Nine-Tails is truly fortunate to have such strong teammates by his side. LGD narrowly defeated RNG, securing their spot in the A/B Placement Match.

Following their post-holiday return, LGD faced an unexpected 2-3 defeat against TCG, a team that had lost all its major matches this season, creating the first major upset of the new year. This loss prevented LGD from locking in an A/B Placement Match spot early and placed them in a risky situation. Another loss to RNG, coupled with a similar scoreline if DRG lost to eStar, would have relegated LGD to third in Group B, eliminating them from the third round.

In the first game, RNG delivered a major "surprise" to LGD by taking the initial victory. In the second game, a team fight erupted in the jungle at the 8-minute mark. Jiukou landed a crucial crowd control skill, allowing RNG to eliminate two opponents. LGD continued to chase, resulting in a two-for-two trade. At 18 minutes, Miyamoto Musashi stole a key lord but was quickly focused down and killed by LGD.

At 22 minutes, Gongsun Li dealt sustained damage, working with teammates to secure a double kill. After forcing multiple enemy casualties, LGD destroyed the crystal to even the score.

The third game saw RNG causing more trouble for LGD, taking a 2-1 lead! In the fourth game, LGD's Xiaojiu stepped up once again. At 2 minutes, Su Lie's key crowd control and Xialuote's initiation led to Dasiming and his teammates securing a double kill. By 10 minutes, Goya's agile positioning dealt massive damage, allowing LGD to turn the fight around with a one-for-four trade. At 17 minutes, LGD pursued relentlessly, achieving a zero-for-two team fight and subsequently securing the Shadow Lord.

At the 20-minute mark, Goya unleashed full damage output. LGD forced continuous casualties on the enemy side and used minion waves to destroy the crystal, tying the series. With two consecutive MVP performances, Xiaojiu pulled LGD back from the brink!

In the decisive game, LGD staged a comeback from behind! LGD's composition centered on Di Renjie and Meng Tian grouping to push. Although they gained some early kill advantages, they couldn't widen the economic gap. Their straightforward push strategy faltered, and they were outmaneuvered and pressured, losing their bottom lane high ground to Ma Chao. RNG's strategy focused on split-pushing and farming with their dual side lanes, aiming to stall for Ma Chao and Lu Ban's economy, so they consistently avoided fights and managed minion waves.

The key team fight scenario for LGD was to first force out Lu Ban Master's chain link, allowing Yun Ying to then dive onto Lu Ban. In the final two crucial engagements, LGD successfully eliminated Lu Ban immediately, securing a comeback victory!

With their 3-2 victory over RNG, LGD achieved a record of 4 wins and 1 loss, earning 4 points and a net win score of +7. Their points are higher than the theoretical maximums for RNG, TCG, and EDG. In an extreme tie scenario, their net win score also surpasses eStar's theoretical maximum. Therefore, LGD is confirmed to finish in the top two of Group B and has secured a spot in the 2026 KPL Spring Season Regular Round 2 A/B Placement Match!

Many netizens exclaimed that Nine-Tails' luck is incredibly good, having so many powerful teammates around him. Can LGD still win when facing a Group A team in the Placement Match?

The support hero Zhuang Zhou is like a disruptive nuisance in team fights—hard to kill, difficult to chase, and constantly annoying and wearing you down. Zhuang Zhou inherently possesses crowd control removal skills, with both his passive and ultimate providing cleanse effects. His passive automatically removes control every few seconds and grants damage reduction, making him take minimal damage from enemy attacks.

Against a lifesteal-focused Zhuang Zhou, the damage enemies deal to him might even be less than the health he regenerates. No hero in the entire canyon truly counters Zhuang Zhou; even Lü Bu's true damage struggles to keep up with him. Even if suppressed by Zhang Liang, if Zhuang Zhou's passive happens to trigger and cleanse the control at that moment, it can instantly remove Zhang Liang's suppression.