For context this was after the TES vs AL game

Transcript:

369: What feels different this year is that I’m coming in after a long break from competing. It’s pretty interesting for me.

Interviewer: You brought a Zuian plushie with you to worlds. After this big win, what would you like to say to him?

369: I hope Zuian’s visa comes through soon, so he can come help me in the US.

Interviewer: Kanavi says he wants to face you in the quarterfinals, any words for him?

369: Kanavi is so mean, we will make sure to invade his raptors.

Interviewer: Your “Champion Pool” has been getting a lot of attention, what do you make of that?

369: I thought it was hilarious. I haven’t been playing [Valorant] that long, so those are the only [agents] I know.

Then I saw the graphic at the venue the other day. They showed each players champion pools. Mine was just three Valorant agents. It was hilarious.

Interviewer: Well you certainly delivered today. Hopefully from today on, your picks will remind everyone just how dominant 369 can be on stage.

Interviewer: After opening day losses, do you have any words for LPL teams and fans?

369: I just hope we all play well the next game. We can’t change what has already happened. Let’s focus on tomorrow.

I was not aware anymore, that last year, in the 2-2 pool T1 secured their quater final spot vs Movistar KOI. Faker was the MVP with a 7-0 Azir in Game1 and a 6-0 Ryze in Game2.

KOI for sure grew up since them and will have a better chance of winning the BO3 this year.

We will get a game 3 today, what do you think?

Ruler: *starts counting*

Chovy: 12 times 5?

Ruler: ...

This team is so unserious sometimes it's hilarious. If you watch any of Gen.G's behind the scenes content, half the time they're just messing with each other.

SkinSpotlights tweeted:

>"Young Legend Cyanide" was added this PBE to memorialize Lauri

Description of the title is "In memory of Cyanide, Season 1 World Champion."

Riot also added a title for Cyanide's teammate and fellow world champion Shushei last year after his passing with his Shushei Forever title and making his Gragas skin for free to honor his memory.

2-0 bracket:

DK 2-0 MKOI - 2 letters vs 4 letters, 4-2=2

GEN 2-1 LYON - 3 letters vs 4 letters, 4-3=1

0-2 bracket:

TLAW 2-0 AL - 4 letters vs 2 letters, 4-2=2

Note: These matches have all concluded more than 24 hours ago so I feel these don't count as spoilers

This is definitely a case by case scenario, the only reason a non maphite player would pick him is into ad teams which makes him more effective. I would still say though malphite players go way to far of script sometimes with the builds. You’ll be going into a mainly ad teams and your malph would be dead set on going full ap or just going items that don’t help him more than armor would in that situation.

Again because counter picks or my rank where people don’t know how to itemize (probably both) it makes it a little skewed, but still malphite players stop building like a mage all the time.

Worlds 2026 Swiss Stage Days 3–4 results:

• LYON 1-2 Gen.G
• TES 1-0 G2
• IG 1-0 HLE
• BLG 1-0 KC
• AL 0-2 TL

I collected some reactions from Baidu Tieba, Hupu, Bilibili, and Douyin, including post-match comments, popular discussion threads and their most upvoted replies. These are selected comments.

1. LYON vs Gen.G (1-2)

[Hupu — LYON takes Game 1 off Gen.G]

This might actually be the best single game of the entire year. [868 likes]

Replies:

↳ What a night. The only game without much suspense was the DK one.

↳ LYON’s shotcalling was fucking insane. You almost NEVER see a team shit on Gen.G this hard in decision-making and macro.

[Hupu — Inspired wins Chinese fans over]

Inspired might genuinely have the best macro of any Western player right now. [651 likes]

Replies:

↳ This guy is fucking insane. He can go toe-to-toe with LCK teams with teammates like THESE. Give him Zeus and Keria, and I don’t even want to imagine how broken that team would be.

↳ ↳ And he's doing all that with Dhokla top.

↳ He’s gotta be among the best even if you count the Chinese and Korean junglers. He was running Gen.G around the map like they were on a leash.

[Hupu — The North American lion]

Inspired’s Xin Zhao was fearless. The North American lion finally cracked Gen.G’s turtle defense. Yeah, Chovy really is “different” this year. Has Qiyana become a trap pick these past two days? And who the hell is playing garbage like Lissandra and Anivia in scrims? [228 likes]

Replies:

↳ Anivia plus Jhin is the real problem. Five people take forever to kill one Renata. How is anyone supposed to keep a straight face?

2. TES vs G2 (1-0)

[Hupu — TES vs G2 post-match comments]

Who would’ve thought the guy playing Valorant would carry two games in a row? Drafting Nocturne to lay down smokes for 369 was the right call. [3159 likes]

Replies:

↳ Tian drops the smokes, Old Nine holds the angle with a sniper. Nothing wrong with that.

↳ The visa officer was right.

↳ If TES win Worlds, people who don’t know the backstory will think 369 was MVP. Those in the know will understand the real MVP was some unknown American visa officer.

Last game, the stats couldn't show how hard TheShy carried IG. This game, they couldn't show how hard Caps dragged G2 down. [234 likes]

Replies:

↳ That Akali just wouldn't die. So annoying.

↳ ↳ Fly-style Akali. Barely does any damage, just flies around annoying the shit out of everyone. Even his own teammates are sick of him.

