The second stage of the LPL group stage has officially begun. On the first match day, the schedule included three Summit Group games. When WE faced NIP, they suffered a 2:0 shutout. If they can't even win a single game against NIP, WE is essentially locked into the bottom spot of the Summit Group. Across all three lanes including the jungler, no one had an advantage in their matchup. Based on their debut performance, WE is essentially reborn from ashes, feeling like they can only sit at the same table with teams like TT and UP.

Another match was WBG versus AL. After changing their support, it was expected that WBG's strength would improve, but it turned out to be the same old story. Hang's performance was indeed a bit better than Erha's, but the trio of top, mid, and jungle were each worse than the last. Xiaohu just arrived in spring, seemingly still not out of hibernation, playing so poorly it's stomach-churning, having a negative impact in both games. Jiejie was either farming jungle or wandering around with no rhythm at all.

Zika was guaranteed to be caught whenever targeted; his teammates nurtured him early on, but he gave little feedback in team fights. The only ones truly trying were the bot lane duo. In the second game, Zhao Da-ge pressured Hope, but when it came to team fights, all his teammates retreated backward, leaving Yun A-na at the front line. Anyone seeing this scene would find it hard to hold back. It feels like WBG's top and jungle trio now resemble LNG during Scout's era, opting to play timidly when uncertain.

The final match was IG versus Top Esports. Both teams had a starting player absent. Before the match, everyone thought both sides would play quite poorly, making the outcome hard to predict. But Top Esports directly proved the audience wrong, getting shut out by IG. In the first game early phase, Tian's rhythm was quite good, but as team fights progressed, they were crushed. Brother had no chance to avoid death throughout, finishing with a 0-6 record in a 30-minute game.

The second game was a crushing victory for IG. Wei secured a kill early in the top lane, while simultaneously Jiaqi and Meiko exerted pressure in the bot lane, achieving a double kill in lane. Being lane-killed by the player who replaced him, Brother really fell short this time. With IG having advantages across all lines, they built a 6K gold lead in just 15 minutes. Holding out for 25 minutes, Top Esports sadly lost. Brother's performance this game was even more exaggerated than the previous one, still with a 0-6 record and not even managing a single assist.

In these two debut games, JKL combined for an absurd record of 0-12-6. Adding the 0-10 from the Oil Cup qualifier against AL, Brother's total record for the second stage has reached 0-22. Not getting a single kill across two BO3s is truly exaggerated. If it were a support, it might be somewhat understandable, but AD is the core damage output. Not securing a single kill in four small games is unacceptable; maybe next time he should just start with Collector.

In LPL league history, it seems there have been AD players who recorded zero kills across two matches. Brother's move here also creates new history once again. After IG's victory, Breathe, as the team representative, participated in the post-match interview on stage. This guy might have been influenced by Bin, directly telling the audience in the interview: feels like the LPL intensity is lower than the Uzi Cup. Wow, others usually tease their opponents, but Breathe directly targets the entire region.

Breathe's reason for saying this has a background. During the final dance of the Uzi Cup, Uzi joked with Breathe: after you go back, say you got your job because you played in the Uzi Cup. But Breathe thought saying the LPL intensity is somewhat lacking, feeling it's not even as good as the Uzi Cup, even比不上组排更合适. Everyone was joking at that time,没想到他回到赛场后真的 dared to say it out loud.

Conclusion:

IG's adjustments during this transfer period feel like effective roster changes. For Top Esports, it seems like ineffective changes. Brother's current state is truly poor and needs some time to adjust. Fortunately, it's just the start of the stage, so there's time to磨合. However, the next match against AL will likely also be quite brutal. Hopefully, Brother can secure his global first kill.

So, do you think JKL can break his zero-kill record in the next match?

Welcome to leave comments and discuss!