EDG On Top In The LPL - But How Long Will It Last?
To look at the current LPL standings is like walking into a time machine. Gone are the new organisations, with recent Worlds appearances and championships, such as Invictus Gaming, Top Esports, or JD Gaming. The top three spots in the LPL are now dominated by the old guard - EDward Gaming, Team WE, and Royal Never Give Up.
All three are undefeated in series play and have smashed the early weeks of the league. But the one that stands above the rest is EDG, who have put together one of the best team fighting squads in the league. The team has shown a lot of promise and great coordination, but does it have the stamina to remain at the top with the rest of the legacy teams in the league?
Preseason rankings
No fan, analyst, or outlet had EDG rated highly going into season 11. Like the other two teams at the top of the standings, most people rated the organisation as finishing mid-table with many question marks surrounding how it would perform.
The organisation did make headlines for its acquisition of former Griffin bot laner Park "Viper" Do-hyeon from Korea, and Ming "Clearlove" Kai transitioning back to a player from a coach. Both of these moves brought forth questions about the squad's viability in the league, with people speculating about Viper’s ability to communicate with his Chinese-speaking lane partner and Clearlove’s mechanical form.
So far, Viper has answered many of the questions imposed on him as a player, performing quite well, and Clearlove has yet to make an appearance for the team.
EDG running over the competition
EDG currently has a 5-0 series record and have only dropped two games so far. The black and white squad is very team fighting focused, and concentrated heavily on its two carry players Viper and former T1 product Lee "Scout" Ye-chan. Both players are funnelled much of the mid-game gold and are the focal point for many team fights.
Scout normally focuses on his lane early, dominating his opponent, and averages a positive gold and experience difference at 10 minutes. Viper, on the other hand, is not as dominant as a laner, normally barely breaking even, or losing his lane early only to be given as much gold as possible once the game transitions away from laning.
Viper also makes up for his lacklustre laning with his immaculate team fighting. So far, he has mostly played Kaisa, Xayah, and Aphelios, all of which can take over a team fight and scale well into the mid and late game.
This recipe for winning games has proved fruitful as EDG has stomped its competition, beating LGD, JDG, and ThunderTalk Gaming 2-0 in week three and four of the LPL.
Concerns moving forward
This team has really only dominated teams that are near, or at, the bottom of the league table and looked shaky in their series against current fourth-place team FunPlus Phoenix. The series perfectly summarised the cracks in EDG’s game plan and how teams should target the squad moving forward.
In all three of the games in that series, FPX heavily targeted the bottom side of the map, punishing Vipers weak laning and constantly diving him under tower. Since the team has Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang in the game, he would join in on the dive and create a massive disadvantage for EDG early on.
This plan also exposed EDG’s lack of jungle presence on the bottom side of the map. The team’s jungler Zhao "Jiejie" Li-Jie normally focuses on the top side of the map, ganking the top lane while also prioritising counter-jungling. While he does still fight over dragon and make appearances in the mid lane, more often than not EDG’s bot lane is put on an island.
But, even though FPX managed to gain early leads in all three of its games, EDG always managed to put up a fight in the mid and late game. Viper and Scout are generally always in the right spots in team fights, dishing out damage and diving in when necessary, even when behind.
While EDG does have an exploitable weakness, its team fighting ability and chemistry built up between its starting lineup normally makes up for its lack of success in the early game.
But is that sustainable? Probably not.
Team fighting and skirmishing is a big pillar of the LPL, but the title for the best often changes hands throughout a split as more teams build chemistry and the meta shifts. EDG may have peaked too early, coming in with great synergy before other teams have established theirs.
Great team fighting can get you pretty far, especially in the LPL, but later in the season when teams have time to analyse the former Mid Season Invitational champions, they may find the perfect strategy to shut EDG down. So far, that strategy seems to be targeting the bot lane early and drafting champions that can shut down Viper in fights.
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