[Hupu — 369’s future]

Seriously, 369 won’t have trouble getting a contract next season, right? Dude hasn't even practiced properly in six months and he's playing like THIS at Worlds… [716 likes]

Replies:

↳ 369 hasn’t lacked contract offers since the day he debuted.

↳ Have you seen the current level of LPL top laners? What makes you think 369 would lack offers?

3. IG vs HLE (1-0)

[Bilibili — Pre-match video about Zeus drawing IG]

This video was posted before the match. Title: "Zeus's Worst Nightmare! He Can't Believe HLE Drew IG. Now He Has to Face His Old Rival TheShy."

ROYAL ZOMBIE KNIGHTS, ASSEMBLE! [8,683 likes]

Replies:

↳ CHAAAAARGE! [474 likes]

"Zombies" is a mocking nickname for TheShy fans.

"My zombies are still staying up to watch. Let me show off a little longer." [1,093 likes]

[Hupu — JiaQi turns a three-time champion into a background character]

First Worlds appearance and he's already making a three-time world champion ADC look like an NPC. So the LPL finally has an ADC worth watching. JiaQi is insane. [8,237 likes]

Replies:

↳ JiaQi was unstoppable. Against a strong opponent, Zeus was the only one doing anything for HLE. Kanavi and Guma were dead weight, and Zeka went invisible AGAIN.

↳ JiaQi might be the most entertaining LPL ADC at Worlds in the past two years. First international event, facing Ruler and Gumayusi, and he’s held his own against BOTH, even putting them under pressure. And TES seriously let this ADC go?!

↳ Staying up was worth it. I was dead tired, but that woke me right up. I could watch all night and still go to work.

[Tieba — HLE’s bot lane dies before minions even arrive]

Didn’t think even Hamburger King’s record could be broken.

“Chocolate” comes from an old HLE video where Viper complained that staff got him 72% dark chocolate instead of the 80% he wanted. “Burger King” is a newer meme from Worlds 2026. He reportedly skipped Chinese food with his BLG teammates because he thought it was too greasy and unhealthy, then went to eat a burger instead. Chinese fans found the irony hilarious, and with Viper underperforming at Worlds, both nicknames have become popular ways to roast him.

Replies:

↳ The broadcast director looked down for a second and the whole bot lane was already dead. [773 likes]

↳ ↳ HLE are so competitive they'll even fight for the fastest bot-lane death record.

[Tieba — Zeka gets the NICE treatment]

Zeka gets so hyped seeing both his bot laners die that he screams, "NICE! THAT'S HOW I GET TO PAD MY STATS!" [2,800 likes]

This meme comes from a clip of Knight playing Akali in solo queue. After seeing his bot lane get killed in lane, he said, "NICE! That's how I get to pad my stats!" Since a similar thing happened to his bot lane against MKOI, Chinese fans started bringing up the clip to mock him. The line has since become a running meme, with fans now using it to roast Zeka as well.

Replies:

↳ LMAOOO. I KNEW this line was gonna become scripture.
↳ Guma: "Bro Zeka, I've saved up 1,000 gold for you down in bot lane!"

↳ "Zeka sees both his bot laners die and screams, 'NICE! THAT'S HOW I GET TO GO HOME IN THE ROUND OF 16!'"

↳ Pretty hard to farm stats on Lissandra, though.

↳ Not this copypasta again 💀

[Tieba — Chocolate vs Egg]

Guma is on another level. At least Chocolate lasted a full minute. This guy died before the minions even reached lane. [1,011 likes]

Replies:

↳ So even at getting killed in lane, Chocolate can’t beat Egg? 😂

↳ ↳ Can’t match him in trophies, can’t even match him in feeding. ☺️

↳ The timing might be slower, but dying after the wave arrives means you lose the minions too.

“Stinky Egg” is a mocking nickname for Gumayusi, dating back to his 2023 “ramen theory,” where he compared ADCs to an optional egg in a bowl of ramen. Fans later turned the analogy against him.

[Bilibili — Official IG vs HLE match video]

Zeus pulled off the flank of a lifetime, only to realize the enemy ADC was the one FURTHEST away from him. Because the guy had already charged straight at his teammates from the front. [1,523 likes]

Replies:

↳ I’m dying. He ran straight past four people’s faces trying to get there. 😂 [375 likes]

↳ It might’ve worked if Kalista had been fed. Guma could’ve taken the damage, but his Kalista was so underfed he was basically made of paper. And IG’s ADC loves charging straight in with Lulu ult, so Olaf couldn’t just hang back and wait for him.

IG got themselves a rookie, and his ADC is the one standing out front. [1,776 likes]

I’m happy they won, but seeing TheShy sacrifice for the team, trust his teammates and pass them the ball honestly gets to me. [1,203 likes]

Replies:

↳ Even after that, they still have to target him. 😂 They’ll even give up dragon to send all five after him. [461 likes]

Having a bot lane that can actually carry… I’m genuinely jealous. [369 likes]

[Bilibili — TheShy and his permanently attached junglers]

Ning is the jungler who's spent the most time glued to TheShy, with Navi in second place. [3,048 likes]

Replies:

↳ By percentage, Navi is above 99%. Ning just wins on total games. [973 likes]

↳ Those two might be the only junglers who’d camp top for an entire minute just for TheShy. [841 likes]

[Douyin]

Video title: "A masterpiece is born. TheShy and Zeus each get their own 1v4."

TheShy: "Little Zeus, you lost Faker, who could carry with his eyes closed. Me? I lost Xiaohu." [1,158 likes]

Replies:

↳ Where’s Brother Hu dancing these days? Oops, I mean making money. [305 likes]

↳ ↳ Your Brother Hu is on Weibo looking for four teammates. 😂 [18 likes]

Zeus: "Me, 1v4? I was the one who got engaged on!" [901 likes]

Replies:

↳ Zeus: "HE fought four people. I didn’t. Four people jumped ME! I was on the receiving end. He was the one who charged in swinging." [154 likes]

[Douyin]

"AIGOO! KING WU GOES TO WAR AGAINST ZEUS!" [2,238 likes]

"Aigoo" is a Korean exclamation, kind of like "oh man" or "oh no." It’s TheShy’s signature sigh on stream, usually after getting solo-killed or making a questionable play, complete with his distinctive accent. The Chinese joke is a pun on "King Wu attacks King Zhou" (武王伐纣), replacing 纣 (Zhou) with 宙 (also pronounced Zhou), the character used for Zeus in Chinese. TheShy is nicknamed the "Martial Saint."

[Bilibili — Back to the official IG match video]

Bro, if our FOURTH seed is this good, surely the first seed is about to take off! [3,185 likes]

Replies:

↳ The flight’s already taken off. [1,874 likes]

↳ Oh, they’re about to fly alright. [918 likes]

4. BLG vs KC (1-0)

[Hupu — BLG breaks the LPL’s KC losing streak]

Didn’t expect THIS to be an actual record.

Replies:

↳ KC aren’t weak. T1 even lost a BO1 to them.

[Hupu — Why was BLG vs KC so close?]

I’m numb. Why was that so hard?

Replies:

↳ KC aren’t bad. Why does everyone think BLG should stomp them? Didn’t LYON have to come back against them too?

↳ ↳ It’s not about whether KC are bad. Anyone’s under pressure in a BO1. There’s no margin for error.

[Tieba — What do you think of Bin saying Doran outclasses him in every aspect?]

Has this guy completely lost his fighting spirit? Didn't he used to call himself the best top laner in the world? Now he can't name a SINGLE thing he's better at? 🙂 [1,106 likes]

Replies:

↳ Nah, that's just Flandre after plastic surgery. The real Bin's been locked away.

↳ This is like a kid who gets yelled at by his parents for playing video games, then deliberately turns himself into a soulless study machine just to make them regret it.

↳ Everything he says feels so forced. Even his playstyle has completely flipped. It's like he's deliberately trying to be the exact opposite of his old self.

Another comment thread:

What the hell happened to Brother Bin? Did someone actually possess his body? [510 likes]

Replies:

↳ Even JackeyLove never got flamed THIS hard. From the casters to the viewers, literally everyone's shitting on him. 😂

Another comment thread:

Remember MSI, when Bin thought Doran was absolute trash? It's only been a few months, and look at him now. Great fucking job, LPL fans. You took a proud, fearless "best top laner in the world" and bullied him into this quiet, insecure, completely ordinary top laner. 😭 [426 likes]

Replies:

↳ Bin said this months ago. They only just uploaded the video.
↳ It's footage from EWC. They released it today.
↳ Proud and fearless? You mean when he gave up and stopped trying to win at EWC while his teammates were massively ahead?

Another comment thread:

Isn't this EXACTLY what LPL viewers wanted? Apparently, the only way to avoid getting flamed is to constantly put yourself down. [1,260 likes]

Replies:

↳ Fans told him to tone it down, and he took that shit WAY too seriously. They told him to stop being so arrogant and act like a normal person, so now he's just surrendering at every possible opportunity.

[Hupu — Knight says BLG has a real shot at winning Worlds, and fans joke he and Bin have swapped personalities]

Knight and Bin have DEFINITELY swapped personalities. 😁 [256 likes]

5. AL vs TL (0-2)

[Tieba — "Did everyone forget our mighty first seed, AL?"]

Did everyone just forget about our mighty LPL first seed, AL?

Replies:

↳ This might sound harsh, but the entire AL roster combined probably doesn't get as much attention as Flandre alone. And they lost to KC. They're basically nobodies now. [412 likes]

↳ Nobody cares. I’ve posted a bunch of AL threads lately, and the only one that got any views had IG in the title. A true three-nothing team: no clout, no skill, no future. [1,268 likes]

↳ Nobody cares. People can’t even be bothered to flame them. [1,152 likes]

↳ ↳ If AL want fame, they either get sent home 0–3 tonight and make history, or reach 3–2 by knocking out HLE. Funniest part: even Miller’s official Bilibili recap congratulated IG and TES, wished BLG luck, and didn’t even mention AL…

[Bilibili — Official AL vs TL match video]

A related video was titled "The Most Cursed Episode Ever: First Seed Makes History by Going Out Winless in the Round of 16."

