All Things LPL

Exciting Players of Spring 2021

nuguri viper jackeylove tarzan

FPX Nuguri

nuguri joins fpx

Nuguri joined FPX this year as their new Toplaner. He's arguably the best Toplaner in the world, and maybe even the best player in the world right now. Before joining FPX he was an important part of the Damwon roster that won worlds in 2020. What makes Nuguri so exciting is his ability to play carry champions at insane levels and his ability to impact the game even from the top lane.

In the playoffs Nuguri mostly played Jayce and Irelia, two of the most mechanical champions in the game, and almost carried his team over the finish line, even when the rest of them were losing.

Nuguri is an innovater of the Toplane first and foremost. In 2019 he was the first to start building Kleptomancy on every champion in the game, later that year it was removed because he showed how broken it was.

He's also one of the only players to play Irelia into Gnar despite how good the matchup is because of how hard Irelia is to play.

nuguri on damwon

EDG Viper

Before Viper was on EDG he was the ADC for the iconic team Griffin in Korea. On Griffin Viper made it to quarter-finals of worlds 2019 where they lost to IG.

Viper is a mechanically gifted player and a top two ADCarry in the world alongside RNG GALA. His champion pool is neigh infinite and he can play all sorts of ADC's as well as mages in the Botlane.

viper on team griffin viper samira stats

When Griffin disbanded at the end of 2019 Viper joined HLE in 2020 alongside his Support Lehends, but couldn't find any success. He was slumping and needed a change of pace. Viper alongside a few other prominent Korean players left for the LPL in 2021. He joined EDG and instantly looked like his old self, maybe even better.

In the playoffs he was EDG's best player and main carry. The team plays a very controlled style to try and get him ahead because once Viper is online the game is over.

TES Jackeylove

IG Jackeylove

When Invictud Gaming won worlds in 2018 Jackeylove was their ADCarry. In 2018 he was a stable force in the botlane, but over time as he got better, he became more unpredictable just like the rest of teammates. Jackeylove started taking more risks, and most of the time they worked. When Jackeylove was outplaying opponents he looked like the best player in the world, but when things fell short, he looked like one of the worst.

After IG lost at worlds in 2019 he stepped away from the game for a bit. Just like Viper he was lost and didn't know where to go. Then he found a new home on TES right at the end of the 2020 spring split.

After joining TES Jackeylove's flippy tendencies got even more extreme. Almost every game he played Jackeylove looked like a god, but in return sometimes he played like he couldn't find his keys.

Jackeylove was a key part in TES winning the LPL summer 2020 championship, as well as making it to semi-finals of worlds that same year. This year he's had more bad games than last, but come summer 2021 if he's back on form TES will be unstoppable.

jackeylove aphelios stats

LNG Tarzan

Before Tarzan (pictured on the right) joined LNG he, like Viper, was on team Griffin. Tarzan was their jungler, their leader, their playmaker. He was the brains behind the greatness that was Griffin and was touted as the best jungler in the world during 2019. Leading Griffin Tarzan eventually lost to IG in the quarter-finals of the 2019 world championship.

While Tarzan is good mechanically he's nowhere near the level of his former teammates Viper and Chovy. Rather, what makes Tarzan so exceptional is his brain. He plays the game slow and calculated, choking opposing teams out until there's no way for them to win.

tarzan and viper on team griffin tarzan with his team

When Griffin disbanded Tarzan chose to stay. In the end he couldn't carry a Griffin squad that had lost all its other prominent members and joined LNG in 2021. Unlike Viper his team didn't instantly climb the standings and perform well. While Tarzan's been showing a lot of excellence in the Jungle, his toplaner and midlaner are lackluster, ulitimately bringing the team down.

In the playoffs they were eliminated in the first round, but hopefully the team is able to make some changes and find success with their stellar jungler and strong ADC and support.