Introduction: The S15 season has officially kicked off, and the vast majority of players have been paying attention to the recent clashes. With the tournaments in all major regions wrapped up, there is now a brief break before the next phase. During this period, the World Championship teams will finalize their strategies since the latest patch has altered some roster choices. Recently, a legendary LCK champion announced his retirement, surprising many fans given his impressive records in both the LPL and LCK. This World Championship will be his farewell performance, which fans had somewhat anticipated.

Top LCK player announces retirement before the tournament.

Most players are quite familiar with the LCK, widely recognized as the world's number one region. Over the past few years, LCK has developed rapidly. Since turning into a league system, player salaries have increased significantly, leading many foreign players to return to LCK. The LCK remains highly competitive, consistently outperforming the LPL and securing multiple World Championship titles in recent years. This season, the HLE team has attracted much attention. They easily won the first split and, although they did not make it to the finals in the second and third splits, they still qualified for the World Championship as the LCK's second seed.

Watching the finals against Gen.G, it was clear that Peanut was deeply disappointed. After losing 3-1, he was probably the most dedicated player on the HLE team. As a veteran, he truly gave his all, and he was the only HLE player to score above nine in the post-match ratings. At the end of the match, he lingered for a long time and even shed tears standing beside his chair. It was evident he felt immense regret, and likely had already decided to retire after this season, though the official announcement had not yet been made.

Yesterday afternoon, Peanut posted a lengthy message on his personal account, stating that as a professional player, it was an immense honor to conclude his LCK journey on the World Championship stage. Despite some regrets, thanks to the support from fans, he was able to complete this final chapter satisfactorily. He said he would approach the upcoming World Championship with a mindset of pure enjoyment, and would officially announce his retirement after the event. This news quickly sparked widespread discussion online. Both LPL and LCK fans expressed their sorrow over the departure of such a veteran player, who, after ten years, remains one of the few top-tier competitors still vying at the world level.

Looking at Peanut's career achievements, he never won an S-series World Championship but did claim the MSI title in S7 and the Global Pioneers Championship in S15—his two world-class titles. During his peak in S6, he had a real chance to challenge the SKT team, but ROX ultimately fell short, losing 3-2 in the finals to SKT. Although BLG was also eliminated 3-2, that match was on a completely different level. This time, he will likely leave with regret again, as HLE's chances of winning the championship are very slim.

Farewell thoughts

It’s unexpected that such a distinguished jungler would step away from the pro scene. Peanut has enjoyed a great reputation in both the LPL and LCK regions, earning numerous honors over his ten-year career. Unfortunately, he never secured an S-series World Championship title. Of course, he understands that after losing to Gen.G, reclaiming a world title is nearly impossible. Now, he can fully savor the last world-class competition of his career.

What are your thoughts on this matter, dear viewers?