The 2022 League of Legends Pro League (LPL) is well underway, and the format this year has two series every day of the week. Today, Top Esports (TOP) moved back on top of the LPL as they extended their phenomenal winning streak to ten games after bringing the hammer down on Rare Atom. By virtue of their superior game score, Zhuo “knight” Ding and Top Esports have knocked JinDong Gaming (JDG) down to second.
With only three weeks left until the end of the regular season, the competition in the top and middle is becoming more frantic. Middle-of-the-pack teams such as LNG Esports, ThunderTalk Gaming, and Oh My God can’t afford to drop games as they clutch onto their tentative playoff spots. Top Esports, on the other hand, demonstrated themselves as one of the best teams China has to offer, having breezed past all the regular title threats in a dominant fashion. Their only loss came in their very first series this split against JDG, the team who looks like TOP’s biggest threat right now.
Rare Atom has been struggling this season, with only three teams below them. Top Esports was clearly the favourite of the series as Rare Atom could not handle the endless pressure.
In the draft, Top Esports focused on countering the opposition’s champions rather than setting the pace of the draft with their own picks. Yu”JackeyLove” Wen-Bo had a perfect game on Draven, pressuring opponent Hu “iBoy” Xian-Zhao’s Kalista from the very start of the game. The bot lane veteran completed the game with zero deaths, as he led his team to victory with the protection of Wang “Zhuo” Xu-Zhou on Renata. Although Rare Atom survived until the late game, Top Esports was always in the driver’s seat throughout the 28-minute game.
Top Esports may have doomed Rare Atom’s playoff chances
Rare Atom will need a miracle to reach playoffs now. In the second game, they were unable to act cohesively enough to defeat the giants Top Esports. Zhuo “knight” Ding prevented Chen “Strive” Liang from roaming on his Taliyah around the map. When the match went on to the late stage, all Top Esports had to do was play around Jackeylove in fights. They wasted no time in ending the game, extending their winning streak to ten games. With this win over Rare Atom, Top Esports has guaranteed themselves a playoff spot. That won’t make them complacent, however, as the fight for first is still on.
Top Esports will be against Ultra Prime on July 24 as they look to complete their perfect week.