The LPL’s second, third and fourth seeds have all won two straight. Surely the FIRST seed must be soaring into the sky! 💪 [1,299 likes]

Replies:

↳ Already in the air. Don’t worry about them. 😂 [453 likes]

↳ They really did take flight. Plane tickets and everything. [309 likes]

Could AL just not win Game 2? Years from now, nobody will remember a first seed inching its way forward with a 1–3 game record. But people will remember a first seed going home 0–3 without winning a single game. Your chance to go down in history is right in front of you, AL. [1,247 likes]

Replies:

↳ Holy shit, what a prophet. [256 likes]

↳ Dreams do come true. 😂

[Hupu — AL repays BLG by taking over its humiliation]

How thoughtful of AL. They took BLG's LPL title, then went to Worlds and somehow managed to make BLG look good again by embarrassing themselves even harder. BLG, you’re no longer the most humiliating Round-of-16 exit. [3,518 likes]

Replies:

↳ Mark my words: from the first Worlds to the day they stop holding it, the LPL will NEVER have a more embarrassing first seed than AL. [1,970 likes]

[Tieba — TES has its humiliation record stolen]

"Spinning top" is a long-running insult for TES.

Am I the only one who thinks TES got robbed?

TES spent all those years being the spinning top, and then AL waltzes in and steals its chance to make history.

Replies:

↳ Relax. 😂 Nobody cares about AL. If one of the remaining three teams looks awful in quarters or semis, THAT will get far more attention. [646 likes]

↳ ↳ Doesn’t matter. With the first seed as the baseline, the others can always bring up AL.

↳ ↳ Everybody’s got an excuse now. IG can say “I’m the fourth seed, don’t put this shit on me.” TES can say “We’re missing players and 369 hasn’t competed in six months.” BLG can turn around and flame AL: “You’re the first seed and you played like THAT. How the hell are you gonna put pressure on us?”

[Bilibili — More reactions under AL vs TL]

In case you forgot, even that spinning top managed to win TWO games against TL at First Stand. [804 likes]

Replies:

↳ Anyone still making fun of the spinning top’s results can give it a rest. Even TES never spun this fast. [183 likes]

↳ The spinning top just got redeemed out of nowhere. 😂 [169 likes]

BigWei lifts the LPL trophy and excitedly yells: "NICE! THAT'S HOW I GET TO GO OUT IN THE ROUND OF 16 AS THE FIRST SEED AGAIN!" [1,133 likes]

[Bilibili]

"Xingtian with shield and axe yet dances on,
His fierce will lives, unconquered, as of old." [1,583 likes]

These lines are from Tao Yuanming, a 5th-century Chinese poet. In Chinese myth, Xingtian was beheaded by the Supreme God but kept fighting anyway, still dancing his war dance with shield and axe.

[Hupu — BigWei brings another "championship"]

BigWei was right: whichever team he joins becomes a champion! He went to AL, and sure enough, they became… a Round-of-16 team! [8,578 likes]

I thought TES getting slapped around by Vietnam and last year’s BLG were bad enough. Turns out someone managed to outdo them. [5,013 likes]

After DSG's hot streak in the Promotion Tournament to re-qualify for the LCS, the ProDiff team sat down with Sajed to talk about his thoughts on DSG's rocky season in the 2026 LCS. In the full article:

• Sajed opens up about DSG's LCS struggles and the challenge of being a guest team
• DSG's dominant Promotion Tournament run
• Sajed's thoughts on mage bot and the state of NA solo queue

Following up on my previous KC breakdowns, I wanted to look at the final Elder fight in T1 vs DK, particularly because I've seen a lot of discussion around Peyz not buying QSS, Caitlyn failing to one-shot Renata, and Career's game-winning ultimate.

Former multi-season GM/Chall player here, recently returned after a few years away from League.

I'll break down the initial setup, the individual decisions during the fight, and briefly touch on some of the earlier throws that allowed DK to reach this position in the first place.

The Elder fight [Game Time 39:40][link]

TL;DR: T1 unnecessarily give up their positioning around Elder, fail to properly reconnect their team, and end up taking a disjointed fight. Caitlyn's lack of QSS is a consequence of a much bigger setup mistake.

1. T1 give up their winning Elder position for no reason

At 40:01, you can see both Anivia and Caitlyn begin channeling recall, although Caitlyn eventually cancels hers.

This is where I think the fight starts going wrong.

T1 already have favorable positioning around Elder, with an established Caitlyn trap line and control of DK's approach.

Instead, they give up that space and allow DK to walk into the river.

This should never be allowed given the game state.

My assumption is that T1 are concerned about their mid wave. They want Anivia to push it out so that even if they somehow lose an Elder flip, DK can't immediately end the game through mid.

That's a reasonable concern, but I don't think their solution makes sense.

T1 have two much better options:

• Option 1: Commit to their existing Elder setup. Establish the Caitlyn trap line, maintain control of the river, and force DK to walk into them.
• Option 2: Have Anivia clear mid and TP to the bot-side wave afterward, allowing her to reconnect with the team while also addressing the wave state.

Interestingly, DK recognize a similar issue with their top wave.

At 40:13, Viktor clears top and uses TP to reconnect with his team.

T1 have the opportunity to do something similar with Anivia, but don't.

Instead, they end up sacrificing their initial positional advantage without properly resolving the problem of reconnecting their team.

I think this is by far the most consequential mistake of the entire fight.

2. Anivia and Jayce's positioning creates another problem

One possible explanation for Anivia not using TP is that T1 want to maintain pressure through the banana bush.

I can understand the idea, but I think Jayce should be the one applying that pressure while Anivia uses TP to reconnect with the team through bot side. There's a ward in pixel bush that provides a potential TP option.

However, even if T1 decide against that play, they still have a reasonable alternative.

