The
Knockout Stage kicked off this Thursday with an all-LPL quarterfinal showdown between two familiar rivals:
LNG Esports (LNG) and
Weibo Gaming (WBG), the third and fourth seeds from their league. Despite expectations based on the Swiss Stage, WBG defied the odds and eliminated LNG 3-1 in a high-level series where several players had standout performances. In light of this intense matchup, Sheep Esports has decided to offer ratings for each player from both teams.
Weibo Gaming: 8
It seems the team took a major step up today, as they shone in nearly every game. WBG had far less preparation time than LNG but far more on-stage experience to refine their compositions, and that may have made the difference. The gap in draft preparation was evident, with Xiaohu significantly elevating his play, outclassing Scout on Aurora and Orianna. Meanwhile, Tarzan and Crisp were consistently put in positions to set up their team with strong frontline/crowd-control picks, effectively countering the enemy's engage-heavy compositions.
Breathe: 7
Chen "Breathe" Chen dominated his best-of series (BO) by quickly gaining a lead over Tang "Zika" Huayu with his Gnar, thanks to flawless lane swap management. The Weibo toplaner even secured a solo kill against his opponent before playing a crucial role in teamfights. His game on K’Santé was less memorable, despite some good plays and incredible tanking. Returning to Gnar in game 3, he benefited from the Ashe/Braum duo to secure first blood. Though he stayed quiet for most of the game, he stepped up during the decisive Nashor fight to turn the tide. In game 4, while his two carries took most of the spotlight, Breathe did excellent work on Jax, expertly stalling the enemy assaults.
Tarzan: 6
Lee "Tarzan" Seung-yong didn’t have much of a chance to shine with the champions he played on Thursday. The jungle king was on tank duty with Skarner, Amumu, and Maokai. Ironically, it was in Weibo’s only lost game that he stood out the most—first, for the wrong reasons, getting caught in a counter gank and then picked off in the river. However, he redeemed himself later on by setting up great plays for his teammates in teamfights, despite the eventual loss.
Xiaohu: 8
Li "Xiaohu" Yuanhao is neck and neck with his AD Carry for the MVP title of this series. After a relatively quiet game 1, the most capped Chinese player in Worlds history bounced back with a series of strong performances. On Aurora in game 2, he consistently followed up perfectly on his teammates’ engages. When Weibo got caught out during a base push, Xiaohu was the only one to survive, keeping his team’s hopes alive. He also stood as the sole survivor of a lost teamfight at Nashor, once again showing his value in the most critical moments.
Light: 8
Wang "Light" Guang-Yu has been one of the most clutch and consistent player of the whole series. Put three times on Ashe, Light played a key role in teamfights, landing impactful arrows despite being heavily focused by Nocturne in game 1. In Game 2, his mechanics were flawless, avoiding a gank with perfect timing and positioning. Also by dodging Yone’s tornado and Sejuani’s ultimate with expert use of his cleanse and flash. He secured a critical shutdown on Zika and disrupted Scout’s chances to engage at Nashor with another well-placed arrow. Game 3 had its ups and downs, with Light landing a clutch arrow on Weiwei but getting punished for overextending, though he redeemed himself with an incredible performance in the Nashor fight ultimately securing the win. In Game 4, switching to Ezreal, he delivered a game-changing ultimate in the Herald pit early on, securing three kills and giving his team a massive lead. A lead they will never lose.
Crisp: 8
Liu "Crisp" Qing-Song's return to Paris seemed to reignite his form, as he had an incredible impact across all four games, often closing out well-crafted drafts for Weibo. His standout performances on Rakan in Games 1 and 4 were prime examples, consistently finding perfect engages on enemy carries and allowing his team’s backline to shine. In Game 2 as Renata Glasc, he made a key roam to mid at level 1, forcing Scout to burn his flash, and expertly stalled the fight at Drake with great use of Mikael's Crucible. In Game 3 as Braum, Crisp created tons of space for his team, proving once again his ability to make decisive plays. Overall, he was one of the best performers of the series, fully reclaiming his status as a top-tier playmaker.
