Foreword: The League of Legends esports scene is the most prone to "boomerangs," because you never know how strong a player's potential truly is. For instance, two months ago, when LPL champion support Liu Qingsong announced his return to join LGD, the entire internet questioned his strength, with many viewers even mocking him as a "point thief" and accusing him of stealing opportunities from newcomers. However, as LGD kept making comebacks in the playoffs, more and more viewers started apologizing to Liu Qingsong.

Every year, the LPL produces some dark horse teams, and the emergence of these teams makes the league extremely exciting. Among them, LGD in the third stage brought a lot of surprises to LPL viewers. Remember at the beginning of the stage, right after LGD entered the Summit group, they defeated EDG, but then suffered a seven-game losing streak. Many viewers thought LGD would fall into the Knight's Path and become nothing more than a stepping stone for IG or NIP.

But as LGD kept improving and adapting, they gradually unlocked their full potential. Eventually, LGD defeated both TES and NIP to advance to the LPL top four, marking LGD's first time reaching the playoff semifinals in six years. Many viewers, seeing LGD's potential, praised support Liu Qingsong for having good judgment—choosing to go to a relatively unknown team like LGD to nurture young talent rather than returning to the "quagmire" of WBG.

Of course, many viewers speculated that LGD's dramatic transformation must be credited to Liu Qingsong. After all, LGD only changed their support, and went from near the bottom of the league to a top-four LPL team. As LGD's results improved, many viewers began apologizing to Liu Qingsong, admitting that they had been misled by public opinion and had wrongly accused him of stealing jobs from newcomers. With LGD's ongoing matches, Liu Qingsong has proven his value as a veteran.

As a former world's best support officially recognized by Riot Games, Liu Qingsong's game experience and mentality are exactly what LGD lacked. Notably, during the fifth game of LGD versus NIP, the official broadcast showed a clip of Liu Qingsong encouraging his teammates. This demonstrates the saying, "A veteran at home is like a treasure." In contrast, NIP lacked such veteran depth—if NIP had had an experienced player to anchor them, they wouldn't have played so timidly during the match.

After NIP lost to LGD, they became the most regrettable team in the LPL. Earlier, NIP had gained attention by defeating IG twice in the Rebirth Group, leading many to believe NIP had a better chance than IG of qualifying for Worlds. But no one expected NIP to be eliminated by LGD and ultimately miss the World Championship. Of course, many IG fans were satisfied with this result, because NIP knew IG too well—they always managed to draft perfect compositions against IG. In contrast, LGD had zero prior matches against IG, so their contest would rely purely on individual skill and in-game decisions. Thus, many viewers feel IG will have an easier time against LGD than against NIP.

Conclusion

In fact, LGD's comeback is a good thing for LPL viewers. It proves that the LPL never lacks talented newcomers—they just need a platform or a veteran to guide them. It feels like if LGD's players keep playing together for a few more seasons, they will undoubtedly become stronger. However, one of LGD and IG will definitely miss out on the World Championship. Who do you think will ultimately win?