TES's first match saw a complete collapse! After Cream's suspension, Tian was mercilessly toyed with, and JKL's performance was disappointing.

Hello to all LPL viewers and League of Legends summoners, this is World Game Hub.

The LPL previously announced that the second segment of the 2026 season will officially begin on April 4th. Before the LPL season starts, LPL teams first participated in the EWC qualifiers to determine the two teams advancing to the Esports World Cup.

In yesterday's summit group matches, both TES and IG suffered defeats, with disappointing performances.

TES completely collapsed, with 369 being solo-killed by Saint.

TES encountered a match-fixing incident involving jungler Cream during the first segment. After self-investigation during playoffs and submission to the league, the official penalty was a permanent suspension. This left TES with a vacant jungler position, and with limited options, they brought back Tian, who previously played for TES.

Additionally, bot lane player JKL returned, making TES's roster strength appear significantly improved.

However, TES's performance in their first EWC qualifier match yesterday was shocking. They were swept by AL, almost completely crushed with a team-wide collapse. In the first game, they even suffered a 19-0 kill deficit, only managing two kills in later team fights before being defeated 27-2.

Top laner 369, playing Renekton, was killed by a gank and then solo-killed by Saint's Sion during the laning phase. JKL was targeted in the bot lane and also collapsed. The jungle gap was particularly huge; Tian was suppressed by Tarzan throughout, making it look less like a professional jungler duel and more like a difference in skill level.

Netizens exclaimed that Tian's debut performance seemed even worse than the normal play of the match-fixing jungler Cream. JKL was also invisible throughout the game, with almost no presence, and 369 remained in the city.

TES's shocking five-city collapse, JKL's debut 0-10.

During the match, sharp-eyed viewers noticed Tian attempting to hit a vision flower in the jungle but getting outplayed, interrupting his own basic attacks several times, which looked very comical. His score was 0-6, though he managed two assists. 369's Renekton ended the game shamefully at 0-6-0.

In the second game, 369 picked Yorick and nearly solo-killed Saint in the top lane, but his E missed, and Tarzan came to collect the kill.

Tarzan's Skarner continued to dominate the entire map, not treating Tian as a threat at all. He invaded the jungle, fought Tian, and coordinated with teammates to secure kills. Later, Tian forced two decent plays, but that was about it.

The subsequent match again turned into AL's solo showcase. AL clearly had better team coordination and individual player form, while TES looked like five random players with poor coordination and lacking personal skill.

TES ultimately lost this round. JKL's debut two-game score was a miserable 0-10. Spectators exclaimed TES's shocking five-city collapse, thinking TES would improve after the match-fixing jungler suspension, but it turned out worse.

Poor form after rest, needs time to adapt.

In another match, IG was also easily swept by WBG. IG shared a trait with TES: they also introduced a player who rested during the first segment, top laner Breathe, along with TES's Tian and JKL. All three resting players had poor debut performances.

This was somewhat predictable, but no one expected their form to be so bad.

Personally, the root cause of poor form after a player's rest is the change in lifestyle habits. After resting, training intensity inevitably drops significantly—no daily heavy Ranked games, certainly no high-intensity scrims. Returning to competition from a relaxed state and trying to regain tense, competitive form is undoubtedly difficult.

Such players often need time to adjust. Although their first-game performance was poor, we shouldn't yet define their current skill level. Hopefully, starting with reviewing this loss, they can strive to adjust their form. After losing the EWC qualifiers, aim to show a different face in the LPL's second segment.