The 2021 LCS Summer Split MVP has been crowned and it’s none other than TSM jungler Mingyi “Spica” Lu.
After a regular split where TSM finished first with an 18-9 record and a 30-15 record overall this season, Spica is the player to take the MVP after playing a crucial role in most of those wins. Spica’s great effort is being rewarded with his first MVP title after playing in the LCS with TSM for three consecutive splits in a row. Unfortunately for Spica and the rest of TSM, their season ended with a rough loss to Cloud9 in the LCS Championship lower bracket last week.
Despite missing out on the 2021 World Championship, Spica has been a player to watch with incredible plays and a great grasp on the meta. The young jungler has succeeded on champions such as Lee Sin, Xin Zhao, and Diana throughout the split which has resulted in 93 kills total throughout the regular split. This is the second-most kills for a jungler behind 100 Thieves’ Can “Closer” Çelik and shows exactly how big of a carry Spica has been.
After missing out on the finals during the spring split, Spica and TSM returned strong in the summer split. By consistently picking up wins week after week, fans and experts slowly started to believe that TSM might be on its way to the LCS throne once again. Unfortunately, TSM didn’t flourish in the best-of-five format in the playoffs, where Team Liquid got the better of them which was followed up by a rough loss to Cloud9 after five intense games.
This sent TSM packing and left the team just one win away from a place at the world championship. Since the MVP is based on the regular split, Spica is still very much deserving of this award as he has been the glue TSM needed to succeed in this split. His impact in the early game has been crucial for a team like TSM who is all about trying to get ahead early.
For the next few months, Spica will be able to take a break with his award. The 20-year-old jungler isn’t looking to step away from the game though, as he recently announced that he will be going to Korea soon during the off-season. With Korean solo queue in mind, it seems like Spica will practice hard during the fall and winter months.
Spica and TSM will be back on Summoner’s Rift when the LCS boots up for a new season in the start of 2022.
