S15 Swiss round matchups revealed: AL faces Korea in round one, BLG gets a favorable draw, TES faces a tough challenge

Greetings to all LPL fans and League of Legends summoners, this is Tianxia Game Report.

The first day of the S15 World Championship had just one match: the play-in game between IG and T1, which ended with T1 advancing smoothly to the round of sixteen. Soon after, the Swiss round draw was conducted live.

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The final draw results have been released, revealing the opponents for the three major LPL teams.

S15 Swiss round matchups: BLG avoids T1

The Swiss round draw rules remain the same as previous years, but this year there is an exception: a contest between the LPL and LCK fourth seeds for a spot. The losing region’s third seed will move into the third seed pool. Since IG lost, TES enters the third seed pool, while KT remains in the second seed pool.

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After T1 advanced as the fourth seed, they automatically entered the third seed pool.

The draw divides 16 teams into three separate seed pools: the first seed pool consists of champions from major regions, while the third seed pool contains the lowest-seeded teams from each region.

The second seed pool is made up of the second-seeded teams from each region.

Five teams from the first seed pool will be drawn against five teams from the third seed pool, while the six teams in the second seed pool will generate three additional matchups. These form the eight first-round Swiss matches.

The draw guest was former LPL veteran Ming, who finalized the pairings for the Swiss round first matches.

Notably, possible China-Korea matchups in the Swiss round include GEN (1) vs. TES (3), BLG (1) vs. T1 (3), and AL (2) vs. HLE (2) or KT (2).

In the end, BLG avoids T1, TES avoids GEN, but AL faces a China-Korea showdown.

AL battles Korean team, TES faces a challenge

Among the three LPL teams, BLG’s first-round opponent is North America’s 100T, which is a favorable draw with a high chance of victory. Generally, at the start of Worlds, teams prefer to face weaker opponents to find their rhythm. TES will face G2, which is admittedly a difficult first-round matchup.

G2 is arguably the strongest opponent TES could draw besides GEN, so TES will need thorough preparation.

AL drew arguably the toughest opponent in the first round, as the strongest potential rivals in the second seed pool were HLE and KT. Drawing HLE means this match will be the most watched first-round Swiss game, a clash of different regions and teams’ meta interpretations.

From the LCK side, GEN and T1 have favorable draws, while KT, the biggest victim of the first Swiss round at Worlds, faces a relatively weaker opponent this time. It remains to be seen if KT will suffer the same misfortune as before.

LPL must regroup and prepare for the Swiss round

Today was definitely a disappointing day for the LPL region, losing a key player on the first day of Worlds, especially from the region’s most popular full-strength team. Although many expected IG to lose before the match, the outcome was still hard to accept.

The reason is that IG had chances to push the match further or even win, but missed key moments and ultimately lost.

However, I believe IG’s performance had merits worth noting, with lessons other LPL teams can learn from. Firstly, IG’s draft in the first two games was solid. Secondly, although IG lost, they did not abandon their team-building philosophy or spirit.

IG can lose and be overwhelmed, but they will never back down. Against Korean teams, LPL squads must dare to fight boldly and challenge their opponents with proactive aggression to disrupt LCK’s control and maneuvering. Only then can they break through and achieve strong results at this World Championship.