Having finally beaten EDG in a best of 5 series and eventually going on to win the LPL summer playoffs, LGD is coming into worlds red hot with one of the most star studded rosters attending the event… and TBQ. The road towards worlds was pretty rocky for LGD, especially when they had lost their support and in game leader in PYL for several weeks during the regular season of the LPL. Thankfully for all of the LGD fanbase, PYL not only returned, but elevated this team to being the best team in China.

Top –  Lee "Flame" Ho-jong / Choi "Acorn" Cheon-ju

It’s almost a shame that two very distinct and elite level top laners have to share their time on LGD. Regardless, both of LGD’s top laners have been performing to phenomenal levels individually. The advantage of having both Acorn and Flame on the same team is that both of their strongest assets don’t overlap. Flame is one of the best laning top laners in the world. His knowledge of matchups and limits of champions allows him to exert the maximum amount of pressure possible. Picking appropriate fights and baiting the enemy jungler into come to his lane to alleviate the rest of the map allows LGD to maximize pressure in other lanes. On the other side of the coin, Acorn plays around his teleport timings like no other.

Playing around minion waves and recall timing with expertise has made Acorn into one of the most reliable top laners of all of 2015 across region. Overshadowed in Samsung Blue as just a serviceable top laner because of the attention being focused to former teammates Dade and Deft, Acorn has demonstrated this year that he is not only a good top laner, he has reached a new echelon and can be considered one of the elite tier top laners in LoL history. The cherry on top?  He's helped his team with coaching and drafting a large portion of the split.

Jungle – Zhu "TBQ" Yong-Quan

Easily the weakest link of the roster, TBQ relies mostly on his teammates to pick up the slack. By now if you’ve not heard or seen TBQ, all I can tell you is that LGD doesn’t win thanks to TBQ… but rather they win despite TBQ. It's a shame considering the jungle talent that currently exists in the LPL. TBQ’s jungle pathing is predictable and lacking, often finding himself on the opposite side of where his presence is required. He doesn’t even ward appropriately for his laners. Sure, he’ll occasionally drop a ward at top or bottom, but his timings are off and seldom are his wards ever effective enough to prevent ganks from happening. If you’re wondering why this man is still on the roster, then don’t worry -- you’re not alone. The rest of us who have watched LPL are wondering the same thing ever since spring split….  

Mid – Wei "GODV" Zhen

Formerly known as We1less, GODV narrowly missed the opportunity to make it to Worlds in 2014 by finishing 4th in the summer playoffs of the LPL. Since then, GODV has been unleashed and has found himself more comfortable with his play in 2015. With a team that has strong side lanes that can empower GODV’s roaming style, this Chinese midlaner has been unstoppable whenever his team has allowed him to be the primary carry. GODV is in an interesting position to say the least. He almost adopts a secondary role in the team as a second jungler, often finding himself roaming and ganking more often than TBQ as well as taking care of his own lane’s warding on either side of the river. Aside from being a solid roamer, GODV is also versatile, capable of playing assassins, control mages and supportive champions alike. Since the start of 2015 and with the new LGD roster, GODV has found himself adapting to the team rather than finding ways to be the carry himself.

AD Carry – Gu "Imp" Seung-bin

Spending almost 2 years with the best support in the world left a lot of questions surrounding Imp and his playstyle. How good is he without Mata? Will he be too reckless? Was Mata the sole reason behind Imp’s success? While we can’t convincingly say that Imp was 100% behind his own success on Samsung White, we can say that without a doubt that Imp is vying for the spot as the best AD Carry in the world without Mata by his side. Imp’s understanding of the laning phase is superb, forcing trades and fights when he knows he can win. His approach is very aggressive, forcing enemy marksmen to either challenge him or give up cs in return of not taking damage. To add to the already impressive laning phase, we add that Imp has learned to be self-sufficient, which allows PYL to roam around the map, making plays safely, knowing that Imp will not get caught.

Support – Chen "PYL" Bo

Lastly, we get to the backbone and primary shotcaller of LGD. The respect players have for this man is insane, to the point where both GODV and Imp joined specifically to share rosters with this godlike support player. PYL’s game sense is absolutely unmatched. His recall timings and movements around the map set up LGD’s laners to gain enough leads to easily snowball the game in their favor. His leadership also shows whenever a decisive call is made. There is no hesitation, there is no second guessing, there is only following their leader. LGD plays the map better than any other Chinese team has gotten close to playing it this season. Pyl is so good at a leading that he’s the one guiding TBQ through the river aiding him in placing wards and ganking at the appropriate times.  

Player to look out for: GODV.

This is a stacked year when it comes to mid lane talent. Names such as Faker, Rookie, PawN, Febiven, Ryu, Nagne, and Bjergsen are all trying to shine the brightest this year. This is a scenario where GODV thrives -- being able to outplay and outduel his opponents. He is mechanically gifted and quite possibly the best roaming mid laner attending Worlds this year. Whenever GODV is involved, you need to have your wards in check.

Conclusion:

LGD is definitely one of the favored teams to win the entire championship this year, especially after defeating EDG in the semifinals of the LPL summer playoffs in such a convincing manner. Barring TBQ, all of LGD’s players are elite tier players, some of them soon to achieve legendary status. The most scary detail about this team is that even when their opponents have singled out TBQ and made him irrelevant, LGD has still found ways to win what was basically a 4v5. Look out SKT, for it might just be the year of LGD and Imp may just crush your dreams again…

Images courtesy of liquidlegends.net, LGD Gaming's Twitter, thescoreesports, lolnews.com

If you enjoy bite sized content about specific teams, don't forget to follow the author on twitter: @Heckmaister. More to be released in the following days in anticipation of the world championships.