Faker turns into the main villain! The S15 Avengers are formed, GEN severely harms T1, and IG schedules scrims

Hello to all LPL fans and League of Legends summoners, this is Tianxia Game Exchange.

The 17 teams for the S15 World Championship have all been confirmed. This year’s tournament structure is unusual, as there will be a play-in match before the Swiss rounds begin, with only one team from China and Korea able to qualify.

Editor

The reason for this situation is largely related to GEN’s loss.

The S15 Avengers arise, GEN severely damages T1

As everyone knows, the LCK playoffs saw a major shift this year. GEN unexpectedly lost to KT, which drastically changed the LCK’s World Championship landscape. Before this, KT was considered weaker and only expected to compete with DK for the fourth seed.

Editor

GEN, T1, and HLE were expected to be the top three teams, naturally securing the first three seeds.

However, GEN’s loss to KT handed KT a World Championship spot, increasing pressure on T1 and HLE. The ultimate victim was T1, who after dropping to the losers’ bracket had to face DK in a do-or-die match. Fortunately, T1 won and secured a Worlds berth, but then lost again to GEN.

In the end, T1 became the fourth seed, meaning GEN’s actions harmed three teams: T1, IG, and DK.

Editor

After losing to DK, T1 faced another elimination match against IG. At this point, the anti-T1 alliance for S15 was fully formed. Fans created a graphic showing an armor built to counter T1, featuring teams like AL, GEN, IG, TES, KT, BLG, and HLE. These teams will act as the S15 Avengers to challenge T1.

Faker becomes the big villain, GEN and IG arrange scrims

It is well known that whenever T1 qualifies for Worlds, they always perform well, while GEN frequently suffers from being favorites who choke. Thus, a hidden theme of this year’s Worlds is which team can finally stop T1, or whether T1 will once again emerge as the ultimate winner.

Since last year’s victory over BLG, we have said that although T1 looks like an LCK team, they are more like an independent powerhouse beyond all regions. Their strength and prestige are enough to challenge every team worldwide, including those from LCK, who have repeatedly failed against T1.

The reason LPL has struggled in recent years is largely because of T1. JDG and BLG have both fallen to T1, and LCK teams aside from the breakthrough DRX have had no answers for T1 at Worlds.

Therefore, this year Faker and T1 will be the main villains of the entire tournament. Every team will try their hardest to stop T1 from winning. DK has already been defeated, and next up is IG.

Previously, there were reports that GEN had arranged multiple scrims with IG, possibly to assist them.

Worlds scenario speculation: The possibility of T1’s defeat

In my opinion, for IG to beat T1, a miracle must happen. The strength gap between the two teams is roughly 19 to 81, not even close to equal. IG’s only chance is if T1 has a major performance collapse and IG’s entire roster plays exceptionally well to secure a win and advance.

Once T1 enters the World Championship, they will almost certainly activate “immortal mode,” with all players performing at peak level, tactical diversity like a kaleidoscope, unpredictable draft phases, and clutch players stepping up in critical moments.

There are only two scenarios where T1 could lose: first, T1 plays at full strength but GEN sheds their reputation as chokers, switches to league mode, battles T1 to the last moment, and wins; second, T1 suffers a massive internal weakness or makes a critical mistake in a decisive game leading to elimination.

In summary, if T1 reaches their peak form, the only team likely capable of defeating them is GEN. From the LPL side, only a resurgent BLG might have a slim chance. This is the terrifying aspect of T1. Let’s look forward to seeing how the script for this year’s Worlds unfolds.