The League of Legends World Championship play-in stage is about to begin. Recently, insider Hongcha revealed that this year, to ensure players' health during the competition, LPL sponsors invested millions to form a professional therapy team that follows the teams throughout the event. There are both specialized practice squads and therapy groups—such a scale has never been seen before in the LPL, indicating the situation has become critical.

During a recent livestream, Doinb also disclosed that the LPL’s largest sponsor might withdraw funding next year (possibly Mercedes). With major backers pulling out, the LPL’s current predicament is quite awkward. If the region fails to clinch the championship again this year, the LPL’s popularity next year could plummet sharply. Although everyone hopes for an LPL victory, the skill gap with the LCK remains significant, making the chances seem slim.

IG secures pick side rights for the play-in stage

In the match between IG and T1, luck favored IG as well. When the two teams flipped a coin to decide side selection, IG won the right to choose first for game one. The coaching staff and players chose the blue side proactively. Despite recent patch changes, many overpowered champions remain, and the blue side allowed IG to reliably pick strong meta heroes. However, T1 on the red side is also formidable, with KkOma likely playing a counter role.

If the bot lane gets countered by Keria, the laning phase might be tough honestly. But when IG faces T1, the key is the top and mid lanes. As long as TheShy doesn’t feed and Rookie steps up, it’s not that difficult. Since no team has played this patch at Worlds yet, this BO5 will test not only current form but also which team understands the meta better.

BLG gets zero screen time in Worlds MV

This year’s Worlds theme song and MV have been released. G.E.M.’s song, to be honest, is somewhat underwhelming — it sounds grand but isn’t very appealing to listen to (maybe just a personal taste issue). The MV features three main protagonists: G2’s mid laner CAPS, IG’s top laner TheShy, and T1’s mid laner Faker. Among them, Faker actually has slightly less screen time than CAPS.

The first segment highlights CAPS solo, followed by TheShy’s “divine descent” and another CAPS appearance. CAPS’s screen time nearly fills half the MV. Uzi also appears, suggesting next year’s Hall of Fame selection is almost certain. However, BLG, the strongest all-Chinese roster in our region, received almost no screen time, which sparked dissatisfaction among BLG fans, many of whom criticized Riot in the comments.

LCK Korean cosplayers support T1

A well-known Korean cosplay agency recently announced that three Korean cosplayers will appear at the S15 play-in stage to interact with the audience, clearly to support T1. These cosplayers are quite popular domestically. Yasal, for example, gained over 1.7 million followers on Bilibili after being reported by peers for her dedication at conventions earlier this year.

The second cosplayer is Nari, well-known among League fans, especially Faker’s supporters. She cosplayed Ahri in photos with Faker twice before. As for Siru, although less famous than the other two in our region, she is also highly skilled and dedicated, with great looks and figure. Although their presence is to cheer on T1, the live audience will certainly enjoy the show.

Conclusion:

IG on the blue side really needs to carefully consider which lane to prioritize for first pick. If the top and mid laners are not in great form lately, personally, I think giving Gala the chance to pick Kaisa or Sivir would increase IG’s chances more. However, the current meta favors jungle and support, so Wei’s priority might be raised to first pick.

So, who do you think IG should prioritize for the first pick?

Feel free to leave your thoughts and join the discussion!