Introduction: The S16 season matches have officially begun, and most players have been closely watching the recent confrontations. The LCK matches are extremely competitive. As a team that draws a lot of attention, Gen recently played their first match of the new season. During the K Cup, they were the first team eliminated. After Ruler and Chovy returned, their overall form greatly improved, and they secured an easy first win of the season. Ruler’s Ezreal pulled off an extraordinary 1v2 play that even left the commentators stunned. In the post-match interview, Ruler openly joked about his parents, who seemed not very excited at the venue, with no cheering heard from them.

Ruler’s first match featured an incredible half-health 1v2 play.

Most players are quite familiar with the Gen team. As a top-tier squad in the LCK region, their overall popularity and hype have been very high over the past few years. Especially last season, they acquired the AD player Ruler and formed a "galaxy fleet" with Chovy. Their performance and results consistently ranked among the top in the LCK. In the second split, they even broke SKT’s winning streak record. Unfortunately, they faced some issues at the World Championship stage, losing to KT in the semifinals and missing out on the final. Had they advanced, the championship might have belonged to Gen.

During the offseason, Gen participated in the K Cup, but due to military service affecting their mid and AD players, their results were poor, and they were eliminated early. In the new season’s opening match, their opponent was DRX. Unexpectedly, Gen maintained a very stable form, sweeping DRX 2-0 easily, with AD player Ruler showcasing top-tier plays. In the second game, Ezreal secured a double kill in the bottom lane early on with only a sliver of health left, successfully suppressing the enemy with support’s help. With a huge gold lead, Ruler then began his solo showcase. The most exciting moment was the play near the top lane’s red buff bush.

An Ezreal at half health, upon spotting the enemy Bard, did not choose to flee. Instead, he cast his ultimate from the bush, then quickly used W, Q, and E to instantly kill Bard. Immediately after, a full-health Jarvan EQ’d in, knocking Ezreal up. Calmly, Ruler activated Barrier and decisively counterattacked. Despite being at a sliver of health, he managed to kill Jarvan. The key was using E to dodge Jarvan’s ultimate damage. An average player might have used the dash skill earlier to create distance and ended up being killed by Jarvan’s ultimate. But Ruler handled it with great caution.

In the post-match interview, Ruler was very happy, as it was the season’s first win, and his parents were cheering for him live. He playfully teased his parents, noting they didn’t seem overly excited, and no cheering was heard from them. Honestly, as LCK’s top AD player, his parents must have been proud, but they probably didn’t show excitement as intensely as their child. Judging by their demeanor, they seem quite capable themselves. After two consecutive days of matches, the three strongest LCK teams all swept 2-0. Where will the LPL teams go from here?

Farewell thoughts

Who would have thought Gen’s first match would be so effortless, with Ruler even pulling off godlike plays? This only shows that LCK teams generally have much higher overall quality than LPL. This time at the Global Pioneers event, both LPL and LCK will have two teams participating, and the champion will qualify directly for MSI regardless of second split results. It seems highly likely the champion will come from the LCK.

What do all of you viewers think about this?