After a two-week break, the LPL Split 1 playoffs have finally kicked off. The round 1 upper bracket has completed, and round 2 will begin today. The first match of round 2 opposes JD Gaming and Anyone’s Legend, and it might be a preview of the LPL Split 1 grand finals. Here’s our preview of JDG vs AL and our tips on how to bet on this match.
AL is the clear favorite in this match as well as in the entirety of the bracket. AL’s round 1 match against Team WE was a stomp of rarely-seen proportions. Not just a 3-0, the series lasted for a total of 74:30 of game time. This makes it the second shortest LPL series of all time, only one minute behind Suning Gaming vs LNG Gaming (2021).
Granted, AL was facing an opponent of much lower caliber in WE. Still, this makes them 8-0 in their recent series. Starting the playoffs with a statement game like that with every player performing, the odds are heavily in their favor.
Anyone’s Legend is a team that wants to fight and excels at it. In a league that lives and dies by its teamfighting, this is the best strength a team can have. While they have in past splits forced too much without thinking enough about which fights to take or to avoid, they’ve pushed past their demons this year and their consistent wins attest to it. AL also has the best objective setup of the league, further facilitating their teamfighting endeavors.
AL vs JDG might be a preview of the LPL 2026 Split 1 playoffs finals. Image Source: Riot Games
While AL has shown calculated play, JDG has done anything but.
JD Gaming’s main weakness is a faltering macro around side lanes. As a result, while they did win their round 1 match against Top Esports, they’ve also shown glaring blind spots to exploit.
JDG went 3-2 against TES, and they had a massive lead at some point in both of their losses. This shows that JDG is able to get ahead, sure, but not being able to hold that lead afterwards is a worrying sign. Especially when going up against an opponent that will punish them on their mistakes, and that will not so easily fall behind in the first place.
Can JD Gaming pull off the upset in the LPL 2026 Split 1 playoffs? Image Source: LPL
With the way both teams played yesterday, the series could be a clean sweep for AL. Even if not, Anyone’s Legend is definitely the safe bet.
Some people say that JDG-TES could have been a 5-0 for JD Gaming with the way they were ahead in each game. However, TES could just as well have won each game, especially considering that it was their drafts that set them behind several times. Xiaoxu was solid, but every other player on JDG had a hard time finding their footing.
Anyone’s Legend showed no such weakness. JDG’s one source of hope is that they have stronger laners than their counterparts. On the worrying side though, Tarzan set AL on the path to victory through better jungle pathing. This was also a way that TES scored leads against JunJia yesterday. Plus, AL deftly found cross-map counter-punches when WE attacked them, and could thus exploit JDG’s more fragile macro.
Tomorrow, Anyone’s Legend is poised to advance to the LPL Split 1 Playoffs upper finals.
Featured Image Source: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
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