Top Esports to face Victory Five in 2022 LPL Spring Playoffs
Top Esports (TES) had a stellar reverse swap on April 12. resulting in the team proceeding further to the 2022 LPL Spring Split playoffs. This time, the journey to reach the playoffs and compete with Victory Five (V5) was not an easy one as their poor start saw them losing four out of their first six games.
Nonetheless, TES remains the tournament’s wonder boy and a fan favorite. However, the 2021 Demacia Cup winner will have to give an all-out performance to top the Spring standings leader, Victory Five, for a rematch spot in the playoff finals.
After a hysterical 3-1 defeat against Royal Never Give Up in the semifinals, TES is slated to face V5 for a spot in the finals against RNG. One V5 player that TES must be aware of is Playoffs MVP Standings No.3 Taiwanese Jungler Hung “Karsa” Hao-hsuan.
Playoffs semifinal preparation
Both TES and V5 had an outstanding round ahead of the playoff semifinal. TES made a flawless run from the second to the fourth round of the competition, having three consecutive wins and scoring three in each game.
That is until RNG claimed victory in the fourth and semifinal. That being said, TES mid-laner Zhuo “knight” Ding’s outstanding performance has made him the No.1 in Playoffs MVP Standings, being named MVP five times
Back in the regular Spring Split, the team only managed to record an 11-5 score series, placing them in the fifth place, only one point behind RNG 12-4 and three points behind standings leader V5 14-2.
They would later soon build great momentum in the first few playoff rounds, defeating the likes of Bilibili Gaming, LNG Esports, and V5.
Therefore, defeating V5 should not be a difficult task, especially having knight leading the team alongside top-laner Huang “Wayward” Ren-Xing as the team’s key members.
As for V5, having five consecutive wins in the regular Split is more than enough to prove the team means serious business. Not to mention that V5 continued to pick up their pace, winning over JD Gaming (JDG) 3-1 shortly after a defeat from TES.
Moreover, V5’s Karsa, who was named MVP three times, came out with 17 kills against JDG, the most kill a jungler ever made in a single game. The 25-year-old has been terrifying over the course of the competition and very proficient in team play.
Takeaways, predictions
Coming into the 2022 LPL Spring Split, V5 might have not been people’s favorite, unlike TES. As the latter had a slight limping run from a few games of the regular Spring to the playoffs, TES is at great risk of losing to V5.
TES’ pace has not been very great despite the fact that knight was leading the team as a playoffs MVP. The overall tone of the game is dictated and highly dependent on how effective a top-laner is.
For TES, the team would have been better off if they stayed away from an absolute 2-0. Their game records suggest the team tend to fail to make a comeback. This is especially true when the team played V5 in the second week of the regular Spring.
Recently, V5 closed up to TES despite a defeat in the fourth round of the playoffs. Additionally, V5 has more lanes proficiency than TES. Therefore, all-in-all, V5 should best TES in the semifinal.
