After a very long summer season, JD Gaming is crowned the LPL champions. Awarded for their superb performance all summer long, JDG lifted the trophy and secured the first seed at Worlds 2022 ticket in China. Considering their strong roster and incredible performance, they will also be a favourite at Worlds 2022.
Two five-game long best of fives decided the fate of JD Gaming, and Top Esports tried their best to stop JDG, but it wasn’t enough. Kanavi and Yagao were focused on the trophy, and they took what was rightfully theirs. Let’s take a look at what happened in the grand final, and what will happen next.
JD Gaming vs Top Esports
EDward Gaming, LNG Esports, Royal Never Give Up, Victory Five… They all tried to have a shot at the LPL championship, but it was clear from the day TES and JDG joined the playoffs that the race would take place between these teams. While their regular season was also promising, seeing them perform in best-of-fives was enough to decide that Top Esports and JD Gaming were one step ahead of the rest of the Chinese teams.
Last year, we saw that between FunPlus Phoenix and EDward Gaming. Although EDG had to come back from the lower bracket, it was clear as day that FPX and EDG were the favourites, and EDG established their dominance in the grand final. However, TES vs JDG was an even closer race than FPX vs EDG.
Some say these close series between TES and JDG indicate a poor Worlds 2022 performance from China, I disagree. I think Gen.G or the rest of the world may not offer such a high level of competition. Analysts say that there were many mistakes in the amazing TES vs JDG upper bracket final, but I believe those mistakes are the natural result of playing aggressively. Something LCK couldn’t match for years now (except for DAMWON).
The grand final was not a reverse sweep like the upper bracket final, it was a series with more ups and downs. Top Esports started with Qintian instead of Wayward, and after Kanavi smurfed the first game, they quickly corrected their mistake, tying the series with Wayward coming back in, crushing 369’s Sion.
After years of staying underrated, Yagao chose 2022 to shine bright. He was able to stop a fed JackeyLove on Zeri in the third game, but after two games in a row, JL managed to force a fifth game. Kanavi was on Bel’Veth, Hope was fed on Sivir, but it was looking doomed for JDG. While we all thought Top Esports was headed for a championship, one team fight decided the fate of the series, bringing JDG the trophy.
Kanavi joined JD Gaming in December 2019, Yagao is even older, waiting for his time since December 2017. Satisfied with this duo, JD Gaming finally found the right top laner and bot laners, experienced 369 and superb Hope-Missing. After 2020, Kanavi and Yagao are once again in a place which they definitely deserve. The Chinese champions are the number one favourite at Worlds 2022, keep an eye on them if you haven’t watched the LPL this year.
LPL Regional Finals
JD Gaming took the first and Top Esports took the second seed at Worlds 2022 but there were still two tickets remaining. LPL Regional Finals will award them and EDward Gaming already took the third ticket to Worlds 2022 with a reverse sweep victory over Royal Never Give Up. RNG, LNG and Victory Five will fight for a single Worlds 2022 Play-In ticket.
September 3, Saturday
Victory Five (1.60) vs LNG Esports (2.20) - 11:00 CEST
September 4, Sunday
Royal Never Give Up vs V5/LNG - 11:00 CEST
While we were expecting for LNG to end up here, Victory Five should have been one of the championship contenders considering their earlier performances, and now they are one game away from missing Worlds. Rookie and Doinb will fight for a chance at Worlds 2022, LNG Esports defeated them once and they will have a slight advantage. However, it will probably take five games until one of the teams advance to the next round.
RNG’s loss against EDG was disappointing, but they are a better team than both V5 and LNG, taking two games away from EDG should be enough to say that. If you are looking for a place to watch these games live and place your bets, make sure to visit Luckbox. Sign up now to grab your 100% bonus before diving into the games.
