LPL star players collectively forfeit De Cup matches

After the LPL introduced the new transfer regulations, a large number of star players had to take breaks, causing this year's De Cup to lose its appeal, with most leading LPL teams opting to "tank" their games. For example, IG, AL, and TES recently announced their starting lineups for the De Cup, where IG's key player ROOKIE withdrew, TES mid laner Xiaonaiyou, top laner 369, and AD carry JKL also chose to forfeit. The most extreme case is AL, who decided to train in the LCK during the De Cup period.

Many AL fans expressed support for the team's management decision to train in the LCK after learning about it. After all, the De Cup offers no league points or substantial prize money, and even winning the De Cup is considered commonplace in the LPL. Therefore, AL's full team forfeiting to train in the LCK is seen as a positive move. Who do you think has the best chance to win the De Cup if AL does not participate? Personally, I believe BLG has a strong likelihood of winning since, except for mid laner LeftHand, their other four players are starting members.

Is AL's training in the LCK pointless?

After AL went to train in the LCK, many LPL viewers believed the team would significantly improve next year. IG's strength noticeably increased after their training stint in the LCK, raising expectations for AL's performance after their return. However, something disappointing happened: the well-known LOL "motivational" coach Zhu Kai recently criticized AL, stating that their training in the LCK is meaningless.

Zhu Kai revealed that many LPL teams have trained in the LCK during off-seasons, but the results were poor. Therefore, he believes AL's training in the LCK is a waste of time. Still, during his live stream, Zhu Kai mentioned some benefits of training in the LCK, such as the unfamiliar environment helping LPL players focus better on training and the opportunity for AL's coaching staff to gain experience and improve their skills.

IG's new top laner tribute to TheShy sparks discussion!

IG's official account recently released a video announcing the arrival of top laner Soboro. In the video, Soboro admitted that he became familiar with IG because of TheShy and ROOKIE. He also said watching TheShy's gameplay inspired him to switch to top lane during his youth training. Although Soboro is an LCK player, he has watched all of TheShy's match footage and feels fortunate to be TheShy's successor. Finally, Soboro expressed his commitment to fulfilling TheShy's wishes by playing alongside the veteran ROOKIE.

Many IG fans, seeing Soboro's maturity, are looking forward to his future performances. If Soboro can perform at about 80% of TheShy's level, ROOKIE’s upcoming matches should be less worrisome. Do you think the current IG still has the ability to qualify for the World Championship? I feel it will be difficult since top laner Soboro struggled in the LCK, and AD carry XiaoP’s skills remain uncertain.