In the LPL Demacia Cup, the first phase is nearing its end with just 6 BO3 matches remaining. After two days of play, LGD from Group A and LNG from Group B have each achieved back-to-back wins, leading their groups. Each team plays a total of 3 matches in this phase, and a 2-0 start means early qualification for stage two. WE and OMG have strong chances for the last two spots, both standing at 1-0.

UP, TT, and two streamer teams have yet to secure their first win, making even a single point within the group an advantage. It’s surprising that the teams Wall and Guozi have not won any matches. The participating teams in the first stage are LPL reborn squads, some without their full main roster. The two streamer teams remain winless, with Guozi’s team at 0-4 overall, and Wall’s team only winning a small game due to an opponent’s forfeit against LGD.

Starting 0-2, the chances for the streamer teams to advance are very slim. Even if both teams win their last matches, they still need to rely on WE and OMG’s results. So at this point, the streamer teams are effectively eliminated. Before the Demacia Cup began, many fans had high hopes for the streamer teams since they faced reborn squads, making wins seem possible. However, the results show there is a clear gap between amateurs and professionals.

On Ning Wang’s team, LWX is the only player who can keep pace with the LPL teams, while the rest are increasingly inexperienced. When Ning Wang saw the opponent pick Jungle Jayce, he even remarked: “When can Jayce jungle?” This shows how outdated the streamer teams’ understanding of the meta is. If they had checked patch notes or the LCK K Cup, they would know Jayce can jungle.

The mid, bot, jungle, and support players performed poorly, which was expected given their long absence from competition. But Ale, who has been active this split, was completely dominated in top lane matchups against OMG and LGD’s top laners. Before the Demacia Cup, Ale claimed his tank champions were slightly worse than 369’s but comparable to Bin’s. After the second game, Ale was thoroughly humiliated, proving otherwise.

In the second game against OMG, Ale picked the experienced champion Volibear to face Hery’s Lillia. Early laning was manageable with little pressure, but in team fights, Ale was ineffective. At 11 minutes, during a dragon fight, Ale used his ultimate to support teammates from below the river but ran straight into a wall, wasting his ultimate. By the time he reached the fight, his teammates were already dead. This play can only be described as unbelievable.

Caster 957 openly criticized Ale: “Is he human?” The match ended at 26 minutes with Ale’s Sion at 0-6. With this level of tank play, it’s ridiculous to compare him to Bin. No matter how strange Bin’s style is, he wouldn’t waste Sion’s ultimate by running into walls. Fearness, another home team top laner, was also somewhat underwhelming but at least performed normally and wasn’t completely dominated in four games.

After watching the past two days of matches, Ale’s top lane performance stands out as uniquely poor, unmatched in its weakness. Originally expected to redeem himself at the Demacia Cup, after two games it seems retirement is near. The LGD and OMG top laners rank among the lowest in the LPL; if Ale can’t even beat them, no one will expect him to make a comeback next year. Who would want to sign such a weak top laner?

Conclusion:

Before the tournament, Ale claimed to be better than 80% of current top laners. Could it be that he was just unlucky, encountering the top 20% all at once in this Demacia Cup? Honestly, given his performance, the 50 yuan RNG paid him feels like too much. No wonder JD Gaming replaced their top laner halfway through the event; Peyz and Xun must have suffered a lot because of him.

So, what do you think—can Ale still find a team?

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