A dark horse emerged in Chinese League of Legends to challenge the established elite. Though LNG Esports are likely overperforming their metrics, it’s clear they are not to be underestimated.
The emergence of LNG
China returned home with yet another trophy following Royal Never Give Up’s win at the Mid-Season Invitational. While many expected the usual top teams to battle it out for the Summer Split, a new contender rose from the middle of the pack: LNG Esports.
The team that finished 9th-10th in the spring is now undefeated, tied with Edward Gaming in first place. With a 7-0 record, LNG Esports were able to beat other contenders for the championship: teams like Royal Never Give Up, FunPlus Phoenix and Invictus Gaming all fell to this rising superteam.
2021 Off-Season: Roster Revamp
After a very disappointing 2020, with a 16th-place finish in spring and a 13th place-finish in the Summer Split, LNG Esports revamped their roster. Only ADC Wang “Light” Guang-Yu and support Liao “Iwandy” Ding-Yang were kept onboard from that squad. The top-jungle-mid trio of Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun, Huang “Maple” Yi-Tang and Xiong “Xx” Yu-Long left (with the first going to Edward Gaming).
LNG managed to pick up some interesting players as replacement . Chang “M1kuya” Xiao and Hu “Ale” Jia-Le were brought in for the top lane. The former jungler of Griffin, Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong, was hired after a one-year hiatus. To round off, the organization signed Xie “icon” Tian-Yu, who previously played for Oh My God.
This roster raised big doubts about its potential and where it would stand in the LPL. Indeed, LNG finished 10th in the LPL 2021 Spring Split and were immediately knocked out from Playoffs, losing 0-3 against Suning.
Yet, the team didn’t change its lineup before summer: however, they did make Ale the starting top laner. Now LNG are now at the top of the standings, win after win. So what has changed and how did the team stand out all of sudden? The answer is game-knowledge.
LNG’s great understanding of team compositions and macro
In their current form, LNG Esports are not the best in their individual roles. If you look at the statistics and compare them to other players, you will see that they are “only” above average. While that is obviously a positive thing, it doesn’t fully explain the team’s success.
The shining point of this roster is their understanding of the macro game as well the team compositions. They know exactly what they need to do once the game starts and execute accordingly. This is possible also thanks to superb drafting: the coaching staff must be doing a lot of work behind the scenes.
The drafts are thoroughly prepared in order to give the players the tools they need to win. In particular, top laner Ale is usually given damage-oriented champions. He ends up as the first or second carry of the team depending on how the team composition is set up.
As a result, Tarzan usually looks to impact his lane very early on: Xin Zhao, one of the strongest junglers in the game in this meta, is the perfect champion for him. The goal is to make sure Ale is ahead of its counterpart, giving him the freedom to either split push or join the team fights with teleport.
Consequently, the mid laner transitions to a more utility-based role. Thanks to his large champion pool, icon fits the role really well. He played twelve different champions across eighteen games. Mages, assassins, bruisers: he can play everything.
The other carry of this iteration of LNG is the bot lane. Light is usually given a marksman that guarantees damage at determined stages of the game. This correlates directly with the rest of the team. If they have strong late game, Light is put on bully champions like Varus. On the flip side, if the team needs a hyper carry, Jinx is his go-to pick.
In order to maintain good synergy with his partner, Iwandy tends to go for tanky-engage champions. Nautilus and Thresh are good examples. Therefore LNG usually play with the top laner and ADC as their primary damage threats, while the jungler and support are responsible for the initiation of fights. The mid laner adapts and compensates for whatever the team needs. It’s a very linear way of playing the game, but it perfectly matches with how the meta has shifted in League of Legends.
The item changes and the rise of carry top champions allowed LNG to find their strongest identity. By working on their overall synergy and macro, the roster was able to overcome shortcomings that derived from the individual players.
Are LNG The Best Team in the LPL?
Despite their joint-first place in the standings, LNG is not the strongest team from the LPL. Based on the recent performances in the Summer Split, the best team should be Edward Gaming. EDG dominate their enemies and straight-up outclass them: this doesn’t usually happen with LNG. Sometimes they find themselves in dire situations where they need to make a comeback. It will be interesting to see their match. If somehow Tarzan and co. are able to win that series, then LNG will definitely be seen as genuine championship contenders.