They can have Anivia pressure through banana while Jayce connects with the rest of the team on bot side.

And at around 40:24, this actually looks like what they're attempting to do.

The problem is that the banana bush is unwarded.

At 40:26, Jayce turns away from his movement toward bot side to Q the banana bush for vision, immediately before a blue trinket is placed.

This looks very much like somebody is calling for vision of that area, which makes sense given that T1 don't know exactly what's inside.

Unfortunately, by this point Elder is already around half HP.

Jayce no longer has enough time to properly reposition toward bot side before the fight begins.

So now T1 have essentially created the worst of both worlds:

They've given up their initial river control, haven't established a proper trap line, and don't have their champions positioned to connect cleanly when DK commit.

The actual fight hasn't even started yet, and T1 are already in a significantly worse position than they were just seconds earlier.

The actual teamfight

3. Why Caitlyn uses E-W-Q on Renata

I've seen some criticism of Caitlyn for using her E-W-Q combo onto Renata instead of simply one-shotting her with a different ability sequence.

I think this is a very understandable decision in the moment.

Renata is relatively tanky with her Locket/Knight's Vow setup, and importantly, she still has both Mikael's and Flash available.

That means Caitlyn can't necessarily assume Renata dies without committing the full combo.

Given how quickly the fight is developing, Caitlyn likely feels pressured to burst Renata before she can use her defensive tools or reposition.

Unfortunately, Kalista manages to get her R off and save Renata.

This leaves Caitlyn without E, which becomes extremely important just moments later.

With hindsight, we can obviously see how valuable holding E would have been.

But at the exact moment Caitlyn commits, I don't think it's unreasonable to use the full combo to try to secure the kill.

4. Vi's Q onto K'Sante instead of connecting with the Neeko engage

At roughly the same time Neeko engages, Vi uses Q toward K'Sante rather than moving toward Kalista and Renata.

I think the thought process here is fairly clear.

Vi is trying to create space against K'Sante so that Jayce and Anivia can connect with the rest of the team.

The problem is that the engage becomes disjointed.

There's a small possibility that if Vi instead Q's toward Kalista, she can connect with R sooner and potentially prevent Kalista from ulting Renata.

That would obviously make the subsequent fight much better for T1.

However, Renata still has Mikael's and Flash available, so it's not guaranteed that this alternative results in a kill. Depending on the timing, she may still be able to buffer or use her defensive options to escape.

I would consider this a relatively minor mistake, if a mistake at all.

The decision to create space against K'Sante is understandable given T1's positioning. The bigger issue is that their setup has already forced them into a situation where they need to solve multiple problems simultaneously.

5. Why Caitlyn flashes Jarvan R

Shortly afterward, Jarvan ults Caitlyn, forcing her to Flash out.

This is where Caitlyn having already used E becomes a major problem.

Without E available, she has significantly fewer options to reposition safely.

Now, Jarvan probably isn't going to solo-kill a full Caitlyn here.

But that doesn't mean Caitlyn can simply stand inside Cataclysm and tank his damage.

If she loses too much HP, she becomes much more vulnerable to Kalista and the rest of DK as the fight continues.

In particular, Caitlyn getting chunked could create an opportunity for DK to secure a Bailout reset through Kalista later in the fight.

So I don't think flashing Jarvan R is unreasonable.

It's another decision that looks questionable when viewed in isolation, but makes sense given the situation Caitlyn has been forced into.

Unfortunately, it also means Caitlyn now has neither E nor Flash available for the next engage.

6. Renata's game-winning R Flash

Career then lands the massive Renata R Flash onto Jayce and Caitlyn, effectively winning the teamfight and the game.

I actually think Jayce could potentially have flashed this.

However, I don't think that necessarily changes the outcome.

By this point, Caitlyn has already used Flash, T1 have lost their initial positional advantage, and DK are in a significantly better position to continue the fight.

Even if Jayce flashes Renata R, Caitlyn is still extremely vulnerable.

Avoiding the ultimate might prevent Jayce from contributing damage onto his own teammate, potentially leaving Caitlyn with around an extra 1,000 HP. (and Jayce is dead to caitlyn anyways)

But Caitlyn is still in a terrible position against a DK composition with Elder control and multiple champions able to collapse onto her.

There's a possibility T1 survive long enough to prevent the immediate game-ending push, but I think they're still heavily favored to lose the fight.

This is another example of a potentially better mechanical play that doesn't necessarily solve the underlying problem.

7. Why Caitlyn not buying QSS isn't the problem

This is probably the criticism I disagree with most.

I've seen a lot of people blaming Peyz for not having QSS against Renata.

But I think this is largely results-based analysis.

At a high level, ADCs generally aren't buying QSS simply because the enemy team has crowd control.

It's much more common when facing reliable, difficult-to-avoid CC that directly threatens their ability to play the game, such as Lissandra R, Annie etc.

Against abilities like Renata R, ADCs are typically relying on positioning, spacing, their own mobility, and their team's ability to create space.

And given the initial Elder setup, Caitlyn should never have been forced into a position where she needed QSS to survive Renata R in the first place.

T1 had the opportunity to establish river control, create a Caitlyn trap line, and force DK to approach through unfavorable terrain.

Instead, they gave up that positioning, allowed DK to enter the river, and ended up fighting from a much worse angle.

By the time Renata lands the game-winning ultimate, Caitlyn has already been forced to use both E and Flash in response to earlier threats.

