IG has been backstabbed by the LPL official side!

Since the LPL officially announced the formation of a "World Championship scrim team" for this year's S15 Worlds, many LPL fans have been optimistic about the tournament. After all, among the teams not attending Worlds, there are many strong players who, if combined properly, could form a squad capable of competing at the Worlds level. However, unexpectedly to many LPL viewers, a large number of star players have refused to join the S15 scrim team.

For example, players like Xiaohu, DOINB, Scout, and Pzy have all clearly stated they will not participate in the scrim team. Because so many star players declined, the LPL scrim team had to recruit some less active players, which caused the team to be formed quite late. According to insiders, the earliest the LPL scrim team can fully assemble is on the 15th, a timing that has left many IG fans dissatisfied, even leading them to believe the LPL officials are deliberately targeting IG.

The main reason IG fans are collectively upset is that IG’s play-in match against T1 is on the 14th, while the LPL scrim team only gathers on the 15th. This means IG has no chance to scrim against the “scrim team.” Because of this, many IG fans mock the LPL officials’ claim of “unified front” as a joke, dredging up old grievances to ridicule the LPL officials. For example, Ning mentioned during a livestream that back in S7, IG as a whole helped scrim for Worlds teams, but by S8, only LCK teams were willing to scrim with IG, while LPL teams refused.

IG scrimming with LCK teams?

Of course, many insiders believe the LPL officials’ timing for gathering the scrim team is reasonable, since many LPL teams must participate in the “Asia Invitational.” It makes sense to wait until after the Asia Invitational to assemble. Also, LPL champion DOINB mentioned during a livestream that the S15 scrim team’s strength isn’t very high, so it’s not a big issue if IG doesn’t scrim with them before Worlds.

DOINB explained to viewers that before Worlds, many patch changes and champions are uncertain. Blindly scrimming with the scrim team could easily disrupt IG’s coaching staff’s strategy decisions. Moreover, the main purpose of the S15 scrim team is to prepare for the late stages of Worlds when LPL teams might struggle to find suitable scrim opponents. (I personally feel that scrimming with the LPL scrim team isn’t very useful for IG since the scrim team is newly formed and the players lack synergy; scrimming with them won’t really help IG improve.)

Recently, some netizens revealed that IG has traveled to Korea to scrim against LCK teams. After this news broke, many fans predicted IG is scrimming with DK and GEN. Many believe IG is scrimming with DK because GEN’s midlaner Chovy is currently traveling abroad, and Ruler is streaming at home, plus DK also has to attend the “Asia Invitational.” Therefore, many IG fans see this as a win-win situation for IG and DK.

Conclusion

DOINB mentioned on stream that currently only NIP from the LPL is willing to scrim, while JDG and WBG don’t take the “Asia Invitational” seriously. It was even revealed that WBG plans to retire immediately after that event, so IG going to LCK for scrims is reasonable since many LPL teams are on break. Which LCK team do you think IG is scrimming with right now?