Two LPL Champion Players Return to IG!

The second stage of LPL is about to start. Many LPL teams have recently released their starting lineups for this stage. In these lists, numerous viewers observed that mid-laner ROOKIE is missing from IG's starting lineup. After this news came out, many fans wanted to know: what is ROOKIE actually up to? There are even insider reports suggesting that ROOKIE chose to "rest" due to the influence of the Xiaoyu incident, and might not play in the second stage at all.

As more external information emerged, IG insiders finally couldn't hold back and revealed details. An IG super topic moderator disclosed that ROOKIE recently arrived at the IG base and participated in IG's training matches. After this news broke, many IG fans felt relieved, since ROOKIE is currently IG's only star player. Without ROOKIE, IG's new season would likely be doomed. Besides ROOKIE returning to IG, support Meiko is also rumored to be rejoining IG for the new season, meaning IG will have two world champion players.

Logically, Meiko's return to IG is normal. After all, IG just established a new home venue last year. If both ROOKIE and Meiko left, tickets for IG's new home games might not sell. Besides ROOKIE and Meiko, former IG AD carry player Xiao P was dismissed by IG management and replaced by TES AD carry jiaqi. This change was widely praised by IG fans, since Xiao P's performance at IG was really underwhelming, whereas jiaqi, paired with newcomer Feng Yue, showed no significant disadvantage against GALA or even ELK.

BLG Tops LOL "Poisoned Milk" Rankings

After winning the Pioneer Championship, BLG naturally became the world's top team. Recently, in the official LOL team rankings, BLG surpassed HLE and GEN to claim the number one spot on the power rankings. However, after this list was released, many BLG fans expressed concern that BLG might miss out on future world championships. This ranking has been dubbed the "Poisoned Milk List" in recent years—whoever takes first place tends not to win the world championship. (FPX, IGGEN, HLE, and even T1 have repeatedly stumbled after topping this list.)

Many viewers believe this ranking is essentially Riot's targeted list: whoever reaches first place gets special attention from Riot. Last year, after HLE won the Pioneer Championship, all heroes HLE excelled at were weakened by official adjustments, ultimately causing HLE to miss even the MSI and only reach the quarterfinals at Worlds. Now many BLG fans also worry that BLG might be affected by version changes and miss future MSI and Worlds titles.

What do you think Riot should change next if they really want to target BLG? Note that BLG's Pioneer Championship win was actually achieved against the prevailing version strategy. Other teams in the Pioneer Championship focused on team fights around the bottom lane and mid lane, but BLG waited for Bin's three-item setup. If Riot insists on targeting BLG, they might weaken all heroes that top laners can carry with, or directly strengthen "tank heroes." Alternatively, increasing the dominance of bottom and mid lane in matches is also a possible direction.

Conclusion

For a team like BLG that wins championships through individual player strength, Riot actually finds it tricky to target them directly—unless Riot deliberately weakens the heroes Bin excels at. Otherwise, BLG could still secure victories in upcoming versions using tactics that nurture Bin. The second stage of LPL is about to begin. Which LPL teams do you think have the potential to defeat BLG and become the winners of the second stage?