Even the best LPL draw is useless!

TES gained a lot of hope from many LPL fans during this World Championship by dominating European and American teams in the first two rounds. Especially TES coach Redmi openly admitted in interviews that TES is a team with extremely high potential but also a very low floor. At this S15 World Championship, TES only had two possible outcomes: either being eliminated in the quarterfinals or winning the world championship. Redmi's statement made many TES fans excited, with some even dreaming that TES would go undefeated 3-0 in the Swiss stage to advance.

However, something unexpected happened to many TES fans: in the playoffs, TES was matched against KT and was swept and crushed by them. Before this BO3 started, many viewers praised IG's support Baolan for drawing a "perfect draw," considering that KT had performed evenly against European and American teams in the first two BO1s. Moreover, KT had been heavily beaten by HLE and GEN in the LCK playoffs, so many thought KT was the weakest LCK team on paper, while TES was ranked among the top two in strength.

TES has completely become the LCK's "favorite son."

After TES lost to KT, many LPL viewers criticized TES, as "laughing at TES in international matches" has become a common consensus among LPL fans. Some even counted that TES's record against LCK this year is zero wins and seven losses. TES hasn’t won a single game against LCK this year, leading many to call TES the LCK's "favorite son." Some LPL fans even hoped TES could replicate last year's DK start (last year, DK won two Swiss stage matches but then lost three consecutive BO3s and got eliminated).

Of course, after TES lost the match, many viewers reviewed the game and questioned TES's jungler Kanavi, believing that Kanavi tends to make mistakes and give kills away when facing LCK teams. In the first game, when most TES players were at the bottom lane, Kanavi walked alone into the enemy jungle and gave away a kill, allowing KT to secure neutral objectives. In the second game, Kanavi played Zed and died trying to steal the enemy's red buff, ruining TES’s early game momentum. Because of Kanavi’s overly aggressive and reckless play during the match, many fans have lost confidence in TES's future.

TES has fallen into the group of death.

Although TES failed to directly reach the World Championship quarterfinals, LPL’s AL team successfully defeated CFO 2-1 and became the first LPL team to advance to the quarterfinals. The AL vs CFO match sparked much discussion because CFO proved that their win over T1 was not a fluke. If it weren't for the outstanding individual performance of AL's top laner Saint, AL might have lost like TES. (Saint’s excavation skills are truly impressive; it seems other LPL top laners could learn from him.)

After CFO dropped to a 2-1 record in the group, many viewers joked that the upcoming Swiss stage would be a "monster brawl." The four officially recognized top contenders for the LOL championship could all end up with 2-1 group records. Many TES fans are now worried about TES’s future matches. What do you think — can TES still reach the World Championship quarterfinals? (At the start of the Swiss stage, who would have predicted AL and KT would advance early, while GEN, HLE, BLG, and T1 would falter?)

Conclusion

TES’s international performance is indeed disappointing, and LPL caster Guan Zeyuan frankly said TES’s loss to KT came down to the difference in jungle and support. Do you think TES losing to KT was because of their jungle and support? I feel TES always gets strangely anxious when facing LCK teams. Especially TES’s support Hang, who is considered a top-tier LPL support and can even outperform AL and BLG supports domestically, but his performance at the World Championship has been really puzzling.