The second week of the LCK Third Split group stage is more than halfway through. BRO pulled off an upset by beating NS and then won again against BFX, achieving two consecutive wins. With this, BRO's record is tied with NS and KRX, all three having a 2-1 start. The standings in the LCK Rising Group have suddenly become messy. We thought NS would rule the Phoenix Group, but now it appears the teams are nearly equal, all vying for the chance to enter the Knights' Path.

The other match on the same day was GEN versus KT. The two teams had very different forms in this new split: KT had two consecutive wins, while GEN had two consecutive losses. Everyone expected the struggling GEN to continue losing, but HLE's previous match seemed to have fully charged GEN's batteries. Against KT, GEN easily swept to victory. The "domestic war god" that had full lane dominance in the early game and flawless mid-game macro play had returned.

The match between these two teams was simply absurd. Over the two games combined, KT had zero towers taken and only two kills. In the first game, GEN's bot lane got a solo kill at four minutes, and then both teams played very cautiously. It wasn't until the 15-minute mark that two more kills were scored. Cuzz did nothing all game, just farming relentlessly. By the 20-minute mark, he still had zero kills and zero assists, and all neutral objectives in the jungle were controlled by Canyon (Three Uncle).

No one knows what happened to KT; they suddenly became timid. With Rumble and Vi in their strong early-mid game, they didn't even think about ganking or teamfighting. When they tried to take the dragon, as soon as the enemy Nocturne ulted, they immediately gave up the fight and scattered. The game ended at 30 minutes, with KT having zero kills and zero towers taken, cowardly all the way to the end. The most ridiculous part was Cuzz's Vi: in a 30-minute game, not only did he not gank, but he also dealt only 1,000 damage.

In professional League of Legends, there have been lower damage numbers, but they are truly rare in recent years. Clearlove's 4396 now looks increasingly impressive. Even KT's own support (Xiao Shu Bao) dealt 2.8K damage. Cuzz's Vi finished at the bottom of the entire game, which is truly absurd. After losing the first game, KT still had "cowardice" written all over their faces in the second game. During the grub fight, KT managed a 1-for-2 trade, giving them a slight early advantage.

The absurd part is that these two kills were the only ones KT got in the entire match. Even with an early advantage, KT still didn't dare to take the initiative. Consequently, their top laner got solo killed, their mid laner was caught in the jungle, and every small mistake was exploited by GEN. Once they fell behind, KT became even more timid, refusing to teamfight at all. They were slowly choked to death by GEN's macro play—giving up dragons, Barons, and even towers. They only thought about fighting when their base was about to explode.

To summarize KT's stats in this match: 2 kills, 1 dragon, 0 Barons, 0 towers taken. This was a BO3—over two games, they didn't destroy a single outer tower. Even a custom game against bots would be no different. The most absurd part is that GEN's three carries never died once in the entire match; only their support and jungler each died once. GEN's macro play suffocated KT, who were led by the nose throughout the game.

Going from two consecutive losses to two consecutive wins, and beating strong teams at that, GEN's power seems to have returned to its peak. It looks like Ruler had a big boost from eating eggs in the previous match. The state where they couldn't beat anyone has been adjusted. Now GEN's record is tied with T1, though GEN is temporarily four points behind in small differences. If they can maintain this form, it's only a matter of time before GEN returns to the top of the standings.

Conclusion:

Frankly, these matches where GEN mercilessly crushed their opponents were quite boring to watch, because KT didn't dare to fight back at all. Both teams were constantly macro-playing, and then suddenly GEN would be thousands of gold ahead, and the game would end. KT was truly cowardly in this BO3. If they had shown any fighting spirit, dared to contest dragon fights or make picks, they wouldn't have ended up with zero towers.

What do you think about the jungler dealing only 1K damage in 30 minutes?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!