yet to face one of the top-tier teams, the level of dominance displayed is quite impressive. A team that usually starts to ramp up towards the end of the split, EDG has started their 2022 Spring Spring at full throttle, showing why they are the current reigning world champions.

Meanwhile, OMG have been handed their first loss. Despite taking game one off of Bilibili Gaming, BLG woke up for the second and third games, beating OMG 2:1. After their first loss, OMG will want to bounce back, but against EDG it might prove to be a tall order. With how momentum-based the LPL is, OMG might find themselves stuck in a rut, something that they will certainly want to avoid.

Prediction: EDG

Week 2: Day 7

Match 1: Anyone’s Legend vs Weibo Gaming

Sunday’s first match has Weibo Gaming taking on Anyone’s Legend. Weibo Gaming have been fairly consistent this split, winning the games they were supposed to win and struggling against top teams. However, Weibo Gaming, formerly known as Suning, have the same core roster that made it to World’s Grand Finals in 2020, with TheShy coming in the top lane. With this in mind, Weibo Gaming are yet to impress this split, losing to BLG and playing a close game against WE.

With Maple finally joining the team, Anyone’s Legend has their full roster available to them. Problem is, they played their full roster against FPX, and still failed to look like a new team. Despite it being a new year, being under a new name and with a new mid laner, Anyone’s Legend still feels, and plays, like Rogue Warriors. They will need to step their game up, if they want to avoid finishing in the bottom half, again.

Prediction: Weibo Gaming

Match 2: Invictus Gaming vs RNG

Invictus Gaming will want to return to their week one form in their match against RNG. Despite starting the split off well, IG have started to slump, getting run over by both OMG and LNG. While the team did reboot their roster, after starting the split off so well, many had hope that this young iteration of Invictus Gaming could at least make it to playoffs. While the match against LNG was always going to an uphill battle, they could have had a cleaner performance against OMG.

Speaking of clean performances, or lack thereof, RNG are yet to have a solid match this split. After being upset by FPX in week 1, they barely scraped by JD Gaming. To make matters worse, earlier this week, in their match against TT, they looked abysmal. Bin got solo killed, while Gala and Ming got 2v2 killed. While there are still many more games and matches to come, RNG need to find their footing if they want to make it into the top four, where many have them placed.

Prediction: RNG

Match 3: Victory Five vs Top Esports

The final match of the week is also the match of the week. Victory Five, who will only be rebranding to NIP officially in the Summer Split, are still undefeated this split. Despite playing two close games, one against WE and one against Rare Atom, Victory Five managed to win both. A large factor to their success has been Rookie, who picked up three MVP votes in four games played. However, up against Knight, Rookie won’t have an easy time, like he did against Shanks and Strive.

On the other side of the matchup, Top Esports have bounced back from their subpar first match. With Xiaopeng starting in the jungle, Top Esports have a player that can consistently set the tempo for the team, as well as provide reliable engage for the team to follow up on. The next step, however, has to be to clean up their act. Despite beating both Ultra Prime and WE, Top dropped a game in the series. If they want to prove they belong in the top of the LPL, they will need to find their footing and become consistent.

LPL 2022 Spring Split Week 3: Day 1

Match 1: LGD vs OMG

LDG will face off against OMG to start off week 3 of the LPL 2022 Spring Split. One of the currently winless teams, LGD will need to undergo changes during the Lunar New Year break, if they have any plan on making it to playoffs. While it is still early on in the split, with the way the team has performed, they don’t stand a chance to even get close to playoffs. Picking up a single game win so far, against an AL team with a substitute mid laner, LGD needs to improve quickly.

After two tough matches in a row, OMG will be more than happy to take on a lower-placed team again. While they struggled against BLG, and will most likely struggle against EDG, they have had commanding victories over the bottom-tier teams. Fans will be expecting a clean 2:0 series this time, returning OMG to the top of the table.

Prediction: OMG

Match 2: Rare Atom vs Bilibili Gaming

The second match of the day should be an intriguing one. Rare Atom have been a hard team to quantify this split, putting on amazing performances followed by really bad ones. Currently sitting at 1:2, they beat Top Esports and lost to LNG and Victory Five. Their series against V5 was very winnable, but the team failed to press their advantages. Leyan and Strive continue to be the two best pressure points for the side of RA, who have a rough task ahead of them.

Because of the other side of the rift lies BLG. So far this split, despite dropping games to both Weibo Gaming and OMG, BLG’s lineup looked really impressive. Breathe can absorb pressure on the top side, Weiwei knows the jungle perfectly, Fofo now has a team to play around him, and Doggo and Crisp have been one of the highest tempo bot lanes in the LPL so far. Should they keep up their good performance, this will be a hard series for Rare Atom to upset.

