With the semifinals done and dusted, the LPL is headed towards its Grand Final. JD Gaming and TOP Esports will face off in the match to end the Spring Split. This will be the first LPL title of one of these two organizations, with both teams being relatively new.
TOP Esports
Top Laner: 369
Jungler: Karsa
Mid Laner: Knight
Bot Lane Carry: JackeyLove
Support: Yuyanjia
A Team that many expected to be here, TOP Esports finally made it to the Grand Finals of a regular season. Since the team joined the LPL in 2018, their best placement was third in the Summer Split of 2019. After falling just short of worlds in 2019, the team picked up reinforcements for the new year. Legendary jungler Karsa joined the team, replacing Xx, who moved on to LNG. After two splits on RNG, Karsa joined TOP in hopes of once again making it to worlds. Young Photic joined the team, replacing Loken, who returned to JD Gaming. A young player from TOP’s academy team, Photic joined the squad. Sadly for him, he struggled to keep up with the other carries and often would make rookie mistakes. So TOP made their final roster move, adding JackeyLove to the roster. After leaving IG last year, it seemed unlikely that JackeyLove would play in Spring 2020. However, as of April 3, JackeyLove has officially joined TOP Esports, and his first match was April 10. The team hasn’t lost a match since JackeyLove joined, and only lost 1 game, in their best of 5 versus World Elite.
JD Gaming
Top Lane: Zoom
Jungler: Kanavi
Mid Laner: Yagao
Bot Lane Carry: Loken
Support: LvMao
For the second spring split in a row, JD Gaming surpass expectations and make their way to the grand finals. With the core roster remaining the same as the Spring 2019 roster, the most notable change was in the jungle. Kanavi joined last Summer, replacing Flawless as the starting jungler for the team. Despite putting on a decent performance in the Summer split, Kavani seemed to have communication issues with the team. Remaining with the roster for 2020, Kanavi now seems much more at home with his new team. Another change that JD made was to bring back Loken as their bot lane carry. Loken played for the team in 2017 and 2018 but moved over to TOP for 2019. Reunited with LvMao, he is much less demanding as a carry, freeing his partner up to roam and make plays. It is worth noting that Zoom has a 100% game win rate this split.
Key Players
TOP: Knight
Despite having many world-class players, Knight is the key piece to the TOP puzzle. Finishing in fourth in the MVP standings of the regular split, Knight found himself on the third All-Pro team. A lot like DoinB and Rookie, two of the 3 players that finished ahead of him in the MVP standings, Knight is the heartbeat of the team. Playing 19 different champions during the Spring split, Knight has a champion ocean. With a win lane/win game playstyle, Knight is a force to be reckoned with, often smashing his opponent and forcing the enemy team to bleed out from the mid lane. With JackeyLove now joining the roster, who also likes to dominate his lane, he no longer has to worry about his bottom lane. Knight has truly come to his own, and he is one step away from winning it all.
JD Gaming: Kanavi
As mentioned above, Kanavi has improved tenfold compared to last year. Tied with DoinB at 13 MVP awards, Kanavi is the regular-season MVP for the LPL. With 11 different champions played, Kanavi seems to always be 3 steps ahead of his opponent. With Kindred being his signature pick, he seems to pilot them effortlessly, with their regular-season loss vs FPX being his only defeat on the champion. After the team made it to the grand finals with Flawless, many fans wondered why Kanavi was brought in, as the team struggled in Summer, missing playoffs. Now, fans and analysts everywhere are singing words of praise as Kanavi seems to be one of the best junglers in the world.
Tune in on Sunday, May 2, to find out who will be crowned the winner of the LPL 2020 Spring Split.
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Follow JJ on Twitter: @NeonColouredJay.