LNG Hang weighs in on the seemingly impossible task of beating JDG at Worlds 2023

Hang has quickly become one of the best supports in the world after joining LNG, a team that let him shine in a way he was never able to on FPX. And, while he feels that LPL and LCK teams are evenly matched now that he’s played at Worlds 2023, his first international, playing against Ruler this year made him feel the legendary ADC was on another level.

JDG is by far the favorite team to win Worlds 2023. With the team looking even stronger than they did when they won MSI earlier this year, anyone other than them winning would feel like an upset.

However, LNG really stepped it up in Summer. They knocked Bilibili Gaming aside in the Summer Semifinals, locking themselves in China’s second best team and taking JDG to a full five games in the Grand Final. And, though Chen ‘GALA’ Wei being brought onto the team for the Summer Split was a huge part of their success, his lane partner has had just as big an impact.

We sat down with LNG’s Fu ‘Hang’ Ming-Hang to ask one of China’s best support players about a number of things from LPL vs. LCK in terms of power level, whether or not he sees a way they can beat JDG, and the path to refining his playstyle with LNG.

Learning to control his power

Hang first caught the attention of big co-streamers and content creators like IWDominate and Caedrel on FPX. Alongside LWX, the bot lane duo was known for always trying to find a lead, always looking for fights, and playing an incredibly entertaining high-risk high-reward playstyle.

When Hang was playing well, it seemed like he was playing a different game, making plays that rival those of even someone like Keria, someone who’s been widely considered the best support player in the world mechanically for a long time.

He had a good eye for when to fight at the time, even if it didn’t always work out in his favor. Hang was known for having some int moments alongside his galaxy brain plays, but he was sure to make the game entertaining no matter the outcome.

Nonetheless, his playstyle caught the attention of Western content creators and LPL fans alike, and his strongest moments are likely a big part of why LNG picked him up despite FPX’s overall poor performance in 2022.

And, according to Hang, getting to play on a team that has a much higher skill level overall has made it much easier to win games without him having to make all-or-nothing plays.

“It really feels like, joining LNG, all of my teammates are super strong,” Hang explained. “I don’t need to play super aggressive to win the game, I just need to find opportunities to help the whole team win.”

Additionally, he felt like GALA joining the team really helped him improve. “First of all, it feels like GALA helped me a lot in the laning phase. After joining, we’ve had a much more stable laning phase. Also, in late-game teamfights, GALA really plays a huge role on the team.”

Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

Though Hang isn’t playing quite as flashy as he used to, that Western following has remained. He was surprised to learn that he’s had a following out West since before he was on a strong team like LNG, especially with Worlds 2023 being his first big international event.

Hang was a bit nervous in the interview, with his hands visibly shaking holding onto the mic. It was an interview held right after yet another set lost to JDG, but learning that he had fans and recognition in the West really put a smile on his face and seemed to calm his nerves a bit from that point on. Hang had kind words for creators like Caedrel and Dom, as well as their fans, who have been supporting him for a while:

“I’m really happy, and thank you for always supporting me. I feel very happy to hear that.”

It was, however, clear that Hang had one thing on his mind: Figuring out how the hell they’re supposed to beat JDG.

LNG Hang has to figure out how to topple a giant

Park ‘Ruler’ Jae-hyuk is regarded by many as the current best player in the world. Saying a League of Legends player is the “best in the world” is a bit of a hyperbolic statement, especially considering how many different talents are required to succeed as a LoL pro and how differently those talents have to be applied depending on your role and champion.

Regardless, Ruler is so good that any sense of hyperbole gets thrown out the window. He just knows what he needs to do to win in almost every scenario. Even he himself thought so when we interviewed him at MSI, with Ruler remarking that he felt he was “too good to quit” when reflecting on times he thought about retiring. And, despite having just lost to him, Hang had a lot of praise for Ruler as well.

Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

“It really feels like, at the World Championship, all the bot lane players are very strong. But it feels like Ruler is special. If you give him champions like Kai’Sa, Zeri, Xayah, those kinds of champions, he can really make sure, in the laning phase, he has good form and CS. And, in the late game, he can really carry the whole team. It feels like he always gets the most out of his champion.”

It certainly helps that ADC is so strong in the current meta, to the point that first-picking a strong AD champ and banning a ton of other ADCs in the ban phase is common. The strength of champions like those Hang named Ruler to be good on has been a major point of conversation in the community, with the few strong AD options giving Ruler a distinct carry angle in almost any game from blue side.

Many feel as if blue side is OP and, with 25 of 35 games during the Swiss Stage going in favor of blue side at the time of writing, it’s hard to argue with results. If we factor out games where a team was clearly outclassed by their opponent like Team BDS’ loss to JDG, it seems that, when teams are evenly matched, blue side almost always wins in the current meta.

When trying to figure out how to take down JDG, this was Hang’s biggest obstacle.

“For today’s game, we started on the red side. It really feels like, on the red side, the pick/ban is really hard for us. We definitely have some regrets. I’m still thinking about ways to handle pick/ban on the red side.”

Considering the match LNG won was from them playing blue side, this isn’t a surprise. That said, the fact that LNG is so close to being able to take down JDG should have other teams scared. Hang himself is confident in their ability to beat other teams at Worlds 2023, no matter the region. But his take on LPL vs LCK was an interesting one.

“It really feels like all the LPL and LCK teams – there’s almost no gap between the regions’ abilities. Personally, as a team, we view our biggest threats as LPL and LCK teams.”

Hang had a really, really nice way of saying that Western teams don’t scare him, although it seems that G2 has the potential to upset expectations at Worlds 2023.

Regardless, LNG stands as one of the few teams that have a good shot at taking down GenG and JDG on the path to a world title. But, no matter the result, Hang’s exceptional performance on LNG this year could mark the point where everyone learned about one of the world’s next best support players.