Since the official reform of the LOL competition format, the match process has become highly compact. Teams participating in MSI must seamlessly connect to the Oil Cup. Recently, LPL has also started its third segment of matches. In the first two days of the new season, TES achieved two consecutive victories, placing them at the top of the leaderboard. Many viewers have expressed that TES is poised to become the regular season champion again, while others are eagerly anticipating AL's showdown with TES after their "study abroad return."
After all, many LPL viewers and commentators have lamented that the current strength and competitive state of LPL teams show a significant gap compared to other teams in the World Championship. Notably, commentator Miller has stated that after watching many World Championship matches, returning to watch TES feels disorienting. This sentiment has been echoed by many LPL fans, leading to post-match comments where viewers believe that currently, AL is the only strong team in LPL, and the other teams are merely "AL's toys."
Personally, after watching TES's recent two matches, I feel that Miller's comments are valid because the content of TES's matches is indeed quite abstract. In the match against IG, they relied heavily on TheShy and GALA making mistakes to secure victory. In the "grudge" match against WBG, TES also frequently displayed questionable plays. For instance, in the second game, despite being ahead by 5,000 gold and having the water dragon soul, TES failed to protect the well-fed JKL, opting instead to collectively throw away their lead, leading to a 0-for-4 trade before the ancient dragon fight.
Although JKL was well-fed as Jhin and managed to take down the support, Poppy, due to TES's poor vision, he was forcibly killed by WBG. JKL’s death caused TES's base to explode immediately. Besides TES players' abstract performances, WBG's team fight execution and draft choices left many WBG fans speechless. In the final game of the BO3, TES chose Kalista, who had lost 12 times in a row, and many viewers expected TES to lose. However, even when TES was 5,000 gold behind, they successfully exploited a positional error by the jungler, Xiaotian, to secure the Baron, and then they staged a miraculous team fight, ultimately turning the tide to defeat WBG.
Currently, in the four games that TES has won, JKL has earned three MVPs. This "burnout" state of JKL's performance has left many of his fans worried. Those who regularly watch TES matches should know that JKL often goes through this "burnout" phase each season, leading to relatively stable results for TES. However, over time, JKL struggles to maintain this high-pressure state, resulting in a significant drop in his performance.
Thus, many JKL fans hope that the other TES players can quickly regain their form and prevent JKL from entering this "burnout" phase too soon. Otherwise, during the upcoming playoffs or bubble matches, JKL is bound to create a significant shift. Personally, I believe that TES's biggest issue right now is that top laner 369's performance has severely declined. In the first and second segments, 369 had opportunities to compete for the title of the strongest top laner in LPL, but in recent matches, he seems to have lost his former prowess. What do you think is the reason for this?
TES matches truly deliver maximum entertainment; until the very last moment, you cannot predict the outcome of their matches. Of course, TES still has many shortcomings. Do you think TES has a chance to qualify for the World Championship in the future? If they do qualify, can they achieve a good result? After all, if TES fails to perform well, manager Guo Hao will have to leave voluntarily.