LPL Offseason Breakdown
Riot·6/12/2014, 1:57:16 AM·0 votes·1,036 views
When Invictus Gaming knocked favorites OMG out in the first best-of-three of the LPL Playoffs, only to be crushed by Edward Gaming in the finals, it became clear that we could expect some roster shakeups. Some of the biggest changes, however, aren’t at the top of the pile, but near the bottom; right now, the gossip is all about StarHorn Royal Club’s new Korean jungler - and famed Lee Sin player - InSec.
Though InSec may be stealing the spotlight, he isn’t the only new face in LPL. LSPL Spring leaders, World Elite Academy and Young Glory have risen to take on their sister teams on the LPL stage, and other lineups have new additions of their own. It’s easy to get lost in the tangle, but we’re here to lay it out for you.
Whispers have pegged WE.A as a strong contender, propping up AD carry Han “SmLz” Jin as one of the best in China. Mid laner, Su “xiye” Han-Wei has gained a reputation for going legendary as a Mejai’s Soulstealer-toting Annie player. During LSPL, WE.A only dropped two games of 30, finding definitive wins even against second place Young Glory, a team that lost only five games of 30.
YG is no stranger to LPL. The team made their debut in 2013 LPL Summer, where they placed seventh. Since then, they’ve made some roster movements. Huang “YanSir” Li has gone from a Zyra-playing mid laner to a Zyra-playing support. Hou “DianGun” Guoyu, once famous for going toe-to-toe with OMG’s Gogoing in the top lane, has moved mid to make room for a new top lane (Number1) and jungler (YinFu) with a fondness for going deep and never looking back. YG is out to prove their loss to Energy Pacemaker in the LPL Spring Promotion was a fluke, and the LPL is where they belong.
SHRC isn’t the only team dipping into the Korean talent pool. YoungSu, top laner from amateur Korean team Mook Comet, will be stepping in to replace Invictus Gaming’s nearly mythic top laner Liu “PDD” Mou. One might expect the pressure on YoungSu to be more overwhelming than the expectations facing InSec, as PDD’s legacy is a difficult one to follow.
However, not even China’s first set of Korean players could steal the limelight from ex-LGD Gaming’s Styz. The promising ADC was slapped with a six month ban for attempting to leave LGD before the expiration of his contract, so he won’t be playing for any team this split. As a result, Killer17 has joined LGD as their new ADC. Killer17 has a reputation, oddly enough, as a strong solo queue mid laner, matching LGD’s other offseason pickup, Wei “We1less” Lian, ex-mid laner for third place LSPL team, Vici Gaming. Though We1less has been touted as a monster of carry, Killer17’s lack of familiarity with a new role could prove a potential stumbling block for LGD without Styz.
The real news is Yu “Cool” Jia-Jun’s return to the mid lane. After IET, All-Stars, and LPL Spring Playoffs all exposed Hu “xiyang” Bin’s limited champion pool, he’s been shuffled over to play mid lane for OMG’s sister team, Positive Energy, in the LSPL. Cool returns this split to his place as OMG’s starting mid. Whether he’ll be the play-making MVP from 2013 LPL Summer or the rusty Cool from OMG’s final set against iG in 2014 LPL Spring’s regular season is the real factor in determining if this will be the first split where OMG fails to rise.
This leaves Edward Gaming and World Elite as the only unchanged rosters from LPL Spring. The rival teams have a head start in the race to the top of the standings, but they’ll have to fight to keep their spots amidst LPL’s shifting landscape.
NEW BLOOD: LSPL HOPEFULS
World Elite Academy and Young Glory are fresh off an entire split of LoL Secondary Pro League, a league which some will argue is packed with competition nearly as steep as LPL offers. WE.A has been a conversation point since they took the 2013 G League title in January, beating their sister team, World Elite, on the way to the finals.
Whispers have pegged WE.A as a strong contender, propping up AD carry Han “SmLz” Jin as one of the best in China. Mid laner, Su “xiye” Han-Wei has gained a reputation for going legendary as a Mejai’s Soulstealer-toting Annie player. During LSPL, WE.A only dropped two games of 30, finding definitive wins even against second place Young Glory, a team that lost only five games of 30.
YG is no stranger to LPL. The team made their debut in 2013 LPL Summer, where they placed seventh. Since then, they’ve made some roster movements. Huang “YanSir” Li has gone from a Zyra-playing mid laner to a Zyra-playing support. Hou “DianGun” Guoyu, once famous for going toe-to-toe with OMG’s Gogoing in the top lane, has moved mid to make room for a new top lane (Number1) and jungler (YinFu) with a fondness for going deep and never looking back. YG is out to prove their loss to Energy Pacemaker in the LPL Spring Promotion was a fluke, and the LPL is where they belong.
KOREAN TALENT AND A PLAYER BAN
The biggest story to break in 2014 has been focused around StarHorn Royal Club’s new jungler, Choi “InSec” In-seok, and support, Yoon “Zero” Kyung-sup, coming over to China from the KT organization. It’s speculated that InSec and Zero can bring some needed vision to the Chinese meta game - quite literally. Yet SHRC’s new top laner Cola, coming straight from the LSPL team Kx.Cash, has been duoing extensively with InSec and has commented on the unexpected difficulties brought out by the language barrier. With a fourth new player in mid laner corn, who is considered one of the best solo queue mid laners in China, it’s likely SHRC will need to work on their synergy before they can try to help Jian “Uzi” Zihao rise to his earlier prominence.
SHRC isn’t the only team dipping into the Korean talent pool. YoungSu, top laner from amateur Korean team Mook Comet, will be stepping in to replace Invictus Gaming’s nearly mythic top laner Liu “PDD” Mou. One might expect the pressure on YoungSu to be more overwhelming than the expectations facing InSec, as PDD’s legacy is a difficult one to follow.
However, not even China’s first set of Korean players could steal the limelight from ex-LGD Gaming’s Styz. The promising ADC was slapped with a six month ban for attempting to leave LGD before the expiration of his contract, so he won’t be playing for any team this split. As a result, Killer17 has joined LGD as their new ADC. Killer17 has a reputation, oddly enough, as a strong solo queue mid laner, matching LGD’s other offseason pickup, Wei “We1less” Lian, ex-mid laner for third place LSPL team, Vici Gaming. Though We1less has been touted as a monster of carry, Killer17’s lack of familiarity with a new role could prove a potential stumbling block for LGD without Styz.
FAMILIAR FACES IN FAMILIAR PLACES
While OMG will not be introducing any new players this split, they are once again undergoing role swaps. It appears Spring is the season where Yin “Allen” Le plays support, and Summer is the season of Allen in the jungle, as he and teammate Ouyang “Pomelo” Wei-Qi have exchanged roles for the third time. This could simply be the result of a secret pact between the players, as both have openly stated they prefer to jungle. At this point, it barely elicits a raised eyebrow.
The real news is Yu “Cool” Jia-Jun’s return to the mid lane. After IET, All-Stars, and LPL Spring Playoffs all exposed Hu “xiyang” Bin’s limited champion pool, he’s been shuffled over to play mid lane for OMG’s sister team, Positive Energy, in the LSPL. Cool returns this split to his place as OMG’s starting mid. Whether he’ll be the play-making MVP from 2013 LPL Summer or the rusty Cool from OMG’s final set against iG in 2014 LPL Spring’s regular season is the real factor in determining if this will be the first split where OMG fails to rise.
This leaves Edward Gaming and World Elite as the only unchanged rosters from LPL Spring. The rival teams have a head start in the race to the top of the standings, but they’ll have to fight to keep their spots amidst LPL’s shifting landscape.
