LPL sees controversial item builds once again! TES's biggest internal issue emerges, despite Cream setting a new record, the match is still lost.

Hello to all LPL viewers and League of Summoners, this is World Game Hub.

The first stage of the LPL season saw a new elimination match yesterday, a showdown between WBG and TES. The series went the full five games, with WBG clinching a narrow victory to advance.

TES ended their first-stage run, with jungler Naiyou's item build in the decisive game becoming a major talking point for the audience.

Controversial item builds reappear in LPL, internal issues surface within TES.

Here's what happened: after the two teams fought to a 2-2 tie, they entered the final decisive game. In this game, TES mid laner Cream picked Smolder and gained a massive lead against Xiaohu's Galio. However, TES's bottom lane collapsed early.

WBG secured first blood by ganking the bottom lane for Elk. In subsequent skirmishes involving the bottom lane, jungle, and support, Jiaqi mispositioned, allowing Elk to secure a triple kill. WBG established a huge early advantage and successfully executed several aggressive plays.

At a critical moment, TES, led by Cream and 369, set up an ambush in the jungle, bravely fighting to a 4-for-4 trade. Cream secured crucial bounty gold, amassing a significant economic lead over Xiaohu, with his passive stacks reaching 500. Normally, a Smolder with such a lead is almost unstoppable, but this game was different.

TES lacked a sufficiently durable frontline. Jungler Naiyou made item choices that shocked everyone: building a Spirit Visage against a team dealing primarily AD damage, followed by a Spectre's Cowl. Viewers labeled him TES's biggest internal issue, with some even suggesting the build was suspiciously poor, reminiscent of TBQ's infamous S5 performance.

Cream breaks records, yet TES still loses the match.

Looking at Naiyou's final items: Heartsteel, Spirit Visage, Spectre's Cowl, and Kindlegem—the components for Spirit Visage are Spectre's Cowl and Kindlegem. This left viewers utterly confused about Naiyou's intentions, questioning how a professional player could make such a fundamental itemization error.

To be blunt, the absurdity of this double Spirit Visage build surpasses even the notorious Randuin's Omen on Evelynn from the TBQ era. While one could *maybe* justify Randuin's for its slow effect, there is absolutely no rationale for building two Spirit Visages.

Thus, its level of absurdity truly reaches suspicious proportions. But then again, even if one were intentionally underperforming, would they choose such an obvious and basic itemization mistake?

In contrast, Crème's Smolder performance was truly exceptional. He achieved an 8000 gold lead over his lane opponent, dealt over 2000 damage per minute, totaled 71,185 damage for the game, with a staggering 350% damage-to-gold conversion rate, accounting for 53% of his team's damage, breaking multiple personal records.

Yet, despite this outstanding individual performance, it was undermined by the internal issues within his team.

First stage target met, awaiting JKL's return.

Both teams made mistakes and had highlights in this BO5. The overall quality of play wasn't high. TES's loss primarily stemmed from issues in the bottom lane and jungle. Cream delivered a carry-level performance, arguably the biggest positive takeaway for TES this stage. If Cream can develop into a top-tier LPL mid laner, TES's chances next stage will be much greater.

Personally, I believe TES achieving a top-six finish in the first stage meets expectations. Simply maintaining a spot in the upper bracket would be acceptable. The next stage awaits JKL's return.

Given TES's current roster, Crème is approaching top-tier level, while the other positions have room for improvement. 369's performance has become increasingly inconsistent. As a veteran, he should be setting an example, but his showing in this BO5 was disappointing, seeming like a loss of morale after setbacks. However, replacing him is difficult, so we can only hope his form improves later.

Jungler Naiyou appears to be the team's weak link. TES could consider introducing a new jungler for rotation. Support Fengyue, who was often underwhelming in the regular season, performed adequately in playoffs, at least not dragging the team down. He might be worth further development. It will be interesting to see his synergy with JKL upon the latter's return.