The top four in the All-Star lineup are all Korean players.

Each year, the LPL All-Star event is a joyous occasion for fans to support their favorite players by voting them in to participate. But this year, the voting differences caused significant off-stage drama. For example, the champion jungler JIEJIE originally held the number one spot for junglers in the voting. However, many AL fans felt that Tarzan, who has been in the LPL for years, deserved recognition for his contributions. As a result, many AL fans actively rallied support on AG’s fan forums, which led to Tarzan surpassing JIEJIE in the All-Star voting to become the top jungler pick.

After Tarzan overtook JIEJIE to become the top jungler pick in the LPL All-Star voting, the event reached an unprecedentedly awkward moment: four of the top five vote-getters were Korean imports. These players included IG’s top laner TheShy, IG’s mid laner ROOKIE, AL’s jungler Tarzan, AL’s support Kael, and TES’s AD carry JLK. Seeing JLK as the only domestic player among the top five led many viewers to wryly comment that the LPL currently lacks strong homegrown rookies.

TheShy confirmed to skip the All-Star event.

Although four Korean players hold the first-choice spots in the All-Star voting, no Korean imports appear in the second-choice lineup. The second-choice top laner is Saint, jungler is JIEJIE, mid laner is Shanks, AD carry is GALA, and support is Meiko. These ten players will represent the LPL in the All-Star exhibition match. From what I’ve seen of the program schedule, the first half features official LPL awards, followed by the All-Star exhibition games. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing the IG “trident” reunited on the stage.

There are also insider reports that although TheShy won the title of LPL’s most popular player, he is very likely to skip the All-Star event because he plans to take a break next year. He hasn’t even shown up at the LPL transfer auction so far. TheShy’s popularity in the LPL is undeniable; if he takes a break next year, IG’s popularity will likely decline significantly, and they may even fail to qualify for the World Championship, especially since both TheShy and GALA have decided to leave IG.

The IG fans’ most desired support player went unsold at the auction.

IG was the biggest loser in this LPL transfer window. Many IG fans criticized the management’s capability, pointing out that many teams with worse records and less funding than IG managed to complete roster changes during the transfer period. In contrast, IG, who finished fourth in the LPL this year, lost their top laner TheShy and did not strengthen their jungler position, still relying on WEI. Fans are most concerned about the AD carry and support roles, which currently have no confirmed players. Some even revealed that IG currently lacks both an AD carry and a support.

Many IG fans hope the management will sign the support player Jwei, who performed excellently this year. Many believe that if Jwei joins IG, it would attract other AD carries to join as well. However, a frustrating situation unfolded when it was revealed that Jwei went unsold at the auction. The reason was simple: no LPL team placed a bid on Jwei, partly due to concerns about his personality. Many IG fans are left speechless about the management’s decisions. (What do you think is the reason IG didn’t buy Jwei?)