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

William Davis Published 31/01/2021

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. 

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. 

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.  

Read Also

Esports Betting

BLG vs T1: Best betting odds and picks for MSI 2026 Hannan Mundia BLG and T1 are among the favorites to win the 2026 MSI tournament, which is why so many fans are anticipating their match in the bracket stage’s first round. After BLG’s performance at last year’s World Championship, those who haven’t kept up with the team’s performance may not expect much from it. However, with the LPL team’s revamped roster and strategic approach to League of Legends, there’s a good chance ...

Esports Betting

League of Legends Classic will be back in 2026, here’s what we know Wasif Ahmed Riot has announced that League Classic will come out in Season 3 of 2026, as a game mode. League Classic is “old League of Legends”, the ability to play the game on a specific patch from over a decade ago. How much information do we have? What is League Classic, when will League Classic release, and what patch will it be for? Ever wanted to rediscover the old version of ...

League of Legends

Karmine Corp vs Team Liquid: Best betting odds and picks for MSI 2026 Hannan Mundia While both Karmine Corp and Team Liquid lost one series each, both teams will have another chance to continue in the 2026 MSI play-in stage to potentially qualify for the bracket stage. Both participating teams got swept by T1 in this MSI stage, bringing them to the third round. Team Liquid’s performance against Deep Cross Gaming was impressive, but does that really mean that it has what it takes to ...

Esports Betting

T1 exposes Karmine Corp with 3-0 win at League of Legends MSI 2026 Wasif Ahmed T1 just beat Karmine Corp 3-0 in the play-in stage of the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational. More importantly, T1 turned KC’s strengths into weaknesses. The bot lane and teamfight prowess that shone in the LEC were no match this time. The match started with Karmine Corp picking a disrespectful draft, blind picking three immobile squishies. Right off the bat, a botched invade put their jungle and bot lane at a disadvantage. ...

Esports Betting

The top 12 best players at MSI 2026 Wasif Ahmed The 2026 Mid-Season Invitational is mere days away, and it will see the best players in the world face off. The reward is a prize pool of $2,000,000 and extra slots at the upcoming World Championship. So, who are the top 12 best players at MSI 2026? As the most decorated player in recent NA history, Inspired is LYON’s star player. In one word, this jungler is smart. Inspired’s signature ...

League of Legends

KeSPA Cup returns in July 2026 exclusively on Disney+ Hannan Mundia The KeSPA Cup is slated to return sooner than most expected, though its date and exclusive Disney+ partnership raises some questions. The KeSPA Cup is an annual tournament organized directly by the Korea e-Sports Association. While it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as Riot-organized leagues and events, LCK powerhouses still participate in it. 2025’s KeSPA Cup is still fairly fresh since it took place in December. This year’s tournament ...

Esports Betting

Best betting odds and picks for T1 vs Karmine Corp at MSI 2026 Hannan Mundia This year’s MSI is still ongoing, and the next match in the play-in stage is slated to pit T1 against the LEC’s Karmine Corp. Both participating teams absolutely destroyed their respective opponents in this stage’s first round. With two 3-0 scores, both Karmine Corp and T1 have established themselves as powerhouses. However, the level of opposition was clearly different, and that fact may show its face in this match. Tournament: ...