Top Esports beats rival JD Gaming in first LPL clash of 2021

Jan 31, 2021

Reading time: 3 min

For the first time in the 2021 LPL season, Top Esports and JD Gaming clashed on Summoner’s Rift, and it was Top Esports who ran away with the win in 2-0 fashion.

The match between the 2020 LPL Summer Split finalists was highly anticipated among fans. Both teams have gotten off to a shaky start this season, with other squads currently sitting at the top spots of the LPL table. As these two former LPL champions faced off on Summoner’s Rift, it was clear that Top Esports is still the stronger team of the two.

Jackeylove takes over the game and the match! TES 2-0 over JDG! #LPL #AllWeFightFor pic.twitter.com/jQVOz9oy9o

— LPL (@lplenglish) January 31, 2021

The series started out with a high-tempo performance from Top Esports. The defending LPL champions put a lot of focus towards the top side of the map and it worked out perfectly. With top laner Bai “369” Jia-Hao ahead on Camille, the snowball started to get out of control for JDG. Jungler Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan kept applying pressure all over the map, to the point that no one on JDG could keep up.

As the game entered its later stages, Top Esports was simply too far ahead and mid laner Zhuo “knight” Ding could start to take over the game with his Zoe. With nasty poke coming in from every angle, JDG didn’t stand a chance and gave up the first game of the series after just 29 minutes.

For the second game, Top Esports continued the stomp. Once again, JDG didn’t stand a chance against the constant pressure coming from Top Esports. This time around, Top Esports put its focus towards the bot lane where Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo was ready to carry on Samira.

With several kills early on for JackeyLove, he was single-handedly able to snowball the game out of control. Samira is known for her huge damage output if she gets going, and JackeyLove got to showcase that perfectly.

As if the first game wasn’t fast enough, Top Esports ended the second game in just 23 minutes with JackeyLove already on nine kills total.

Another clean ace by TES! 369’s flank on Gragas really set the stage for this fight. #LPL #AllWeFightFor pic.twitter.com/lMY4LkllMa

— LPL (@lplenglish) January 31, 2021

Top Esports ramping up for another LPL trophy

With a dominant win against JDG, there is no longer any doubt that Top Esports is capable of going for another LPL trophy. The LPL giants started out the season very poorly with two losses in a row, but after week four, Top Esports is on a three-game winning streak and isn’t looking to slow down.

Despite this great momentum, Top Esports still has a long way to the top of the standings. Both EDward Gaming and RNG are currently sitting at the top with 5-0 records, so those will be the teams to beat for TES.

In the meantime, Knight and the rest of Top Esports will face off against FunPlus Phoenix on February 6.

What is the Top Esports 2021 LPL roster?

The Top Esports 2021 LPL roster is:

Top – Bai “369” Jia-Hao
Jungle – Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan
Mid – Zhio “knight” Ding
Bot – Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo
Support – Wang “Zhuo” Xu-Zhuo

How good is Top Esports?

As the defending LPL champions, Top Esports is once again considered a big favorite for the 2021 LPL Spring Split. The star-studded roster started out the 2021 LPL Spring Split poorly with losses to both Suning and Rogue Warriors. Since then, Top Esports has started to improve in each game and is now on a solid winning streak headed towards the top of the standings. Top Esports is still expected to perform very well throughout the split, but the competition seems harder than in 2020 with teams including EDG, RNG, and FPX looking to challenge for the trophy.