With a loss to Korean giant KT Rolster this morning, Chinese first seed LGD Gaming’s hopes of moving on to the bracket stage of the 2015 League of Legends World Championship have come to an end.
The defeat was the team’s fourth in a row, falling to all three teams in their group, Origen, Team SoloMid, and KT Rolster, last week. For a team predicted to be one of the top contenders for the title, the titan has suffered a colossal collapse.
The losses come at the hands of a poor performance overall from the LGD members. But jungler Zhu “TBQ” Yong-Quan, who dealt with health issues during the tournament, and mid laner Wei “GODV” Lian—normally ranked as one of the best mid laners in China—in particular failed to perform against their peers in the group.
The team hoped for a turnaround by substituting in legendary top laner Lee “Flame” Ho-jong for today’s games. But he couldn’t provide a spark to ignite a better performance from a team that continued to play without fire.
Prior to the World Championship, LGD Gaming had a bumpy Summer season. But it managed to turn things around and have a dominating playoffs, taking first place over the Qiao Gu Reapers. Due to the team’s performance and a track record of success the playoff environment, the team was initially favored for Worlds alongside Korean behemoth SK Telecom T1 and Chinese peers EDward Gaming.
But after today, the team will pack their bags and head to China empty-handed as one of the biggest disappointments ever at the World Championships.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr
