2019 LPL Spring Split Primer and Power Rankings

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GWANGJU, SOUTH KOREA – OCTOBER 27: The supporters of team Invictus Gaming of China celebrate the winning against team G2 ESPORTS of Europe during the semifinal match of 2018 The League of Legends World Championship at Gwangju Women’s University Universiade Gymnasium on October 27, 2018 in Gwangju, South Korea. (Photo by Woohae Cho/Getty Images) /

#6 – TOPsports Gaming

Roster:

🇨🇳 Bai “369” Jia-Hao (Top)
🇨🇳 Xiong “Moyu” Hui-Dong (Top)
🇨🇳 Xiong “Xx” Yu-Long (Jungle)
🇨🇳 Zhuo “Knight” Ding (Middle)
🇰🇷 Lee “LokeN” Dong-wook (ADC)
🇨🇳 Zhang “QiuQiu” Ming (ADC)
🇰🇷 Nam “Ben” Dong-hyun (Support)
🇨🇳 Wu “Cat” Yao (Support)

Week 1 Games:
vs Invictus Gaming (14th of January) (Shanghai)
vs Victory5 (18th of January) (Shanghai)

TOP was a good team last season and they will likely continue to be a good team this split. They have held on to the majority of their roster and the players they lost have been replaced by strong players. TOP have done everything right this offseason to maintain their status in the LPL. Their strong run in the Demacia Cup which saw them get the better of IG in one series before losing to them in the grand finals is a good sign of things to come for TOP.

369 is a prospect that came from King of Future who is an LDL team with an unfortunate record. He himself seems like a promising player though judging from his Demacia Cup performance where he surprised many with his proficient play. He may be their starter but Moyu who remains on the team is a capable player and they may opt to use him because of his higher experience level.

Xx performed very well for TOP last season so it was a good move to keep him on. He is set to be the jungler to take Xx to the next level with his consistently intelligent play.

Knight is finally taking to the LPL stage. He’s been heralded as a prodigy who will topple all mid laners who stand before him. He was kept out of the side last split due to contract issues but TOP have now sorted that out and unleased Knight upon the league. His mechanical prowess and game sense are incredible for a player so inexperienced in competitive play. Will Knight rampage through his opposition and lead TOP to the top? We’ll have to wait and see.

LokeN has been signed from JD Gaming. As I mentioned earlier, LokeN is a great pickup for TOP. He is a top half AD Carry in China and will bring a lot of stability to the TOP bottom lane. This takes nothing away from QiuQiu who is also a capable ADC, TOP are lucky to have both of them as options in ADC.

Speaking of having two great options, this can be said for TOP’s support choices as well. Ben has been obtained from Team WE where his career had started to stagnate. He is still a good support, not quite at his old level of play, but certainly still LPL caliber. Cat was TOP’s starter last split and odds are he will continue in that role this split. He displayed his skillful play last split playing with QiuQiu, maybe he’ll be even better with LokeN assuming he starts over Ben. They may want to have a Korean duo and a Chinese duo as their bottom lane options.

TOP will have to completely fail to synergize for them to not make playoffs and judging by their good team play in the Demacia Cup, this doesn’t seem likely to happen. Despite this high praise, they will still almost certainly lose to IG in their opening match as they did in the grand finals of the Demacia Cup. What’s important is that they don’t let that game knock their confidence and they go on to sweep Victory 5 who they should be able to beat without issue.

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