TES Knight - The Next Faker?
Those of you who don’t follow the LPL may not be familiar with the name Zhuo “Knight” Ding. After all, he’s never been to Worlds. Until now he had never even won a split in the LPL. Despite that, Knight is a mid lane prodigy comparable to the greats, and it’s only a matter of time until he takes to the World stage and leaves his mark on League of Legends history.
With China now considered the strongest region internationally, Knight may well be the torchbearer for a new generation of Chinese talent.
A Meteoric Rise
Before he became a pro, Knight was a little-known streamer and solo queue prodigy. He only got his chance at going pro when he was recommended to PDD, the founder of Young Miracles and former Invictus Gaming top laner. Seeing his incredible skill, Knight was then taken on by the LSPL team ahead of Season 7.
Knight burst onto the Chinese scene in 2017, participating in the LSPL Spring Split (now the LDL). The LSPL was China’s secondary league, and like in other regions it functioned as a promotion tournament to the LPL. Unlike equivalent leagues in other regions though, the LSPL was completely professional and full of budding talents. This young and unproven mid laner was seemingly thrown in the deep end, either to sink or swim.
For his debut though, Knight wanted to make a splash. Alongside Ning, now the jungler for Invictus Gaming, Knight was unstoppable. The two young talents led Young Miracles on an unprecedented 20 win streak, only dropping one series to Suning in the final week of the regular season. They ended the regular season 21-1, catching the attention of many Chinese fans and organisations alike.
YM looked ready to win it all in playoffs, but first, they had to face off against a Royal Club roster that included early League of Legends star InSec. Famous for popularising the ‘InSec’ Lee Sin kick, the Worlds finalist should have been stiff competition. Past his prime though, even InSec’s signature Lee Sin was helpless before Knight’s Jayce. YM struck Royal Club down in a 3-0 semifinals series, moving swiftly on to the Finals.
Their opponent this time would not be so easy though. Suning had finished second in the regular season with a 17-5 record and were the only team that had beaten the Young Miracles and ruined their flawless win streak. Suning had to struggle in a long best of 5 against Dan Gaming to reach the finals, and they would not go down without a fight.
Contrary to expectations, the Young Miracles were swept 3-0 by Suning. While the Young Miracles had a fantastic split, they couldn’t take the last step and win it all. Ultimately Suning raised the trophy, while Knight felt the full force of defeat like never before.
Path to the LPL
Despite this disappointing loss, YM had still secured a chance to promote to the LPL Summer Split. They had just one shot, one series, to take a spot in the highest level league the region had to offer.
After such an amazing debut, all eyes were on Knight. A win in this series would send him to new heights and cement him as a rookie worth the investment. His opponent, though, was the infamous GodV. Once considered the best mid laner in the LPL, GodV was known for his extremely aggressive style of play and mechanical brilliance. Although GodV and his team LGD had fallen from grace, he was not ready to give up his spot in the LPL just yet.
Looking to secure the win, Knight picked his signature Ekko. Despite going all out though, both he and his team were outclassed by the more experienced LGD roster. With one loss in the best of five already, Knight decided to give his Ekko another shot. Once again though, GodV shut YM down in dominating fashion.
By the third game, hope was all but lost for Knight. In just under 23 minutes, GodV’s Syndra effortlessly rolled over him and his teammates, condemning them to another split fighting for an LPL spot. Ning, having shown his talent, was soon after signed by Invictus Gaming. He quickly found success, and in 2018 IG became the first Chinese team to win Worlds, with Ning as the MVP of the tournament. Knight was not so lucky though and remained with YM for the Summer Split of the LSPL.
Ning was replaced on the starting roster by Tian, who had been a substitute. Tian would eventually go on to follow in Ning’s footsteps, becoming 2019’s World Champion and MVP with FPX. Unfortunately, back in 2017, the young prospect certainly had talent but lacked experience. The team suffered Ning’s departure, and in the Demacia Cup of 2017, YM was swept by Vici Gaming. After failing to escape groups, Knight was forced to watch from the sidelines as Ning took third place with his new team.
Vici Gaming continued to steal Knight’s limelight in the Summer Split, just edging YM out of the first place position by one win. Knight continued to play well, but couldn’t replicate his feats of the previous split. Interest in him gradually waned, but all he could do was try even harder to beat Vici Gaming in the playoffs.
When the two finally met once again, it was in the Finals. With the stakes higher than ever before and a rivalry between the two top teams, Knight went in all guns blazing. His amazing 8/0/7 performance on Orianna took the first game in style, and things were looking good for YM. Once again, though, things never seemed to go Knight’s way. Vici came back with a vengeance and won the next three games, lifting the trophy while Knight watched.
