IG champions turned into a joke, Rookie celebrated prematurely! New top laner runs into trouble, performance pays tribute to TheShy

Hello to all LPL viewers and League of Legends summoners, this is Tianxia Game Review.

Yesterday, the LPL held the second day of the Peak Group competition, and IG, having lost on day one, went up against another formidable opponent back-to-back—AL.

Editor

In this round, IG was cleanly beaten by their opponent, marking two consecutive losses to open the season.

From champions to a joke, new top laner struggles

IG claimed the De Cup championship on January 3rd this year. Fans and viewers who initially had low expectations suddenly saw this IG team as a potential dark horse for the new season. However, IG immediately stumbled in their first match, losing to WBG, and then faced AL back-to-back.

If the match against WBG was relatively close, the game versus AL was a clean defeat for IG, with fans openly expressing concern that this De Cup champion team seemed unable to beat anyone.

In the first game, top laner Saint Gun gave Soboro a lesson, easily solo killing him after capitalizing on Soboro’s mistake of staying despite low health. This error reminded viewers of The Shy, who was famously solo killed due to inattentive laning.

Rookie forced a solo kill in mid but died immediately after. In the bot lane, IG suffered continuous targeting; Hope exploded again after returning to the league, racking up 13 kills on Varus. The critical bot lane counter-engage left IG powerless, and finally, Shanks’ brilliant ultimate created space for Hope’s damage, securing a quadruple kill to end the match.

Performance paying tribute to The Shy, champions turned into rookies gaining experience

In the second game, IG started very well. During a bot lane skirmish, AL mishandled the situation, allowing Photic’s Yuumi to score a triple kill. AL then focused on shutting down the top laner successfully. Thanks to their bot lane advantage, IG controlled the dragon pace better but still made mistakes, with Wei dying under tower to a Pantheon dive.

Rookie’s Anivia had minimal impact throughout, but the real reason IG lost was top laner Soboro, who started 0-3 after being targeted early. In crucial team fights, Bobo made errors and got caught out first, repeatedly dying for free, causing IG’s situation to spiral out of control and breaking their dragon soul momentum.

Ultimately, AL seized a critical opportunity at 33 minutes to contest Baron. Wei’s deep positioning led to him being killed first, and AL’s strong follow-up wiped IG in the ensuing team fight, finishing the game in one decisive push.

In this match, top laner Soboro ended with a 1-6 score, directly paying homage to The Shy’s i-series development. Despite being De Cup champions, IG has now suffered two straight losses. From their recent performances, IG’s main issue remains the lack of a stable carry core. Rookie’s form is also not ideal, and while Photic performed well at the De Cup, he seems to be showing his true level now that he’s back in the LPL.

Rookie celebrated too soon, IG’s strength was overrated

When IG won the De Cup, many claimed Rookie was the biggest winner because IG’s mid laner had been average, and with Rookie’s return, the team had a strong lineup likely to perform better. Rumors even suggested Rookie would rest during the first split, but he ended up playing.

However, from Rookie’s perspective, it seems this IG is not as strong as expected, and the celebration was premature.

It’s worth noting that on the De Cup stage, several IG players were performing exceptionally well, even playing aggressively against JDG, which often forced Tabe to urgently coordinate team voice commands.

Wei frequently scored over 10 kills, and Photic’s stats were also impressive. But once the league started, IG players looked like different people. Rookie was probably stunned, wondering why his teammates suddenly seemed off after his return.

In my opinion, the main reason is the significant impact of the new patch. At first, everyone had a very different understanding of the patch. IG’s better team synergy and superior grasp of the meta gave them an edge, but after other teams adjusted their strategies post-De Cup, IG’s advantage diminished.

IG will soon face two strong opponents, JDG and BLG. They must find ways to improve their form, or they risk finishing at the bottom of the Peak Group and facing relegation.