Prediction: Bilibli Gaming

LPL 2022 Spring Split Week 3: Day 2

Match 1: Invictus Gaming vs Ultra Prime

Invictus Gaming will take on Ultra Prime to start off Tuesday’s matches. IG will want to get back on the winning track, and this match could be the one to do it. While Ultra Prime’s bot lane has impressed, the rest of the roster has been mediocre at best. Meanwhile, IG’s best players have been their solo laners and jungler. In a match that could decide who can grab the tenth playoff spot, it will come down to who outperforms who on Tuesday morning.

Despite their negative record, Ultra Prime have looked quite solid this split. Their first matches were against LNG, Top Esports and EDG. Picking up two game wins, Ultra Prime, specifically Elk in the bot lane, have looked far better than they did last year. However, if they can’t actually beat teams that are expected to finish around them in the table, such as IG, then it will all be for not and UP will have another lackluster split.

Prediction: Ultra Prime

Match 2: ThunderTalk Gaming vs Anyone’s Legend

Anyone’s Legend and ThunderTalk Gaming will continue on with action in week 3 of the LPL 2022 Spring Split. ThunderTalk Gaming have not had an easy split so far, failing to pick up even a game win. While Chieftain and Ucal are expected to join after the Lunar New Year, it might be too late for TT. They will have already faced Anyone’s Legend and IG, two teams that if they had their full roster, they might have beat. However, with the current iteration of TT, it is unlikely they will beat Anyone’s Legend.

That said, Anyone’s Legend can’t come into this match expecting a free win. TT have started to show signs of life, especially around Captain and New. While Maple should be enough to at least go even with Captain, Zdz is yet to show that he could go toe-to-toe with New. AL have to remain on their best behaviour, less they drop a game to TT.

Prediction: Anyone’ Legend

LPL 2022 Spring Split Week 3: Day 3

Match 1: Weibo Gaming vs Victory Five

Starting off Wednesday’s matches, Weibo Gaming will take on Victory Five. This match could be a very important one at the end of the split, as either one of these teams could very well finish in the top six. This is important because finishing in the top six means getting to avoid the first round of playoffs while finishing between seventh and tenth means needing to run a gauntlet to get to the double-elimination part of the playoffs.

Both of these teams have shown positives and negatives already this split. Victory Five has shown that their veteran players still deserve maximum respect, with Rookie putting on masterclass performances in the mid-lane. However, Weibo Gaming have shown that their star players can play together on the rift together, with TheShy and Huanfeng both putting on good performances. This will also be the fist time in LPL history that Rookie and TheShy will be on opposite sides of summoners rift.

Prediction: Weibo Gaming

Match 2: LNG vs FunPlus Phoenix

Should both of these teams confirm their favouritism on Saturday, the 22, then both of these teams will come into week 3 of the LPL 2022 Spring Split undefeated. While many expected LNG to put on this kind of performance, it wasn’t expected of FPX. While many had FPX high up in their rankings, few had them in the top four in the Spring Split. However, with their current level of play, they could prove to be a tough nut to crack, even for the top-tier teams.

Meanwhile, LNG is getting the results expected of them but fail at the performance part. Despite getting his split pushers, Ale is yet to show up like he did last Worlds. Doinb has also been fairly quiet so far this split. And Lvmao starting in the place of Iwandy still baffles many. LNG will need everyone to on board and playing at their best, if they want to take down FPX.

Prediction: LNG

LPL 2022 Spring Split Week 3: Day 4

Match 1: Top Esports vs OMG

Starting off the final day of the third week, Top Esports will take on OMG. Top Esports will want to win to keep up with the undefeated teams. Even if they win every series mentioned in this article, they will likely be behind the likes of EDG and LNG. However, in situations like these, the best thing that Top Esports can do is make sure that they remain in touching distance from said teams. That way, when they get to the head-to-head match, a victory could mean jumping over them in the standings.

On the other side of the rift, OMG will want to got to their Lunar New Year break in a top-six position. While this may be a tall order, it is possible should OMG perform at their best. A team that barely made playoffs last summer, OMG will want to continue down the path of improvement, always pushing to be the best that they can be.

Prediction: Top Esports

Match 2: RNG vs Bilibili Gaming

The final match of week 3 of the LPL 2022 Spring Split, RNG vs BLG should be an amazing match. Both of these teams are expected to finish somewhere amongst the top-five team in the LPL. And while Uzi is unlikely to play this match, it will feature his current team vs the team where he made his name known. Both teams also feature fairly similar players, both playing with aggressive supports, mid laners that love to control the battlefield, cerebral junglers and carry top laners.

However, the tempo of both teams is also fairly different. RNG have been a bit shaky this split, and seem be lacking conviction. Gala and Ming especially aren’t performing at the level that they could be. On the other side of the rift, BLG are experiencing some growing pains, with all their star players getting used to their new teammates.

Prediction: Bilibili Gaming

In Conclusion

And that concludes the preview of the final 2 days of Week 2, as well as the entirety of week 3. There were some intense matches the week before, solidifying some of the rivalries within the LPL. The greatest thing about League of Legends Esports is that the landscape is ever changing. So for those attempting to keep up with the current happenings within the LPL, be sure to come back next time to read about week four. Happy Lunar New Year!

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