As we approach the final stages of the 2022 LPL Spring playoffs, the final question remains: Who will win the LPL?
To the surprise of many, the current World Champion – EDward Gaming – was eliminated from the playoffs early on. The Shy’s Weibo Gaming had a decent regular split, but their problems couldn't be fixed on time and they also experienced an early exit.
Doinb’s LNG also got eliminated by the uprising team of Top Esports, who have been scaling quite heavily throughout the playoffs. And the biggest surprise? That has to be JD Gaming, who had a resurgence run after their slow start to the season.
The remaining teams in the playoffs are RNG, JDG, V5 & TES, so Jaxon invited an LPL caster - Joseph "Munchables" Fenny to give his thoughts on the current season & the playoffs contenders.
Source: @lplenglish / Twitter
Question: What can you tell me about the Spring split in general?
Spring Split has been, kind of a strange split honestly. I think there were a lot of really strong teams but a lot of them were quite inconsistent.
We’ve had JDG with a rough start and then coming strong at the end. I feel like there have been a couple of teams like JDG or Weibo for example, where throughout the middle of the split they were really strong and that seemed to disappear towards the end.
I think one of the biggest surprises for people is BLG, not being able to pull it together towards the end. Finishing with a positive win rate, but not being able to succeed in the playoffs. Then Uzi announced that he would step away from the roster, for the time being. I think that was a huge swing compared to what people expected.
The same goes for EDG. When they came back fresh off of Worlds, people were amazed by how well they were playing and the start of the split looked amazing for them.
Honestly, our Top 4 is kind of insane. If any of them who goes to MSI would make finals at least.
We asked Munchables to give his thoughts on each of the remaining teams in the playoffs and here is what he had to say:
Victory Five (V5):
They are amazing, I love them. I am blown away by how well this team has worked, because this is one of the teams, I personally was very excited for because I love Karsa & ppgod. Photic was a player from TES as well, and I was one of the few people who liked him on TES. I don’t think he did that well, but I liked him because I like the team (laughs).
Their bot lane has been 2v2ing people, no need to say anything about Rookie, he just dominates. Rich does an amazing job through the top side and the fact that they can play through the top lane is massive. Also, Karsa, when he is on a team that has strong lanes, is one of the best facilitated junglers in the world in my book.
Royal Never Give Up (RNG):
I feel like, every time I watch them, they are incredibly smart. They have exceptional laners. Obviously, Bin and Xiaohu are just phenomenal in the 1v1 anyway, Gala & Ming have been a great 2v2 as well. Generally speaking, it feels like RNG is one of those teams that are very diverse and flexible in the way they play the game. Feels like they are a very intelligent team against whoever opponent they are coming against.
Preparation will be key in the series. When you look at the top half of the bracket, V5 vs. TES, it's like raw power. For RNG, they have power on the roster but it's about intelligent gameplay as well as outsmarting their opponents.
Top Esports (TES):
Coming into the split, they made a couple of changes. They have been doing a lot of experimenting with their roster across the course of the split but it feels like they finally settled on the roster that they will stick with. With Wayward top, Tian jungle, and Mark in the support position.
Tian & Mark both were players that I was not expecting to have a good split off the back of last year.
He (Tian) seems like a different beast in playoffs apparently. I am genuinely super excited to see if they can do well against V5, because if they do, I think they can win it all.
JD Gaming (JDG):
They are super exciting. I don’t know how many people have been following the LPL but back in 2020 JDG were tied kings with TES. They each won one of the finals, and both of them went to 5 games.
Back in 2020, they were the smartest team in the league and Kanavi was this insane jungler with the rest of the team playing towards him.
Well, this year, it feels like that version of JDG is back! Where Kanavi is in exceptional form, Yagao keeps on having amazing games. 369 has changed his playstyle, he is still willing to play carries, but also he is willing to be a utility top laner and play towards whatever style is needed.
This feels like a redemption story for most of the players on the roster and I am excited to see what they can bring against RNG because as I said, they are a very intelligent team. That’s a really interesting matchup.
Finally, we asked the big question: Who will win the LPL playoffs?
Munchables: My head says Victory Five will win but my heart says Top Esports.