The lack of QSS isn't what creates this situation. It's the series of positioning and macro decisions leading up to it.

How did T1 even end up in this position?

I also want to briefly touch on the earlier parts of the game, because I don't think T1 should have been in a position where a single Elder fight could decide everything.

There were several pretty significant individual mistakes earlier on.

In particular, Jayce's deaths on both top and bot side, along with Anivia's earlier death around mid, were largely the result of overly greedy positioning and map movements.

These weren't necessarily situations where DK made some incredible, unavoidable play.

T1 repeatedly put themselves in positions where they could be punished despite having control over the game.

Those deaths gave DK opportunities to stabilize and prevented T1 from converting their advantages into a cleaner victory.

The game becomes close enough for DK to win through one decisive teamfight partly because T1 repeatedly give them opportunities they shouldn't have had.

The biggest mistake wasn't how T1 played the fight. It was allowing DK to take that fight in the first place.

Feel free to disagree or point out anything I've missed. I've enjoyed the discussion on the previous breakdowns, and I'm happy to keep doing these if people find them interesting.

"Patch 26.22 Full Preview!"

Full Preview: https://x.com/RiotPhroxzon/status/2115316246120132854

Yesterday's Preview: https://x.com/RiotPhroxzon/status/2114986493139911055

Yesterday's Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1xgphdv/patch_preview_2622/

>>> Champion Buffs <<<

Aurelion Sol

"There are a few Aurelion Sol players who enjoy maxing W second, but most ASol players max E second, even though it's weaker

This is mostly the intuitive thing to do, but is quite a bit weaker than the alternative

In an ideal world, these would be balanced against each other so both playstyles feel powerful"

• [E] Singularity magic damage per tick increased 2.5/3.75/5/6.25/7.5 (+3% AP) >>> 2.5/4/5.5/7/8.5 (+3.5% AP)

Corki

• [R] Missile Barrage damage increased 90/170/250 (+85% bonus AD) >>> 100/190/280 (+90% bonus AD) (Big One damage increased 180/340/500 (+170% bonus AD) >>> 200/380/560 (+180% bonus AD))

Kayle

• [Q] Radiant Blast cooldown reduced 12/11/10/9/8 >>> 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds

• [R] Divine Judgment cooldown reduced 160/120/80 >>> 140/110/80 seconds

Maokai

• [Q] Bramble Smash target's max HP damage ratio increased 2/2.5/3/3.5/4% >>> 2.5/3/3.5/4/4.5%

Naafiri

"We're trying to give a buff to Naafiri mid (at least with the Q heal that's more impactful there vs when she's jungle clearing)

Overall, we think she's close to being appropriately powerful, so not trying to go too hard here"

• [Q] Darkin Daggers heal increased 45/60/75/90/105 (+40% bonus AD) >>> 55/70/85/100/115 (+45% bonus AD)

• [W] The Call of the Pack bonus AD total AD ratio increased 20% >>> 22%

Rumble

"Rumble has been one of the strongest champs in Pro Play, but now that Pro Play patches are done, we're giving him a bit of power, as it's not like he's overly strong in Elite play either"

• [R] The Equalizer AP ratio per tick increased 8.75% >>> 10%

Shen

• [Q] Twilight Assault empowered attacks monster damage cap increased 100/125/150/175/200 >>> 120/140/160/180/200

Smolder

"Our previous Smolder buff was a bit less impactful than intended, so we're giving another follow-up buff

He's been a bit weaker, especially after the adjustments to Deathfire Touch"

• [W] Achooo! explosion base damage increased 10/35/60/85/110 >>> 25/50/75/100/125

Viktor

"Viktor's nerfs last patch overshot a bit, but we're happy with the power redistribution to make his mobility (base movespeed) a bit worse

This emphasizes his weakness of walking around the map unassisted, but in return pays for the power budget of his strong laning and good scaling

As a result, we're not looking to revert either of his patches from last patch but give him power back in some of that scaling power"

• HP per level increased 100 >>> 105

• [R] Arcane Storm initial conjure damage AP ratio increased 50% >>> 60%

Zaahen

• [Q] The Darkin Glaive cooldown reduced 10/9/8/7/6 >>> 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 seconds

>>> Champion Nerfs <<<

Locke

"We've been trying to fine tune Locke's strengths and weaknesses post release and don't think it's too far off

One place we think is a bit off though is how much damage he gets, especially early from his Q, so there's a decently sized nerf here (keep in mind that this stacks up to 3x and is increased by 40% for 3 stacks to be ~30 dmg nerf at max)

The other place that we think is a bit off is Locke's W Movespeed

This nerf will make the spell a bit more windowed while trying to retain satisfaction while it's active and making it a bit more costly to spam while running around the map"

• [Q] Ritual Nails base damage of Soul Nail stacks consumed reduced:

  • One stack: 18/26/34/42/50 >>> 15/22/29/36/43
  • Two stacks: 43.2/62.4/81.6/100.8/120 >>> 36/52.8/69.6/86.4/103.2
  • Three stacks: 75.6/109.2/142.8/176.4/210 >>> 63/92.4/121.8/151.2/180.6

