Good to see you at EGamersWorld.
LPL Summer 2023 for $600,000 and 2 entries to Worlds 2023 continues. We're still keeping an eye on the group stage of the championship where 17 teams are fighting for a chance to advance to the main stage of the tournament and try to make something of JD Gaming there.
Next up is a match between Weibo Gaming and Team WE. The teams will play their second match on day 2 of week 6 of the group stage. Sounds tough, but what can you do, the Chinese aren't used to resting and so we have an almost non-stop stream of games.
To be fair, not all games can be called The International erse or top games. Often we see some pretty passable matches, but the derby between Weibo and Team WE shouldn't be like that.
Before the match, both teams are in the top ten of the tournament and nominally qualify for the main stage of the championship. Naturally, a win in a head-to-head match will only cement the winning team's position in the standings.
Let's try to see who that winner will be and what to expect from the matchup.
Let's go.
Form Weibo Gaming
Let's open the preview with an analysis of Weibo Gaming's form. In this match, the team will play as favorites.
Bookmakers believe in Weibo's success. The odds on the team's victory are estimated at around 1.4.
The gap in the match is not critical, but it is significant. All thanks to Weibo's overall performance and their rise in recent times.
Weibo Gaming could be called a LPL newcomer, as the club appeared on the esports radar and the big stage in 2021, and made its LPL debut in 2022.
As a newcomer, the results have been very good. In 2022, Weibo made the Top 8 twice, finishing in the Top 6 at LPL Spring 2022 and Top 8 at LPL Summer 2022.
At the last tournament played before LPL Summer 2023, the previous LPL Spring 2023 split, the team finished in the top-6 again. This is no surprise as the roster of the club is by far the best.
- Weibo Gaming roster: TheShy, weiwei, Xiaohu, Light, Crisp.
The latest addition to Weibo Gaming is forester weiwei. The 22-year-old Chinese has previously had experience playing for Suning, Victory Five and Bilibili Gaming.
Prior to Long's match against Team WE, Weibo are in 6th position in the standings. The team is 6-4 on the series and 16-9 on the map.
Weibo Gaming's most popular champions in spades
Weibo Gaming is not known for diversity in the top line. TheShy plays KSante (10 games, 8 wins), Gnar (6 matches, 50% wins). Sion (2 matches, 100% wins) and Renekton (2 matches, 50% wins) appear rarely.
In the forest the ubiquitous Maokai is ignored (he's only appeared once, and then lost). But a fair amount of attention is given to Vi (6 games, 100% wins), Elise (6 games, 60% wins), Sejuani (4 games, 75% wins).
The centre line is occupied by Syndra (7 games, 85% wins), Ryze (4 games, 0% wins), Talliyah (3 games, 66% wins).
From shooters like Lucian (5 matches, 80% wins), Varus (4 games, 75% wins), Zeri, Sivir and Caytlin have appeared 3 times each and only Sivir hasn't won a single game.
Sappers: Nami (7 games, 85% wins), Ashe (4 games, 50% wins), Yummi (3 games, 33% wins).
Team WE form
Continuing the match review with analysis of Team WE's form. In this match the team will play in the status of the outsider.
Bookmakers do not particularly believe in WE's success. The odds of the team's victory are estimated at around 2.8.
The two-fold lead is not taken from a vacuum. All because of the erratic nature of WE's results and their slump last season.
Last season Team WE blatantly failed. The team took 15th place in LPL Spring 2022 and 17th in LPL Summer 2022. But we will improve our performance in LPL Spring 2023.
Reaching the play-offs of LPL Spring 2023 is already an indicator. Then to qualify for the main stage Team WE won 8 of the 16 matches played. However, they didn't manage to advance any further than Top-10.
- Team WE: Cube, Heng, Shanks, Hope, lwandy .
Apparently, the team goes on increasing performance. The team is in 9th place with a score of 5-4 on the series and 13-8 on the map.
Team WE's most popular champions
At the top line, Team WE have no revelations. Collective picks KSante (4 games, 50% wins), Renekton (3 games, 33% wins), Gnar (3 games, 66% wins).
In the woods everything is also more or less standard: VI (7 games, 57% wins), Maokai (3 games, 66% wins), Poppy and Sejuani 2 games and 0 wins each.
On the centre line, there are no deviations. Azir (4 games, 50% wins), Ryze (4 games, 50% wins), Syndra (2 games, 50% wins), Cassiopeia (2 games, 50% wins).
Championship among shooters for Lucian. Champion appeared 5 times, but won only 2 matches. Tried Zeri, failed: 0-3 in three appearances.
Among the supporting champions Nami was a success. She was taken 5 times, and her win rate was 40%. Yummi (3 games, 0% wins) and Ashe (3 games, 66% win rate) were also picked.
History of head-to-head encounters
The teams have previously played each other three times. All 3 matches ended 2-0 in favour of Weibo.
Match result
In this match, despite Team WE's improved performance in recent months, I do not see why they will outplay a formidable opponent in the form of Weibo Gaming. The latter should have no problem taking the series.
Bottom line: victory for Weibo Gaming.
