iG decline continues as team knocked out of LPL playoffs

The former world champions at Invictus Gaming have been knocked out of the 2020 LPL Summer Split Playoffs after a devastating 0-3 loss against LGD Gaming. 

LGD started their playoffs run with a smooth victory against Team WE and that momentum seemed to carry on into their series against iG. Even though LGD was the underdog, the team came out flying in game one with a tempo that iG simply couldn’t follow.

The key player for LGD was former T1 jungler Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, who got to play Nidalee in the first two games. This was something that iG would regret. Peanut’s presence in the early game was pure class, securing his team leads that they managed to snowball each time.

iG has often been known as an inconsistent team even though they have some of the best individual players in the world. This best-of-five series landed on the wrong side of the coin for iG, and LGD managed to punish their opponents. The overall coordination and individual play from LGD was far ahead of iG, and it resulted in a very comfortable sweeping victory. 

It was a rough series Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok and Gao “Ning” Zhen-Ning in particular, a duo that is usually known to be deadly. Both overaggressiveness from the two was read like a book by LGD, and there was never a chance for iG to get ahead. The only decent performance from iG was Song “Rookie” Eui-jin in the mid lane, but even he was nowhere near a level that could carry games.  

iG struggles in 2020 LPL summer playoffs

iG was the clear favorite going into the match after an explosive split, finishing third with a 12-4 score. iG was fighting for the top two seeds but ended up losing a rough match to Vici Gaming in week 10 of the split. This match might have had an effect on the iG roster because they did not look at all like themselves during the game or after. 

Even since the 2018 World Championship, which iG managed to win, they have been looking shaky with the Chinese team. iG has not managed to pick up an LPL trophy since then, even though they have been fighting alongside the best teams in the league. iG seems to crumble when they hit the important best-of-five series in the playoffs, even though they are often predicted as the favorites to win.

With the loss against LGD, a scary statistic has been released. According to the LPL Twitter, iG has not won a single best-of-five in the LPL since the 2019 Spring Split finals. This is almost 500 days without an extended series win in the playoffs, which seems like a lot for a team with this many star players.  

iG is out of the playoffs for good, but will still have a chance to qualify for the upcoming 2020 World Championship. They will be playing in the Regional Finals at the end of August, where they will fight for a spot at worlds alongside three other LPL teams. One of them will be the defending world champions from FunPlus Phoenix, who got knocked out of the playoffs by Victory Five.