Buzz
(Fatherland) - LPL media has identified the top 3 major issues faced by teams from this region at the 2022 Worlds.
Before the start of the 2022 World Championship Finals, most League of Legends (LoL) fans worldwide believed that all four representatives from the LPL region at this year's tournament were very strong. Not only JD Gaming (JDG), but names like TOP Esports (TES), EDward Gaming (EDG), or Royal Never Give Up (RNG) all had a chance to win the championship.
However, in the end, by the Semifinals, only JDG remained as the representative of the LPL region while LCK still had 3 out of 4 representatives. Despite bringing in four representatives that could be considered the strongest ever, LPL still couldn't dominate LCK at the 2022 Worlds. And recently, the media in this region has pinpointed the top 3 crucial issues that led LPL teams to achieve unfavorable results.
Adaptability to the new patch
For every international tournament, Riot always introduces a new patch specifically for that tournament with many differences compared to the patches used in domestic tournaments. Similarly, in this year's Worlds 2022, the patch applied is completely different from the Summer 2022 patch. And this factor has affected the preparation of some teams, most notably RNG.
The MSI 2022 champions have never been famous for adapting well to the constant changes of LoL patches. Not only in the 2022 season but also in the 2021 season, RNG unexpectedly declined after returning from MSI 2021. And in the Worlds of the same year, they could only make it to the Semifinals after losing to Gen.G. This season, the unfortunate RNG had to face the overly strong T1 early on and also encountered a wide champion pool in the Quarterfinals. The result of a 0-3 loss, with the team's helplessness against T1's innovative picks and bans, is the clearest example of this issue.
Maintaining and Leveraging Stability
It cannot be denied that both RNG and TES, as well as EDG, have had some very good matches, but the problem for these teams is the inability to maintain and leverage stability. In the match against GAM Esports (GAM), TES started too slowly and then faced countless difficulties. If the LPL representative had played like in the first round, GAM might not have been able to achieve wonders.
Both RNG and EDG are also in a similar situation. EDG can only blame themselves after leading 2-0 but still allowing DRX to reverse sweep. Especially in the deciding game, the reigning World Champion - Scout was consecutively taken down 4 times by the young DRX player Zeka in the bot lane skirmishes. This is evidence of instability, from psychological aspects to the performance of players.
Resilience
Up to this point, the 2022 Worlds tournament has witnessed numerous remarkable comebacks. Notable examples include the GAM - TES match, the DRX - EDG clash, and the JDG - DK showdown. It's worth noting that apart from the JDG vs. DK match in the Group Stage, all LPL representatives have been the 'victims'. The most prominent example is EDG, who were reverse swept by DRX in the final Quarterfinal of the 2022 Worlds.
LPL representatives have struggled to maintain the necessary resilience to stay focused throughout the matches compared to their opponents. At this juncture, JDG is proving to be superior to RNG, EDG, and TES. However, JDG cannot underestimate their upcoming opponent, T1 - a team that will not give their opponents an easy chance, especially as they are currently leading.
Moreover, JDG is facing numerous issues, with the main concern being in the Bottom Lane duo. JDG needs to address this weakness promptly, especially considering that T1 possesses a very dominant Bottom Lane duo at the 2022 Worlds up to this point.
