The League of Legends S15 season is nearing its end, and it hasn't been a victorious year for the LPL region. They came away empty-handed in all three major international events. Top Esports suffered a humiliating defeat abroad, while two teams reached the semifinals at MSI but failed to surpass T1. At Worlds, IG fell in the play-in stage, BLG was stopped at the round of 16, and the other two teams fought hard but only reached the semifinals.

Across the three major international tournaments, the LPL never made it to a final, and the world championship slipped away on home soil. Such results, while not exactly disgraceful, certainly fell short of fans’ expectations. Recently, the LPL officially released an annual documentary titled "Contenders Leave Their Mark," summarizing and reviewing the World Championship. As the only semifinalist, Top Esports received the most screen time, including scenes showing players arguing during post-match reviews after losses.

After advancing 2-0 in the Swiss round, Top Esports faced KT. Following a clean sweep defeat, Xiaonai questioned the coaching staff in the locker room: "I don’t understand why you were so afraid of BDD in the draft. Before the match started, you told me to give BDD the Azir and that I would play Aurelion Sol. I practiced all night, but then suddenly you said to triple ban mid lane and let the opponent have Aurelion Sol. No one mentioned the triple ban before we went on stage, so give me some psychological preparation."

In the end, Xiaonai directly confronted them: "The BP feels like a lack of trust in me." Thinking back on the game, even I want to laugh. Honestly, it’s hard not to side with Xiaonai in this argument because the plan agreed on before the match was abruptly changed. The player’s entire night of practice was wasted due to one coaching decision. The most absurd part was that Redmi didn't consider what champions Xiaonai could actually play after banning three mid laners.

Comparing the two mid laners, BDD’s champion pool definitely outclasses Xiaonai’s. But since they had already made it to Worlds, it’s strange that the coach didn’t trust the player. Not even a word of communication before the match — it’s like they didn’t treat their own mid laner as a person. Xiaonai is young and inexperienced; most players wouldn’t dare speak to coaches like that. After this confrontation, Top Esports’ subsequent drafts noticeably improved.

Although Redmi has a good reputation, his understanding of this year’s Worlds was somewhat lacking. He picked almost every champion with the lowest win rates in the meta and still played champions like Titanic and Qiyana in the semifinals. While a player’s champion pool does affect drafting, Redmi was too rigid and timid before the match even began. Now that he and Kanavi have joined HLE, Zeus and Gumayusi are probably in for a better year.

Besides Xiaonai, 369 also had a bit of an outburst. Before facing GEN, the coach told 369 they wanted to focus on jungle synergy this year. Old9 immediately responded: "To be honest, Kanavi has never helped me." Kanavi replied: "I can only say the opponent is a world champion." 369 retorted again: "I’m not even asking for help. I just want to know at the start of the game if we can gather some info on where the enemy jungler is starting."

The mid laner questioned the head coach, the top laner confronted the jungler, and Redmi reviewed the footage — it seems this duo really had some issues. The most mature older brother complained during the post-match review against T1: "From the first game, it felt like we were too scared." Old9 also said: "Fear started from the draft phase." It’s understandable for the coaching staff to fear T1 since they are strong, but if the team lacks the courage to win, then there’s really no hope.

Conclusion:

AL had similar problems. After gaining match point against T1, Ai Xiao and the coaching staff wanted to calm the atmosphere to avoid getting too nervous and letting T1 come back from 2-0 to 2-3. However, as expected, AL was indeed overturned by T1. Honestly, telling players to stay calm at such times can work, but encouraging them when they have a big lead might boost their confidence and yield better results.

What is your opinion on coach Redmi?

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