S15 Swiss Round: Shanks' Cassiopeia's Venomous Dance Dominates the Battlefield, AL Defeats HLE for a Strong Start

During the initial Swiss round of the 2025 LoL World Championship, AL triumphed over HLE, earning a successful start and moving forward in the Swiss bracket at 1-0.

HLE: Qiyana, Jarvan IV, Ryze, Kai'Sa, Alistar

AL: Rek'Sai, Pantheon, Cassiopeia, Senna, Neeko

At the two-minute mark, HLE’s jungle and support initiated a gank in mid lane, but Shanks’ Cassiopeia positioned close to teammates, allowing AL’s jungler and Shanks to counterattack and secure kills on HLE’s mid and support. Although Saint’s Rek’Sai was heavily targeted, the other four members grouped up and found opportunities, giving AL an early advantage in fights.

At 17 minutes during the dragon team fight, AL secured the dragon, but Viper’s Kai'Sa dominated the following skirmish with a quadra kill, halting their dragon deficit. At 21 minutes in the top lane clash, Shanks’ Cassiopeia dealt massive damage, turning the tide as AL wiped out HLE and seized control of Baron Nashor. Later, HLE took the dragon, but AL’s pursuit killed two HLE players, forcing them to retreat.

At 25 minutes during the Baron fight, AL’s dual carries were quickly eliminated, yet Viper’s Kai'Sa once again maneuvered skillfully to claim a triple kill. In the late game, both teams contested the second Baron, but at 32 minutes AL killed four HLE members and immediately secured the Baron buff.

Then Kael prevented Viper from taking the dragon and successfully stole the Elder Dragon soul. With the dragon soul, AL began to pressure HLE. At 39 minutes, AL caught Zeus’ Qiyana and secured Baron. During the Elder Dragon team fight, AL initiated first, killing HLE’s jungle and support, then pushed mid lane to finish the game, defeating HLE and earning a strong opening win at S15.