The biggest upset in LPL history happened

Since AL faced off fully against the two strongest LCK teams during MSI and the Oil Cup, many LPL viewers have labeled AL as the top team in the league. Some AL fans even elevated AL as the potential LPL champion. Although the season just started and AL suffered consecutive losses due to the schedule, after beating IG and BLG, many fans believed AL was back. Even AL’s manager publicly expressed confidence, stating “AL for international matches.”

Despite AL’s continuous winning streak, many LPL fans noticed that AL’s dominance wasn’t very strong, especially after AL unexpectedly lost to WE in the final match. Before this BO3 series, WE was often mocked by fans as a “full loss” team since they only managed to beat the last-place FPX this season and couldn’t win against a struggling JDG. Thus, many AL fans couldn’t understand why AL lost to WE.

Tabe’s interview criticizing Shanks sparks heated discussion

After the “full-match champion” AL lost to the “full-loss” WE, many AL fans tried to justify the loss, believing AL was experimenting with new lineups to prepare for playoffs. However, AL’s coach Tabe refused to excuse his players during an interview, stating that the BO3 loss to WE wasn’t due to coaching or draft issues but rather the poor performance of AL’s players. (In the first game, AL used their highest win-rate champions this season: Aatrox top, Kindred jungle, and Aphelios with Rell bot)

Following Tabe’s rare outburst in the interview, many LPL viewers blamed AL’s loss on their mid laner Shanks. In the BO3, Shanks became the team’s weak point: in game one, playing Anivia, he repeatedly got lost and caught before team fights, causing AL to be outnumbered in mid-game skirmishes. In game two, Shanks frequently gave up kills, allowing WE’s Akali mid to snowball. Many fans openly said that with Shanks as mid laner, AL’s future looks bleak.

BLG publicly “mocked” by T1

Recently, the official LOL channel released videos showcasing T1’s championship skin effects. Many viewers noticed that T1’s support player K’s Pyke skin contains an Easter egg referencing BLG. During recall animation, Pyke pulls out a scroll engraved with five champion portraits. Upon close inspection, these five champions are the exact picks BLG players used in last year’s deciding match (Kai’Sa, Jarvan, Ahri, Varus, Rell).

Many BLG fans criticized T1’s players as petty after discovering this “Easter egg,” recalling how T1’s support K and AD player Lu Bu had repeatedly expressed grudges against BLG in interviews (especially since BIN swept T1 during MSI, putting T1 under heavy public pressure, and BIN often mocked T1 in interviews). However, some viewers felt BLG brought this on themselves due to reckless play during Worlds; had BLG maintained discipline in the finals, they might have won the championship.

Conclusion

Personally, I think AL’s poor results are closely related to mid laner Shanks. In the past, AL could blame the schedule for losses, but now it’s been almost two months since the Oil Cup ended, and Shanks still hasn’t returned to peak form. Why do you think Shanks’ performance has declined so sharply? Remember, many LPL fans once called Shanks the best domestic mid laner during the second split finals, yet now he can’t even outperform WE’s mid laner.