In the second round of the winners' bracket of the LPL Stage 2 playoffs, WE, who had already toppled BLG, once again delivered a 3-0 shutout against AL, securing a spot in the winners' bracket finals. This result is extremely unexpected. BLG's loss was mainly due to their underestimation of the opponent. In three of the four games, BLG held significant advantages in the early and mid phases, but their sloppy late-game execution let WE reverse the situation repeatedly.

AL, a team known for its stable playstyle, had studied the opponent for days and knew WE was no pushover, yet they still failed to win a single game—that was simply unthinkable. Watching the entire series, one can only say that WE is truly strong, exceeding all expectations. AL, which excels at macro play, began collapsing from the early game. None of the five players could step up. After the first game, they seemed dazed, as if they had no idea how to play anymore.

The gap in individual performance being so vast was indeed unexpected. After the match, AL's head coach Bigwei summarized the reasons for the loss: "We also spent a lot of time studying them. WE did very well in terms of aggression, and we focused our research in that direction, but the results were not good—the direction was not quite right." Goodness, after researching for so many days and ending up with such a result, could it be that AL had been studying the WE from the regular season?

But then again, WE is a team that is truly hard to figure out, because their draft and playstyle are unconventional. Take the first game for example: the five champions WE picked had either never been played before or had a zero win rate in the playoffs. Any normal coach would never dare to draft like that, but WE is different—they play champions that supposedly can't win, and they force ganks on champions that seem impossible to catch, completely bewildering AL.

Not only is their draft bold, but WE's playstyle is also extreme. When behind, they don't choose to hide and wait to die; they seize any opportunity to fight. When ahead, it's even more exaggerated—the moment there's a chance to engage, they swarm in instantly. A team with such fighting spirit deserves to win. AL's usual style is to have the jungler and support set the pace in the early game, stabilize, and then play macro teamfights. But WE's aggression was too intense, leaving AL without a late game at all.

After losing, AL fell into the losers' bracket. Among the top four regular-season teams, only one can go to MSI—who could have imagined that? JDG, BLG, and AL will now have to fight over a single slot. If WE manages to upset TES in their next match as well, then the MSI qualification race will become really interesting. Right now, TES fans are sweating for their team—WE is just too strong.

After the BO5 between AL and WE, Aixiao was once again hit by a boomerang and activated his "one-click protection." To comment on his Weibo, you now need to have followed him for at least 100 days. The reason he did this is naturally because he was being criticized. When WE defeated BLG, Aixiao had gone to Cube's Weibo and sarcastically commented to Cube and Bin: "Are you also the world's best top laner?" After AL lost, Aixiao quietly deleted those comments.

Mouthing off when things are going well and activating one-click protection when things go south—Aixiao single-handedly has tarnished AL's reputation. In AL's super topic, there are now posts criticizing him everywhere. Honestly, this guy has incredibly thick skin. He has been proven wrong countless times, yet he still puts on a front when the team is in good favor. As soon as they lose a match, he enables one-click protection, leaving the players and coaches to take the heat instead.

Conclusion:

Given WE's current form, TES doesn't seem to be a match for them. Barring any surprises, WE might actually go to MSI this year. Who would have thought that a team that finished last place with a 1-13 record in the regular season would suddenly dominate the playoffs and knock off two top-tier teams? From this perspective, it seems LNG is the one that suffered the most.

So, what do you think are the odds between WE and TES?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!