The League of Legends EWC qualifiers have progressed to the second stage knockout rounds. On the previous match day, the lower bracket kicked off first. When IG faced WBG, they fielded the young mid-laner Render. Initially thought to be quite strong, this rookie ended up underperforming against Xiaohu for two consecutive games. Meanwhile, Breathe, who had been boasting about testing whether Bin is the world's top solo laner, was completely outplayed by Zika in the matchup. Little Wei's form was also shockingly poor.

The bot lane duo managed to perform a bit in the second game, but the top, mid, and jungle were too weak for them to carry. Ultimately, IG was swept by Weibo and fell into the losers' bracket. Except for the jungler, all other positions were swapped. IG losing to Weibo was somewhat expected, given they are still in the early磨合 phase with issues in team playstyle and player coordination. Their strength should improve after more time playing together; we'll see how they progress later.

Another match on the same day was AL versus TES. With哥哥's return and a jungler change, TES felt somewhat like the 2024 version. However, two years later, the players' current form has declined compared to 2024. In this match against AL, apart from mid-laner Cream, the rest were completely outplayed in their matchups. The top and jungle performances were the most离谱. 369 couldn't even beat圣枪哥.

In the first game, TES fell apart early. Their bot lane was targeted, the jungler had no节奏, and top laner 369's德鱼 was even solo killed by圣枪哥 in the matchup. By 11 minutes, TES had a 0-6 start. Except for Cream's development being somewhat normal, everyone else was collectively behind. During the team fight phase, TES had no chance to fight. Until 23 minutes, TES had zero kills. The game ended around 25 minutes with TES's kill ratio at 2:27.

In the second game, the bot lane gave up first blood at 2 minutes. Except for mid lane, top, bot, and jungle all started劣势. When team fights began, TES crumbled upon contact. After AL snowballed, TES barely held on until 33 minutes before their base was pushed. Compared to the first game, there was some进步—at least kills and game duration increased a bit. But the硬实力 gap between the two teams was truly significant; TES was completely碾压.

Top laner 369's laning was poor and lacked discipline. The enemy jungler wasn't visible, and his own jungler was in the lower half, yet he疯狂 traded with圣枪哥, giving塔赞 multiple opportunities to抓 him. Tian was also outplayed in the matchup,落后 in节奏, resource control, and team fighting. The bot lane duo, Fengyue,彻底 proved he is truly纯菜, though哥哥 wasn't clean either, with a combined record of 0-10 over two games.

If the whole team relies on Cream to carry, the match outcome is completely predictable. Like IG, TES changed two players and needs time to磨合. However,没想到 Tian, who rested for one赛段, would be in such poor form. But the most抽象 part is 369, who has been playing continuously yet couldn't beat圣枪哥 in the matchup.要知道, in the first赛段,牢枪 was called "玉小刚" by viewers.

Based on these two games, TES currently lacks the实力 of a top-tier team, feeling they can only sit at the same table as IG. However, the EWC选拔赛 is just a练兵场. Their true实力 will be seen in the second赛段. After both TES and IG lost, they gathered in the losers' bracket. If they lose again next match, they will miss the石油杯. It's unclear whether IG will be淘汰 first or TES will pull a big one and be直接送走.

Conclusion:

After the EWC, TES might need to consider whether to change their辅助.哥哥's form确实 isn't as good as before, but bot lane involves two players. If the辅助 isn't effective, the AD actually plays very难受. Currently, the自由人 market has Liuqingsong and Jwei. If不行, the 2024 TES could彻底重聚.

So, how do you think TES's debut went?

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