Good news for IG fans.

Following the elimination of the full-star IG squad by T1 and their failure to reach the S15 World Championship Swiss stage, many IG fans spontaneously expressed their sadness. It was well-known that IG spent a large amount to build this star lineup aimed at a world championship, but this year they didn’t win a single title. Consequently, many speculated that IG would disband. However, what surprised many IG fans was that IG’s shareholder, Boss Zhang, revealed live on DOINB’s stream that IG has already renewed contracts with ROOKIE and TheShy, and both will continue to play together next year.

This news delighted many IG fans because IG was arguably disadvantaged by Riot’s “absurd rules” this year. But Riot has promised to revise the World Championship qualification rules next year, which means IG is likely to make it to the main event next season. Many fans also advised IG’s management not to rely solely on the “full-star” nickname, suggesting that while TheShy and ROOKIE still have some strength, the team should quickly recruit a stronger jungler and support to boost both popularity and team strength.

After the announcement of IG’s mid and top lane renewals, ROOKIE posted a farewell message for the S15 World Championship. Honestly, ROOKIE’s performance surprised me; his playoff form was weak, but in the qualifiers, he matched Faker and even gained advantages in the first and fourth games. Unfortunately, ROOKIE couldn’t lead IG to advance to the Swiss stage. Do you think IG can build a truly strong roster next year?

T1 player thanks TheShy after the match.

After T1 successfully advanced to the Swiss stage, T1’s AD carry, Little Lu Bu, was interviewed by official media. During the interview, the host asked if he felt nervous playing against IG, given IG’s use of many “unusual” champions in the qualifiers. Little Lu Bu praised IG’s coach Dan God, saying his ban-pick strategy was very unique and different from what other teams usually do, which also put significant pressure on T1’s coaching staff. (Whether it was AD Little Fire Dragon or top laner Varus, IG’s ban-pick strategies indeed had many surprises.)

The host also asked if Little Lu Bu had anticipated TheShy picking Varus top in the fourth game. He admitted that he had encountered Varus top in solo queue but never expected TheShy to use it in the World Championship. Little Lu Bu revealed that after TheShy selected Varus, T1’s coaching staff had him switch to the top lane to face TheShy. He found the matchup with Varus very interesting and ended by thanking TheShy for using T1’s Varus championship skin during the game, which helped promote T1.

Does T1’s championship owe one-third of the credit to IG?

T1’s support player, Little K, also gave an interview to LCK after the match. He revealed that T1 felt immense pressure before the game because losing in the qualifiers meant elimination. T1 approached the match with a “do or die” mindset. Especially T1’s top laner Doran was very nervous, so both the coaching staff and players comforted him. Fortunately, T1 won in the end. (This marks Doran’s first time defeating an LPL team in a BO5 series in his career.)

During the interview, Little K also talked about T1’s future. He believes that after beating IG in the qualifiers, T1’s players have improved both mentally and in gameplay. T1 is confident about challenging for the world championship. Many T1 fans joked that if T1 wins the World Championship this year, IG deserves one-third of the credit, since regular viewers know T1 grows rapidly and once they reach the Swiss stage, they gradually master meta changes.