Following this defeat, Knight felt it was time to move on from YM. Both he and Tian joined Suning, first competing in the 2017 Demacia Championship. Unfortunately, they didn’t go far before losing in the first round of playoffs, but Knight had finally made it into an LPL team.
Click to enlargeLPL Debut and Korea Training Arc
In 2018, Knight stepped onto the LPL stage for the first time. Competing in the East region of the league against teams like IG, JDG, LGD, and RNG, Suning would have their work cut out for them.
At first, though, things started well. Week 1 saw them win against both TOP and LGD, earning Suning a spot at the top of the standings. Over the coming weeks though, Suning slowly slid further and further down the table. By Week 9 they were 9-9 in fourth place, and just one more win would secure them a spot in playoffs. Equally though, another loss could see them slip into fifth, missing playoffs entirely.
By some cruel twist of fate, their final opponent was the 16-1 Invictus Gaming. Featuring Knight’s old teammate Ning, TheShy, Rookie, JackeyLove and Baolan, this absolutely stacked team was nigh unbeatable. Knight fought valiantly to take one game off them, but the inevitable could only be delayed. The future World Champions sent Knight spiralling into fifth place, just missing out on playoffs. The only consolation was Knight’s many MVP awards, earning him respect as one of the rising talents of the region.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, Knight was then plagued by contract issues in the Summer. Unable to play in the LPL, Knight turned his attention to Korea. For half a year, Knight grinded Korean solo queue in preparation for his glorious return to the LPL. By the time he returned to China, he had already held the rank one spot in Korea for months and had a second account at rank 4. Training arc completed, it was time for Knight to show the LPL who the best mid laner really was.
Click to enlargeThe Topsports Turning Point
Knight stepped back into the public eye at the end of 2018 when he joined Topsports Gaming. While Topsports was not the worst team around, they certainly weren’t the best. They had come 6th in the Summer Playoffs and failed to qualify for Worlds. They could only watch as IG lifted the Summoner’s Cup, waiting for the next opportunity.
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That next opportunity was the Demacia Cup 2018 Winter during the off-season, and this would be the stage for Knight’s return. JDG was the first to fall at Knight’s hands, and RNG was next. Even Uzi and Xiaohu were helpless before Knight. Their momentum should have been stopped in Round 3 when they faced IG, but TOP simply ran them over, as if they weren’t the team that had just won Worlds the month prior.
IG managed to claw their way back from elimination to the Grand Finals, where the two teams battled once again. While the World Champions eventually came out on top 3-1, Knight consistently posted insane KDAs, and single-handedly levelled the playing field. Even when comparing his stats to Rookie’s, the gap is insane. He had the highest KDA of 5.6, the highest G/M of 436, the highest kill participation of 72.3% and a kill share of 38.1%. Purely on an individual basis, Rookie’s stats in this tournament don’t even warrant comparison.
Using this event as a springboard, Knight shot into relevancy once again. He instantly began to be called one of the best mid laners, despite never even having won a split or attended Worlds. Since then, Knight has only continued to grow. While 2019 didn’t result in any domestic titles or a ticket to Worlds, he led Topsports towards the top of the standings every time and went toe-to-toe with the best. He was recognised for his talent with the MVP of the Split award in Summer 2019.
Only now in Summer 2020 has Knight reached the heights that his talents deserve. TOPesports took first place at MSC 2020, overcoming all other LPL teams and even beating T1 Faker. With the stacked roster of Knight, 369, Karsa, JackeyLove, and Yuyanjia, TOPesports then continued their success in the Summer Split by taking first place in the regular season. TES knight has now received the MVP award for the second time, making him the 3rd player to receive multiple regular split MVP awards after Rookie and DoinB.
His stats this split are, as always, absolutely insane:
KDA: 7.2 (1st), KDA@15: 7.5 (2nd)
Total Kills: 211 (1st)
Avg Kills: 5.7 (1st)
Solo Kills: 22 (1st)
Kills at 15: 1.4 (2nd)
Kill%: 35% (1st)
GD: 2339 (1st), GD@15: 570.4 (3rd)
CSD: 36.9 (3rd)
XPD@15: 447 (3rd)
If Knight can outperform every other mid laner in what is supposedly the best region in the world, then it’s hard to see how the LCS, LEC and LCK stand a chance at Worlds this year. We’ll have to wait and see how the other top mid laners like Caps, Bjergsen, Chovy, Faker and Showmaker hold up against Knight, but with so much talent on display, it’s sure to be an exciting Worlds 2020.
Images via TOPesports