• [W] Soul Ignition duration reduced 6 >>> 5 seconds

Thresh

• Base AD reduced 56 >>> 54

• [R] The Box base damage reduced 250/400/550 >>> 200/350/500

Yasuo

• [Q] Steel Tempest total AD ratio reduced 105% >>> 100%

>>> Champion Adjustments <<<

Mel

"Mel's mini-update will be Live on Patch 26.22

When we released Mel, we intentionally went for a new ability that was pretty ambitious; we like to try to push the boundaries with new champions and mechanics to give players new puzzles to solve with each release

After being on Live for a while, it's clear that many players feel that Mel's reflect was too frustrating to play against

There are things in League that are allowed to be frustrating, as that can create a feeling of triumph when overcoming it and challenging players to grow, but there are some things that are too frustrating even given those upsides

Realistically, every champion should have something that they do uniquely that other players might feel is frustrating

So we're reworking Mel's W to keep the feeling of destroying projectiles, but not have it hard counter some subsets of the roster

We tried many versions of Mel's W that tried to retain the reflect, but we couldn't find one that would hit the mark for Mel players and would be satisfactory for opponents

We know this is disappointing for Mel players and we're sorry we couldn't uphold this end of the contract with you all

That said, we hope this will allow Mel to be balanced at relatively higher resting power levels and be more effective for Mel players"

• Base HP reduced 630 >>> 590

• HP per level increased 99 >>> 107

• Armor per level increased 5.2 >>> 5.4

• Base AD reduced 54 >>> 52

• Attack Speed per level increased 2.5% >>> 2.75%

• Base Mana reduced 480 >>> 455

• Mana per level increased 28 >>> 38

• [P] Searing Brilliance adjustments:

  • Base damage reduced 8-30 (32.59 at 20) >>> 4-30 (based on levels 1-18, linear, 33.06 at 20)
  • [P-Overwhelm] Searing Brilliance - Overwhelm stored damage minion ratio increased 50% >>> 55%

• [Q] Radiant Volley adjustments:

  • Initial damage reduced 60/85/110/135/160 (+55% AP) >>> 60 flat (+25% AP)
  • Subsequent damage per bolt 5/7/9/11/13 (+5% AP) >>> 5/10/15/20/25 (+8% AP)
  • Cooldown now reduced 0.5/0.625/0.75/0.875/1 second if volley hits an enemy champ once
  • Mana cost reduced 70/75/80/85/90 >>> 65/70/75/80/85
  • Missile speed reduced 3800 >>> 3200

• [W] Rebuttal changes:

  • New ability: Mel unleases a refraction nova that destroys enemy projectiles it collides with, within 400 units. Mel retaliates for 35/40/45/50/55 (+10% AP) magic damage. Subsequent retaliations against the same enemy deal 5/10/15/20/25 (+5% AP) magic damage instead (capped at 7 instances). The nova also grants 50/80/110/140/170 (+50% AP) Shield and 10/15/20/25/30% (+4% per 100 AP) bonus Move Speed for 2 seconds to Mel and her allies.
  • Cooldown reduced 38/35/32/29/26 >>> 30/28.5/27/25.5/24 seconds
  • Mana cost increased 80/60/40/20/0 >>> 100/75/50/25/0

• [E] Solar Snare adjustments:

  • Root duration adjusted 1.5 flat >>> 0.8-1.6/0.85-1.75/0.9-1.9/0.95-2.05/1-2.2 (based on travel time) seconds
  • Slow adjusted 30% >>> 20/25/30/35/40%
  • Mana cost reduced 50/60/70/80/90 >>> 40/50/60/70/80

• [R] Golden Eclipse cooldown reduced 120/100/80 >>> 120/90/60 seconds

>>> System Buffs <<<

Overlord's Bloodmail

"Overlord's Bloodmail has been pretty weak overall and it's pretty hard bound to Sett as currently tuned

We're looking to try to buff this for other users who should be interested in an item that converts Health to Damage (Mundo, Sion), but some aspects of the item make it too Sett skewed [eg. the missing HP portion]"

• AD increased 30 >>> 40

• Retribution bonus AD total AD ratio reduced 0-12% >>> 0-10% (based on your missing HP 0-70%)

>>> System Adjustments <<<

Doran's Bow

"Doran's Bow has been a bit too strong relative to Doran's Blade, especially at higher levels of play

So we're looking to balance out the relative tradeoffs of the items a bit

We're overall happy wtih the direction of how the tradeoffs are playing out though! Just that the magnitude is a bit off"

• AD reduced 8 >>> 7

Fired up and ready to serve!

We’re granting Rustiest Blitzcrank to anyone who played at least 20 games of League Classic prior to October 21st, 2026. Check your collection in the coming days to confirm receipt. If you don’t meet the cutoff but still want to gather some rust(iest), this skin will be available for 150,000 BE in future Blue Essence Emporiums, starting with Patch 26.24.

Source

If all the favourites/expected teams win in round 4, going into the 2-2 draw on Friday, the group will have:

• TES
  
• Lyon
  
• MKOI
  
• KC
  
• HLE
• TL

Lyon cannot play KC.

HLE cannot play TES.

This leaves both TES and HLE to draw a Western Team which could mean only 1 Western Team makes it out, unless we see an upset and beat TES (or/and HLE).

BUT if TES beat BLG, the group would look like:

• BLG
  
• LYON
  
• MKOI
  
• KC
  
• HLE
• TL

LYON cannot play KC.

BLG cannot play TL, MKOI OR KC. This means they can ONLY play HLE or LYON.

