Yagao’s Opportunity for Revenge
Even though Yagao has been a top-tier LPL mid laner for quite some time, he has always been overshadowed by another player: Knight. I’m pretty sure that being in Yagao’s position heading into this game is not a comfortable one. This will be his only opportunity to prove that JDG made a mistake when they kicked him.
On the other hand, Knight should be in a pretty comfortable spot, I mean, why wouldn’t he? Now he’ll be playing next to some of the best players in the world. We can’t forget that Knight went through some tough times in Top Esports. His teammates, especially the side laners, were constantly dying and falling behind early on, which made it very hard for Knight to always carry.
I’m not trying to imply that Yagao is significantly weaker than Knight; rather, I’m pointing out that their playing styles are distinctively different. While Knight excels at controlling the lane and likes to scale well into the mid-game, Yagao prefers to exert pressure and look for roaming opportunities.
That said, the current meta might actually be good for Yagao, considering that champions like Taliyah and Galio seem to be viable. It’s going to be an interesting matchup in the mid-lane, but if we take everything into consideration, we have to give Knight the edge. Here is a little fun fact: Yagao and Knight are from the same city and they met in an internet cafe before they made it big in the esports world.
Can Ruler and Missing Sync Up Fast Enough?
Yes, we all know just how good Ruler is. On a good day, he is the best ADC in the entire world, and on a bad day, he is the best ADC in the LPL. But there is one big elephant in the room that we can’t ignore. He hasn’t had a lot of time to build up synergy with Missing. And I’m not talking exclusively about in-game stuff, but the fact that there is a huge language barrier between them might hurt things a bit.
Fortunately for Ruler, his support excels at playing enchanter supports, which is something that will benefit this duo overall. Sure, Missing can play champions like Nautilus and Alistar, but from what we saw last year, JDG will prefer to put him in the enchanter role.
Ruler and Missing will be going up against Elk and ON, which is a bot lane that, similarly, is still building a strong synergy. Elk is coming over from Ultra Prime, while ON joined BLG after parting ways with Weibo. From what we saw in both the Demacia Cup and Weibo Cup, it’s safe to say that they haven’t faced many issues during the laning phase, though they didn’t face any of the strongest LPL bot lanes.
In season 13, ADC is arguably the most important role. We already saw how important it is for the bot lane to have an early advantage when it comes to pushing and pressuring the lane because it allows them to take control over drake, which is the most important neutral objective right now. Even if the mid lane matchup is an exciting one, this series outcome will be determined by the bot lane.
JDG vs BLG Match Information
- Match: JDG vs Bilibili Gaming
- Date: Saturday, January 14
- Time: 6:00 am ET
- JDG vs BLGLive Stream: Twitch.tv
JDG vs BLG Picks & Prediction
Even though Bilibili definitely looks better with this new roster, I don’t think that it will be enough to take down JDG. If we take a look at every lane matchup, JDG heavily outclasses their counterparts. The only lane that might not get rolled over is the top lane, as Bin has proved to be a pretty good top laner overall.
If JDG doesn’t make any kind of dumb mistakes —which they never do— the series will end quickly with a 2-0 score in their favor. This roster is built to not only win the LPL, but also the 2023 World Championship, making 2023 a pivotal year for JDG. Make sure to keep an eye on this team and how they develop throughout the spring split.
After a long time of not having any competitive League of Legends going on, domestic leagues around the world are kicking-off. We’ll be covering all of the major leagues (LCS, LEC, LPL, LCK), while also checking out exciting games happening in the wildcard regions. Make sure to stay tuned as we’ll be well as sharing our esports picks with you!
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