With 13 days remaining until the League of Legends World Championship, Riot recently declared that the LTA Americas league will be discontinued next year, LCS and CBLOL will separate and return, and the Worlds slots will be reallocated — three for LCS and one for CBLOL. This implies that the 17 teams in this year's play-in stage will be permanently on the disgrace list, as the five major regions each receive three slots plus one for Brazil, making a total of 16 teams.

However, it’s not entirely ruled out that Riot might have the third seeds from LCP, LEC, and LCS participate in the play-ins next year, because if LPL and LCK only get three slots each, the Worlds viewership might not be guaranteed. But that’s a topic for later. Right now, the focus is whether IG can defeat T1 and enter the Swiss stage. These two teams do have a skill gap, but the LPL officials have been making strong efforts recently.

At the end of September, Doinb revealed during a livestream that the LPL officials formed a Worlds practice squad this year to boost the region’s performance. The specific practice players were unknown until recently when a blogger disclosed the roster: world champion coach Maokai leading, NIP’s bot laner Leave, and EDG’s mid laner Angel have confirmed participation, with Zika tentatively assigned to top lane (subject to change).

Originally, Jiejie was invited as the jungler, but he had already scheduled physical therapy this month and couldn’t join. Retired players like Baolan and Lin Weixiang also couldn’t participate due to other commitments. Therefore, jungler and support roles remain undecided. The insider said the gathering is set for October 15, lasting 24 days, with about 10 hours of training daily — honestly, that’s quite intense.

The officials gave the practice squad a cool name: the LPL Shadow Team Project. This practice team will assist Worlds teams during the tournament by providing customized training to enhance the seeded teams’ competitive level. Many wonder if a practice squad made entirely of Phoenix group players can really help. Actually, this type of tactical simulation training doesn’t require very strong players; it mainly tests strategies.

If the practice only starts on the 15th, then the squad won’t be able to help IG at all. It seems the officials should gather earlier to provide IG with some practice support, or else it would be embarrassing if they stop at the top 17. For the remaining jungle and support spots, the officials might pick from Weibo and JD teams. For jungle, Xiaotian should be fine, Xun is also good, and support could bring in EDG’s young talent.

Weibo, JD, and NIP still have an Asian invitational tournament before Worlds begins, and the schedule is out. JD, Weibo, DK, and GAM are in Group A; BFX, NIP, NS, and MVKE are in Group B. Just looking at groups, Group A is definitely the “group of death.” Except for GAM, the other three teams are strong, so with only two advancing, one of JD, Weibo, or DK will be eliminated.

Group B’s overall strength is more balanced; NS and BFX are roughly equal, while NIP and MVKE are slightly weaker. Both Korean teams should make the knockout stage. The opening match starts at 3 PM on the 5th, featuring a battle between juniors and veterans, followed by a match between Xiaohu and Xu Ge. It sounds fun, but since this is an entertainment-focused event, losing won’t be a big deal — after all, it’s just a warm-up for Worlds.

Conclusion:

The last time an official practice squad was organized was in Season 7, when League of Legends esports was at its peak. Now, eight years later, the overall popularity has declined. If LPL fails to win the championship again this year, its attention might continue to decrease. The officials are putting in great effort for the league and hope to secure the title this year.

So, what do you think about this practice roster?

Feel free to leave your comments and discuss!