JD Gaming wins 2020 LPL Spring Split by defeating Top Esports

JD Gaming is the 2020 LPL Spring Split champion.

JDG took down Top Esports to claim its first-ever LPL title. It was a hard-fought battle between two young organizations that are looking to start their legacy in the LPL. JDG took the series in game five with a stellar performance from top laner Zhang “Zoom” Xing-Ran, support Zuo “LvMao” Ming-Hao, and MVP jungler Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok. Kanavi made history as the first split MVP to win the championship title in the same split.

JD Gaming versus Top Esports, a skill matchup

Fans expected the LPL finals to be a clean 3-0. Instead, it was an action-packed five-game series. All five games were a constant back and forth between the two teams. Each game in the series had one moment or play that turned the entire game on its head.

The win conditions for both teams were clear. TES had to play a clean game with no mistakes and JDG had to follow the lead of Kanavi and Zoom. Unfortunately for TES, the team made several mistakes that would end up costing them the series. TES had a difficult time getting in position during team fights. JDG waited patiently for those mistakes and punished TES consistently.

JDG had perfect coordination throughout, with all players on the same page at the same time. JDG had a good read on the series and it was particularly obvious in game five. JDG targeted the top lane early and pushed hard to get Zoom on Ornn ahead of the opponents. With early kills and gold from the turret plates, Zoom was unstoppable and TES couldn’t deal with him. TES still found its way back into the game and put up a fight.

The game-winning play came by the hand of LvMao. TES knew they needed to fight front to back to win skirmishes. JDG kept falling for those initiations until LvMao put a stop to it. TES moved as five to force a fight in the mid lane, LvMao used Bard’s ultimate to freeze every member of TES in place except for Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo. Kanavi zoned out JackeyLove and burst him down with help from Zeng “Yagao” Qi.

The rest of TES rushed to protect JackeyLove, but it was too late. JDG slaughtered the opponents one by one and moved to the baron. After that play, JDG was in total control of the game and won the championship.

The LPL is going on a break and will return for the summer split in June. This year, the LPL will have four teams in the World Championship. It might be JDG’s turn to take the most important title and further the LPL legacy.