This means, baring the unlucky draw of LYON vs BLG, the West have a chance of having 2 West vs West games at 2-2 ensuring 2 of them make out of of Swiss stage AND it knocks HLE or BLG (#2 seed from LCK and LPL respectively out of Worlds who were 2 of the favourites coming into worlds).

So if you're a fan of the West, hoping TES can upset BLG and win their game on Thursday.

Bonus points if we get HLE vs BLG and then EU vs NA in the other 2 games (2/3 chances) and not EU vs EU and NA vs NA (although that guarantees 1 from each NA and EU makes it but it will be less hype imo).

Edit: mistake in the title, TES don't play BLG until the day after so it's not tomorrow, but it still applies. LETS GO TES!

Translated using a hupu aggregator posted the other day, please correct me if you notice any obvious mistakes.

BLG

KC

Some extra context:

Canna hovered twitch in 2020 while looking for trundle, and LPL fans took this as an insult to China and COVID. Twitch's name also apparently means 'origin of the plague', so LPL fans HATE canna.

Caliste got mega flamed for taking blue buff from his Viktor.

Busio had some negative scores because of people complaining about emote spamming confusing him for Caliste.

Putting an extra bin comment down here since it was too long for the table:

"Brother Bin, you're the anchor of our team. I truly hope you can be reborn at MSI and transform into a butterfly, entering your true godlike form. Signs are already showing after these matches. Many might say you've lost your dominance and edge, but I don't think so. Flexibility is what makes a true hero; know when to retreat and when to strike."

Hihi! I found it really hard to scroll the HuPu reactions so I built a site to display them

(Contains spoilers so maybe turn on hidden mode if you don't want to be spoiled)

The site should automatically update when new games and comments come up, at least once /day and maybe more when swiss starts again tmw

The comments are translated with gemini because claude is too expensive for me, but if u notice any errors translating plz lmk

Link to view: https://lol-hupu-ratings.com/

**[roflstats.com](https://roflstats.com)\*\* should have lots of type of stats you've not seen before

(it's an album, swipe through the images)

Some of it, Iron IV vs Challenger:

- **Supports:** Challenger supports spend 42% of minutes 0–14 away from bot lane, Iron IV supports 14% (time in base and walking to lane not counted).

- **Jungle:** Challenger junglers finish their first full clear at 2:53, Iron IV junglers at 3:23 (medians). Half of Challenger junglers take a camp in the enemy half before 10:00. In Iron IV, 28%.

- **Backs:** Challengers first go back at 3:43, Iron IV players at 4:40. 1 in 20 Iron IV players doesn't go back before 15:00 (Challenger: 1 in 200).

- **Wards:** 29% of the wards a Challenger places get destroyed by the enemy. In Iron IV it's 11%; most of the rest just expire.

- **Mutes:** 60% of Challenger players get muted by at least one other player in a game. In Iron IV, 24%.

- **All-chat:** Gold talks the most (41% of players write something), Challenger the least (25%). The most written messages: gg, xd, ez and "?".

- **Ping:** the median ping on EUW is 26 ms.

- **Player pages:** games of a few well-known players (Agurin, Thebausffs and others) play back on the minimap with movement, pings, chat, buffs and kills. The GIF is [Agurin's Jarvan IV game](https://roflstats.com/players/agurin/p1620-180).

There is lots that can be done with these stats. If you have any feature request, just tell me. They are often easy to add. I for sure forgot some obvious stats that I can show that no other site can show

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2026 SWISS STAGE

Official Page | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Twitch | YouTube | Patch 26.20 | Bo3 Fearless Draft

Team Liquid 2-0 Anyone's Legend

TLAW have prevailed over AL & move on to the 1-2 pool!
AL is the first LPL #1 seed to exit the World Championship in Swiss Stage with 0-3 record.

TLAW | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Subreddit | Website | X(Twit) | YT | FB | IG | TT | BS
AL | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Weibo | Twitter | Instagram

FULL MATCH SUMMARY & STATS

GAME 1: AL vs. TLAW

Winner: Team Liquid Alienware in 33m
Runes | Game Breakdown

GAME 2: TLAW vs. AL

Winner: Team Liquid Alienware in 47m
Runes | Game Breakdown

This thread was created by the Post-Match Team.

One interesting stat from this year's Worlds Swiss stage: the early-game gold lead barely matters anymore. Historically, gold lead at 15 minute (and even at 10 minute) was a good predictor of the overall win. At previous Worlds, the team ahead in gold at 15 minutes won 77% of main-stage games.

Not anymore. This year's Swiss winrate of "gold lead at 15 minute" is basically a coinflip: the team ahead at 15 minutes has won just 55% of games. At 10 minutes it's actually negative: the team ahead has won only 45%.

Broken down by lead size, it gets even funnier: so far, a big lead at 15 minutes has converted worse than a small one:

Four of the seven teams that were 2k+ gold up at 15 minutes went on to lose. Amazing.

Partly, we can attribute this to bounties, shutdowns, and the "comeback gold" from neutral objectives on the map. But to me, it says more about how much lower the snowball potential is now. Being in the driving seat now means little with so much of waveclear and accelerated vision.

Teams mostly spend the first 15–20 minutes just getting to the state they need for the critical teamfights, and being up or down a few thousand gold isn't the end of the world. If you execute well, like LYON did against KC, you'll get your win.