The LCK second stage intra-group matches have been underway for four days. All ten teams have completed their first appearances. NS of the Rising Group battled BFX in a three-game series and emerged victorious. This BO3 was intriguing. In the final game, BFX first picked Ziggs, but Daehan responded with Aatrox. During laning, the bomb champion couldn't contain Aatrox, and in team fights, Aatrox recklessly charged the enemy formation.

The LPL is still playing double AP compositions, while the LCK is already developing triple warrior setups. If the next patch isn't updated soon, the bot lane will be in complete chaos. After defeating BFX, NS has secured two consecutive wins. If this momentum continues, Scout's "Knight's Path" should be secure. On the same day, another match was DK vs. GEN. In their debut, Heo (ShowMaker) led the team to overthrow HLE, and this time, they swept GEN.

Ruler's performance in this BO3 remained poor. In the first game with Jhin, his laning was okay, but once it came to roaming and team fights, he completely fell apart. While defending mid lane without vision, he pushed forward and died, allowing the enemy to take the first tower for free. In team fights, he dealt no damage and was picked off by the enemy's Corki like a cannon minion. When DK had an 8k gold lead, the AD was behind by 4.2k individually, and Smash completely outclassed him in the matchup.

In the second game, the coach gave the bot lane Lucian and Nami to win lane, but within 5 minutes, the bot lane was crushed. They were down over 20 CS, and a plate was taken. For such a strong laning duo to perform like this is truly outrageous. In the previous match against Peyz, they were destroyed by Lucian and Nami; now playing that combo themselves, they were completely outplayed by Smash's Caitlyn. Ruler is now reliably suppressed no matter what champion he plays.

Since the tax evasion investigation, Ruler has been in a slump. If this continues, it will be hard for GEN to get their first win. Of course, the team's weak points are not just one. Canyon has also been terrible recently, playing any champion and just disappearing into the jungle. In the first game, Kinn was targeted three times, but Canyon never went to top lane to counter-gank. He didn't look for opportunities on other lanes either, and just picked a utility jungler to stay in the jungle waiting for team fights.

With this world champion duo, Chovy's first win is truly far away. Ruler has reached new lows of being terrible. If he can't regain his form, GEN, this internal powerhouse team, will likely completely fall. In the next match, GEN will face HLE. Unless something unexpected happens, it will be another game with a huge bot lane gap. If it really doesn't work, Ruler should step aside and let the second team AD have a try.

After this match, many people criticized Ruler. Many viewers called for him to retire and not drag Chovy down. This statement is not unreasonable. When the bot lane holds the team back every game, winning is too difficult. However, Canyon's problem is also significant. If the jungler only farms, even if they change the AD, GEN will still struggle to win. They even picked Lucian and Nami, but the jungler didn't think to protect the bot lane and instead lived in the jungle as a farming machine. Ridiculous.

DK has truly risen this stage. First they crushed HLE, then swept GEN. ShowMaker's form is getting better and better. The only teams in the Legendary Group they haven't faced yet are KT and T1, both of which have been in mediocre form lately. If DK can play consistently, they have a chance to get a four-game win streak in the first round. People used to joke that ShowMaker was headbutting Chovy's shoe soles, but this year is different—he has already pierced through the soles!

Conclusion:

The LCK intra-group matches consist of only 8 games per team. GEN is currently 0-2 and has a high probability of missing the top four. If they end up fifth, they'll have to play the "Knight's Path." If they get crushed there and miss the playoffs, that would be quite funny. I hope Ruler can learn from his shame and quickly reflect on himself to find his form.

So, who do you think has the bigger problem: Canyon or Ruler?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!