IG’s dominance doesn’t make the top five?

As the S15 World Championship enters a short break, many professional LOL players were invited by the organizers to participate in various interviews. During these events, T1’s mid-laner Faker and support player KkOma ranked the championship teams from S1 to S14. The list from highest to lowest is: 2015 SKT, 2023 T1, 2020 DWG, 2024 T1, 2014 GEN, 2013 SKT, 2018 IG, 2016 T1, 2017 GEN, 2012 ROX, 2011 FNC, 2019 FPX, 2022 DRX, and 2021 EDG.

From the rankings by support KkOma and mid-laner Faker, it’s clear they are not very “friendly” to the LPL region. None of the LPL teams made it into the top five, and even EDG, arguably the most prestigious LPL champion, was placed at the very bottom. It’s worth noting that EDG won the championship surrounded by LCK teams in the semifinals, which should have made their title very valuable. However, support KkOma still ranked them last, which upset many EDG fans.

T1 fans step up to explain

As public discussion grew, many T1 fans voluntarily explained to Faker and KkOma that this ranking likely reflects the teams’ dominance during the World Championship. Although EDG’s title was valuable, they won every knockout match with a close 3-2 score. In reality, EDG’s dominance was the weakest among the champions that year. Similarly, DRX, ranked second to last, had tough matches throughout, especially in the finals where DRX’s top laner Kingen was “possessed” by Aatrox for an hour just to beat T1.

According to T1 fans’ explanation, many IG fans also understand why IG’s championship doesn’t make the historical top five. IG had a full BO5 against KT in the playoffs, and if IG hadn’t beaten KT, KT likely would have been the 2018 champion. Among the top five on the list, except for the 2024 T1 which might be slightly overrated, the other teams won their titles with truly “dominant” performances. (It feels like last year BLG had a chance to win but unfortunately their players missed the opportunity.)

Xiaohu gives up official draw host role

As the only active MSI three-time champion in the LPL, many LPL fans hoped Xiaohu would represent the region in the draw ceremony for this World Championship. However, recently WBG’s jungler Tian revealed on stream that WBG’s mid-laner Xiaohu has a more important task to attend to and therefore cannot be the LPL’s draw guest this year. After this revelation, many fans recalled DOINB’s mention of strengthening the LPL practice group, leading to speculation that Xiaohu might join the practice team, which is why he can’t serve as the draw guest.

With Xiaohu unable to be the draw guest, many viewers began guessing who could replace him. Recently, insiders revealed that Asian Games champion mid-laner Xiye will take Xiaohu’s place for the draw, and the final LPL quarterfinal draw will be conducted by the well-known LOL streamer “Zizai.” (Many fans hope Xiye can secure a favorable draw for LPL, since when Liu Qingsong drew GEN for TES, many feared TES’s future was doomed because T1 and BLG were also in the 1-2 groups, making fans worry TES might miss the quarterfinals.)

Conclusion

Do you think Faker’s ranking list is reasonable? I feel the top three teams on this list are truly valuable, and if I were to vote for the top three in history, I would choose these same teams, as their championship wins were truly “dominant.” If you were to pick the top five teams in history, who would you choose?