The all-Chinese roster's first match at the Demacia Cup.

With the LPL transfer window concluded, the new season saw the rise of several powerhouse teams. WBG, after beating JDG in their Demacia Cup opener, was praised by many LPL fans as the strongest all-Chinese lineup. Many expected WBG to advance to the World Championship and perform well. However, as the Demacia Cup progressed, many viewers realized WBG’s strength was seriously overrated, especially after the so-called powerhouse WBG was completely shut down and crushed by OMG.

Before the WBG vs. OMG match, many fans thought OMG’s new season roster was just a “filler” lineup, while WBG had acquired star players like ELK, zika, and JIEJIE. Most viewers expected WBG to easily dominate OMG. Yet as the match unfolded, star player ELK was thoroughly outperformed by OMG’s AD carry Starry. In the first game, Starry’s Graves scored 17 kills and earned MVP, and in the second game, Starry used Aphelios to relentlessly eliminate ELK in seconds.

Is WBG’s support ErHa likely to be released?

With Starry effortlessly outplaying ELK and earning MVP in both games, many LPL fans criticized ELK’s performance, saying he has shown his true level. Some even believe that ELK’s previous success with BLG was mostly due to weaker competition, and now without a strong support, ELK is at a disadvantage against players like GALA and Starry. Many IG fans quietly feel relieved they resisted signing ELK during the transfer period.

Although ELK’s performance doesn’t match his high value, many LoL insiders think ELK’s repeated defeats are largely due to poor support play from ErHa. Numerous ELK fans have complained on WBG’s official social media that ErHa misses key teamfight abilities and fails at vision control. Even MSI champion mid-laner CRYIN believes WBG’s management will likely replace their support in the next transfer window, since ELK’s transfer value is very high and dropping him would be a big loss for the team.

WEI’s reputation is completely shattered.

Since IG announced that TheShy would rest next season and ROOKIE would not participate in the Demacia Cup, many LPL fans predicted IG would be heavily beaten by other teams. Still, some IG fans held hope. However, what frustrated many was IG’s Demacia Cup opener being mercilessly crushed by EDG. After seeing IG’s poor performance, many fans felt despair about IG’s future and some even blamed the new roster for dragging down ROOKIE. (Do you think IG could have beaten EDG if ROOKIE had started the match?)

After IG’s heavy loss to EDG, IG’s jungler WEI was heavily criticized. In this BO3 series, the biggest skill gap was in the jungle role, with IG’s WEI consistently outmatched by EDG’s jungler xiaohao. As a result, WEI received a low match rating of only 2.8. Some viewers think that without top laner TheShy and mid-laner ROOKIE, WEI has become a “shadow of his former self” in the jungle. (Do you think WEI’s low rating is justified?)

Conclusion

After watching IG’s recent matches, I genuinely worry that IG might fail to make the playoffs next season. Last year, EDG was like the “gatekeeper” of the LPL playoffs. Although EDG replaced their AD carry, their current potential and strength are promising. Personally, I don’t understand why IG’s transfer operations ended up like this. What do you think IG’s management should do to revive the team?