GEN surpasses TES to become the historical number one.

GEN, acknowledged as a world-class team in the LOL community, is considered by many LPL viewers as the greatest barrier to winning this Pioneer Tournament. JDG coach Tabe even conceded in a pre-match interview, admitting a substantial strength disparity between JDG and GEN. In the match against GEN, JDG will prioritize studying GEN's tactical approach. Despite Tabe's humble stance in the interview, many LPL fans still believe in JDG and even hope they can upset GEN.

However, GEN's strength far exceeded LPL viewers' expectations. In the BO5 showdown with JDG, JDG was completely suppressed by GEN throughout, with no chance to retaliate. JDG lasted only 23 minutes in the first game before being swiftly defeated, and only 24 minutes in the second game. Although JDG resisted GEN's early-game pressure in the third match, they were utterly overwhelmed in the mid-to-late stages. Ultimately, GEN set a record for the fastest BO5 between LPL and LCK, with a total time of 77 minutes and 20 seconds.

According to LOL official statistics, the previous fastest BO5 record between LPL and LCK was achieved by TES against GEN during the 2020 MSC, when GEN had BDD as mid-laner and Ruler as ADC, but TES won in 81 minutes and 58 seconds. Personally, I reviewed the BO5 speed records between LPL and LCK and found TES is indeed the "star" of this list, as the fourth-ranked match was also created by TES—last year TES was swiftly defeated by HLE in 91 minutes during the Pioneer Tournament.

Chovy's post-match interview sparks heated discussion.

After GEN easily defeated JDG, GEN's core player Chovy was interviewed by the official media. During the interview, the host asked Chovy how he viewed GEN's easy victory over JDG. Chovy stated that he had predicted before the match that GEN would win 3-0 against JDG, but he didn't expect the process to be so effortless. Chovy also joked that he hadn't even reached his peak competitive state before the match ended.

Many viewers, upon learning that Chovy didn't display his full strength during the BO5, began to worry about BLG. After all, BLG had to play a full BO5 against BFX, and many fear BLG cannot defeat GEN. Considering BLG's five members are currently the strongest in LPL, if BLG cannot beat GEN, then this year LPL might end up like last year—without any international championship.

Of course, many viewers believe JDG's loss to GEN should be blamed on their ADC GALA. In this BO5, no matter how much advantage GALA had early on, he would inexplicably give away kills during team fights. Even champion support player "Genshin Brother" expressed pity for JDG's top-laner Xiao Xu during his stream, stating that Xiao Xu is highly skilled individually, but JDG's ADC GALA cannot sustain small-scale fights, forcing Xiao Xu to join team battles instead of split-pushing and maneuvering.

Conclusion.

GEN's current matches truly showcase full operational capability. In the first game, GEN fought only two team battles with JDG before completely crushing them. Although JDG had an early advantage in the third game, once GEN's mid-game operations kicked in, JDG's advantages vanished entirely. Do you think BLG can win if they face GEN in the future? (Although JDG lost to GEN, the Pioneer Tournament uses a double-elimination format, so JDG still has chances to advance to the knockout stage.)