Preface: The S15 season has fully ended, and most players have been paying close attention to the recent offseason period. Fans are quite interested in the new season’s plans. Insider rumors continue to surface, including reports from overseas that the S16 season might officially introduce coach communication, enabling head coaches to access players’ voice channels for real-time in-game commands. Additionally, there are rumors that League of Legends 2 may launch in the second half of the year. Of course, the new misery contest remains a hot topic. Regarding the S15 finals companion skin chest, many players have received skins mostly with special effects.

S15 Finals Companion Chest Misery Contest

It’s believed that most players paid great attention to this tournament. Although no LPL teams reached the final, the event still filled the entire arena in Chengdu. Ultimately, T1 defeated KT 3-2, securing their sixth championship title. After the victory, the overall popularity of League of Legends surged rapidly, especially in the LPL region, where player numbers hit a yearly peak, even causing login queues on major servers. This clearly shows that the league’s popularity remains strong. The main issue now is the poor performance of the LPL region; if they had won, the hype would likely be even greater.

As the offseason progresses, various details about the S16 season have been gradually revealed. First, a foreign leak stated that Riot Games will introduce a rule change in S16 allowing each designated coach a limited time window to communicate with players during matches. Currently, the system grants each team three voice windows per game, each lasting 45 seconds. Coaches can activate these at any time, meaning they can enter and talk to players during the match. If this is true, the selected coach might need a separate room with player-perspective screens; otherwise, with a full-screen view, they would have access to all information.

At the same time, insiders from the LPL have disclosed that League of Legends 2 might launch in the latter half of the year, not only discarding years of accumulated outdated code but also featuring a major content overhaul. Previously, DOTA 2 transitioned from 2D to 3D, and something similar could happen here. It seems official developers have run out of tricks; every season before involved map and gameplay updates to maintain playability, but now they seem to rely on mode changes to attract fans. Especially in the LPL region, frequent skin giveaways lately have made many players feel the heat is seriously dropping.

The S15 finals companion skin chest has already been opened, and the misery contest has become the center of player discussions. Honestly, this chest is quite strong, mostly containing newer skins from recent years, while older skins are mainly those from the Three Kingdoms series priced at 199. Browsing through players’ screenshots, many have gotten decent pulls like Eternal Forest Gnar, Lu Bu Fengxian, and Dark Star Xerath. Of course, some players drew awkward ancient skins like Bulletproof Monk and Omega Squad Tristana. Overall, the misery contest nowadays is less about complaining and more about players showing off their lucky moments.

Farewell Thoughts

No one expected such a major change for the S16 season, not only adding League of Legends 2 but also allowing head coaches to communicate directly with players during matches. This coach inclusion makes sense; traditional sports like football and basketball have designated timeout periods for coach communication. Since esports aims to align more with traditional sports rules, continuous improvements are likely, especially given that matches can last up to 40 or 50 minutes.

What do all of you viewers think about this development?