The eagerly awaited international League of Legends competition, the Asian Games, begins its qualifiers on June 12. Officials have recently revealed the list of teams. The top two from the last edition, South Korea and Chinese Taipei, are the sole direct invites and skip straight to the elimination rounds. Other regions have to go through qualifiers to earn a place in the main event. There are 14 teams overall, and just as earlier leaks suggested, China is absent from the roster.

In other words, our LPL is indeed missing the Asian Games this time. While LCK made a big announcement of their final roster, the LPL has shown no signs of training or selection. Everyone already knew the outcome. The main reason the event was removed is the poor performance last time: actively choosing the patch version, playing at home, yet struggling to beat the Vietnamese team in a three-game thriller, ultimately only winning a bronze medal.

Even the provincial team won silver, but the LPL only managed bronze—that’s definitely unacceptable. According to various blogger leaks, the officials prioritized past results when deciding which games to include. Self-developed games have a higher chance of winning gold, so titles like Honor of Kings, Peacekeeper Elite, and Naraka: Bladepoint were kept. In the last Asian Games, all three of these domestic games won gold, and even Dota 2 took the gold medal.

Among the five events, only League of Legends underperformed. From a performance standpoint, its removal was inevitable. As for the remaining reasons involving relationships and the political landscape, those are beyond our discussion. Let’s just say those in the know understand. With the LPL not participating, LCK is truly laughing: Zeka and Canyon, who have yet to earn their military exemption, now have a 99% chance of securing it, as there are virtually no opponents.

LCK fans, upon learning that we won’t compete, have been discussing this enthusiastically. Many suggest that players who already have military exemption could claim injury and voluntarily give up their spots, giving a chance to those who haven’t. They propose forming a “military exemption expedition team.” Honestly, these suggestions are quite feasible—no matter what, LCK will win the gold medal anyway.

Replace Zeus in the top lane with Kiin or Doran, skip Faker in the mid lane and put BDD or Chovy in, swap Viper for Gumayusi, and replace the support with Duro or Delight. With this lineup, six players could earn military exemption in this Asian Games, ensuring these talented veterans remain active on the stage for years. However, such a scenario is unlikely; if the substitution backfires, it would be a disaster.

The idea of swapping players is just a joke. The roster is already confirmed—if it has been submitted, no changes are possible. Players like BDD and Kiin are probably already feeling the pain. No wonder GEN’s owner posted multiple times asking for Kiin to get another chance at the Asian Games; these insiders probably knew long ago that the LPL wouldn’t participate, hence their repeated advocacy for Kiin.

If the LPL had won a silver medal last time, they would have had a chance to participate. It seems Zhu Kai and EDG completely closed the door. Originally, 369 and JKL could have joined, but due to uncertain rumors, they both gave up. In the end, they sent a “delivery coach” to lead the team and squeezed in Jiejie and Meiko, who were in poor form. A bronze medal effectively killed the LOL event.

Conclusion:

Whether the LPL participates or not, the outcome of LCK winning the gold medal wouldn’t change much. If we had gone, the team would most likely be based on BLG, perhaps swapping only the AD carry. But currently, players like Gala, JackeyLove, and Elk are not in great form, so replicating the performance of the demonstration event against the strong Korean team is nearly impossible.

So, do you think LCK’s gold medal is a sure thing?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!