The 2025 League of Legends World Championship is just 4 days away. During the break, LPL teams at the Asian Invitational and Challenger events have brought shame to the region. JD lost a BO3 series to GAN, NIP only won against MVKE because of network problems. Both the top-tier league and the secondary league performed poorly. In the Challenger Invitational, BLG, TES, and EDG’s second squads failed to secure any wins internationally and were all knocked out.

EDG’s second team first lost to KT’s second team, then suffered a heavy defeat by the provincial team DCC. T1’s second team lost an internal match to BLG’s second team, was shut out by DK’s second team, and BLG’s second team was also shut out by T1’s second team and lost again to DK’s second team. The three LDL secondary league teams went 0-4 in major international matches and 2-8 in minor matches, failing to reach the top six. It seems this year will continue to be a record low for our region’s reputation.

Riot announces delay of S15 theme song

This year’s World Championship has been somewhat delayed. Usually, by this time, the tournament would have already started. This year, even the theme song and music video have not been released yet. The theme song was originally scheduled to launch around the 10th, but Riot recently announced a postponement. The reason is that FLY team’s top laner Bwipo is deemed unsuitable for appearing in the video, so the official MV needs to be revised. The North American region will not have any video clips this year.

Bwipo was targeted because in September, during a livestream, he discussed the topic that “women are not suited for esports.” Although Bwipo’s statements were factual, they sparked controversy. FLY immediately punished Bwipo with a one BO5 suspension. People thought the matter was settled, but Riot also got involved, not only removing Bwipo’s footage but also affecting the LCS region.

Xiao Lü Bu’s new girlfriend resembles Keria

T1 is about to enter the play-in stage, and the team has started training after the break. At this critical moment, Gumayusi’s new relationship was suddenly revealed, causing quite a stir. Interestingly, Xiao Lü Bu’s new girlfriend looks very similar to the team’s support player Keria. Not exactly identical, but at a glance, it could easily be mistaken for Keria in women’s clothing. Do AD carries tend to date people who look like their teammates?

Having his relationship exposed at this time is not good news for Xiao Lü Bu, because last week T1 fans were still demanding the management replace the AD carry. If his form in the play-in stage is the same as in the playoffs, no matter the outcome, the AD will definitely be criticized. However, since Gumayusi is a veteran in major tournaments, his form in the World Championship usually improves even when his league performance is poor, so there’s no need to worry.

Summit disqualified from participation

TheShy’s high school classmate Summit recently competed in the LCS promotion tournament. During a match against DSG, a network attack caused the game to be paused for over 5 hours. During this time, Summit opened the official match livestream and was caught by viewers on the spot. The officials launched an investigation for cheating. After a day of investigation, LCS officially announced that Summit’s participation qualification was revoked.

Before the match resumed, EST was trailing DSG 1-2. After substituting the top laner, the top lane was crushed 0-7, and EST eventually lost. The sudden top lane change had a big impact on EST. Although the team has world champion Ghost, he is currently underperforming and unable to lead the team. This punishment is reasonable and follows the competition rules. The takeaway is to be more careful in the future.

Conclusion:

Bwipo, representing the LCS region, was included in the theme song MV. However, his straightforward remarks caused huge controversy. It seems the foreign players also have strong fighting spirits. The issue from last month is still being discussed now and even delayed the World Championship’s theme song release. This shows players really need to be cautious with their words.

So, do you think removing him was too harsh a punishment?

Feel free to leave your comments and join the discussion!