The LPL Summer Split group stage, first round robin, is about to conclude. On the previous match day, in the Summit group, TT defeated LGD to secure their second win of the split. Meanwhile, AL suffered an upset when facing WE, getting swept 2-0. Although both teams are in the top four, AL was considered slightly stronger than WE. Unexpectedly, AL lost, and this BO3 was quite absurd. AL had a lead of over 9k gold in the second game but still got overturned.

In the second game, AL had a nearly 10k gold lead by just 25 minutes. However, during the Baron teamfight, AL fought individually, and Breathe even pushed the ulting Renekton right into Hope's face. WE secured the Baron. In the subsequent decisive teamfight, Hope was solo-killed by the Corki. AL lost two teamfights in a row, directly throwing the game. Strangely, before the base exploded, AL still had a 700 gold lead. To be overturned like that is truly absurd.

However, compared to the match between IG and NIP in the Rebirth group, AL's absurdity is just a small case. After winning the first game, IG was reversed by NIP in a 1-2 series. In the next two games, IG had a mid-game gold lead of over 5k in both, but both were overturned. In the second game, when Baron respawned at 20 minutes, Wei went to invade the enemy jungle with the bot lane duo, resulting in the jungler and AD carry being killed, gifting a free Baron to NIP.

After losing the Baron, IG's teamfights collapsed repeatedly, and NIP tied the score. In the third game, IG still had an advantage in the early-mid game. Rookie even completed his Mejai's Soulstealer with 20+ stacks. However, NIP controlled the dragons well, setting the stage for a comeback. The turning point of the game was at 30 minutes when IG destroyed NIP's bot lane inhibitor and was about to recall. NIP took the initiative, killed the duo bot, and Sivir solo-killed the Jax in a 1v1.

A level 17 Jax couldn't beat a level 14 Sivir in a 1v1. TheShy's play was truly absurd. The caster only showed a small-screen replay. It can be seen that TheShy activated his E first, tried to Q to close the gap on About, but the opponent kited away. Without his E, he still forced a leap strike, eventually getting killed. This play was really rough. If he had Q'd first and then E'd, he would have easily killed.

The absurd plays in the deciding game didn't stop there. NIP jungler Guwon built Heartsteel at 11 minutes, but by the time the game reached 40 minutes, his Heartsteel still had 0 stacks. At the time, everyone thought it was an OB bug. Additionally, Rookie's Viktor broke the LPL mid laner damage conversion record. His damage conversion rate in the deciding game reached an astonishing 423%, yet he still lost.

The last mid laner to break the damage conversion record was FoFo, who only achieved 376%. The league's highest record holder is Viper, who, during his time on EDG in the summer split against TES, achieved 441% damage conversion with Ezreal. Rookie's full damage output couldn't carry the team; it just shows that his teammates were indeed disappointing. TheShy's performance in this BO3 was really poor; in none of the three games did he stand out.

In the first game, his Rumble was targeted, ending with a negative KDA, but he still had some impact in teamfights. In the second game, his Yasuo showed low proficiency; he didn't make major mistakes, but also had no impact. In the deciding game, his Jax was terrible: he couldn't beat the Sylas in the split push, and had no presence in teamfights, getting solo-killed by the enemy duo carries. In both games that were sure wins, someone on IG had issues. After this BO3, they really need to review and find the problems.

Conclusion:

A level 17 Jax solo-killed by Sivir, a Skarner with 0 Heartsteel stacks at 40 minutes winning the game, and a Viktor breaking the damage conversion record still losing. Any one of these scenes is quite absurd. However, losing one game now is not necessarily a bad thing for IG. With a 2-1 record, the Knight's Path is still within reach. In the second round, they should review and reflect properly, aiming to win all three games.

So, which team do you think is more absurd, AL or IG?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!