Weibo Gaming eliminated LNG 3-1 in the first quarterfinal at the Adidas Arena in Paris. Sources: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
LNG: 3
Of all the teams competing at Worlds, LNG had the most preparation time for the quarterfinals. Yet, they displayed significant weaknesses throughout the series. From the inefficiency of the Nocturne/Ahri duo and, to a different extent, the Renekton pick, the underperformance of Jhin in Games 1 and 4, to Scout's Yone being outmatched by Xiaohu's Aurora or even Hang never finding the right pick to synchronize with his team...—the list of missteps is long and costly for the LPL's third seed. The drafts and game plans were just not on point to compete with those of WBG's mastermind when it comes to Worlds: Yang "Daeny" Dae-in, and his staff.
Zika: 5
Zika was undoubtedly the least bad from LNG during this BO5. And yet, he didn't play his best, as Breathe gave him an arrival present for the first game, by solo killing him with his famous Gnar (that most likely got disrespected by LNG in the draft). Overall, LNG prioritized the crocodile two times and it just didn't seem like the right call since Breathe got Jax/Gnar in return and seemed to have twice his impact... Still, when Zika was able to put his hands on the Grandmaster at Arms, he delivered. Starting with the second game, where he did it all for his team and turned over many fights by finding multiple people with his Counter Strike, and then in game 3 when he was just too lonely to carry the game for his team...
Weiwei: 4
Wei "Weiwei" Bohan must regret making the move from LNG to Weibo Gaming now... But he still has to take some of the blame for his team's defeat this Thursday. First, as Zika, by overcommitting on a pick that no longer seems to work in official games: Nocturne. Even though he played pretty well on both of his Eternal Nightmare's games, he struggled to be as useful as Tarzan's Maokai and Skarner, as they simply seem much more valuable and easier to execute. He raised the bar with his game 2 on Sejuani, before collapsing completely in game 4 by never showing himself creative and only trying to react and defend Weibo Gaming plays. But even in this exercise, he failed to convince, by being most of the time late and off-tempo with the rest of his team (0/7/6).
Scout: 3
The Swiss Stage seems far behind. Lee "Scout" Ye-chan was the KDA leader after the first stage of the competition, and he was undoubtedly one of the best players. Partly thanks to his performance on Yone, against BLG. Today, the midlaner seemed completely off, even if he got to play two games on Yone, by notably getting too much abused in most of his laning phases. As he was playing in a very selfish way, often disconnected from his team, even when he dared to try playing teamfights he almost always missed the mark. This was the worst day for him to be dizzy, as his counterpart Xiaohu completely took over games, and Scout had a lot of weight on his shoulders since he was always given the first pick on Blue Side. LNG might regret Zeng "Yagao" Qi after this one... At least, Scout saved the KDA, as he is still in the top 3 after this rough series (9.3).
GALA: 4
The quarterfinals saw Chen "GALA" Wei being struck once more by his quarters curse. While he may not bear as much responsibility as his support, the AD carry still made several mistakes, frequently getting caught out of position—such as during the dive on toplane with Kai'Sa and when he misused his E while engaging K'Santé with Ezreal. In his game with Kai'Sa, he also seemed to confuse Zhonya's Hourglass with Rabadon's Deathcap, as he used his ultimate in the middle of the melee during the decisive fight at Nashor, potentially costing his team the game.
Hang: 3
As Scout, Fu "Hang" Minghang was one of the key factors in his team ending the Swiss Stage 3-0. Always accurate and precise, he stood out from the rest of the supports who often tended to overcommit and struggled to synchronize with their team. Like Scout, he chose today to join the pack—but worse, he sank to the bottom tier of it. If for his first game on Rell he only found engages on a Skarner, he still tried to flank but got awkwardly caught two times. His Leona game was one of the best, but still, most of his plays got dodged by the little steps of WBG's botlane. His Alistar game was the peak of overcommitting and being unsynchronized with his team, his only highlight from this game was being the sacrifice for most of the objectives taken by LNG (0/7/3). And as if he hadn't had enough, he closed his series with a Nautilus game...
Scout's disappointment after his loss against WBG (Credit: Yicun Liu/Riot Games)
Header Photo Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
