Preface: The S16 season has officially begun, and most players have surely been paying attention to the recent battles. The LCK league matches are fiercely competitive. As last season's Global Pioneers champion, the HLE team has seen a rapid decline in overall results after a large-scale roster overhaul. They were even eliminated at the bottom of the league after the group stage, turning their billion-dollar roster into a joke. Some fans dug up an interview with Zeus, where during the conversation, he expressed a wish to return to T1 if given the chance and promised to train twice as hard there. It seems the talented player still wants to go back, though it's unclear if this is genuine or just a prank.

Zeus longs to return to T1 for serious training.

Most players are quite familiar with T1, a top-tier team in the LCK region. Over the past few years, their achievements have been outstanding: reaching the World Championship finals four consecutive years and winning the championship three times in a row, earning their status as the undisputed number one team globally. Their team jersey proudly displays six stars representing their titles. Despite their remarkable success, T1 has gone through many roster changes. After winning the finals MVP, AD carry Little Ruler and top laner Zeus decisively left the team. This season, they reunited on the HLE roster, forming a top-tier lineup.

It was expected that as last season's Global Pioneers champions, HLE would continue to perform excellently this season. However, they encountered issues during the group stage. Whether due to team synergy problems or other reasons, their overall performance was disappointing. In their match against Gen.G, they only needed to secure a win just past 30 minutes to advance to the play-in stage, holding their fate in their own hands. Instead, they showed no effort and were swept 3-0 by Gen.G, finishing last in the league and being eliminated early. Even teams with 0-5 records advanced, while they rested.

Recently, fans uncovered some of Zeus’s interviews where he talked about his professional career. He said he didn’t play League of Legends in middle school but started again in high school, quickly reaching the King rank in just a week, as if enlightened. He expressed that if he could return to T1, he would train even harder. This news quickly sparked widespread discussion online. Recall that during the S15 season, there were many issues between T1 and Zeus. T1’s official organization even apologized publicly, and the CEO extended an olive branch hoping for his return in S16. Ultimately, however, Little Ruler and Zeus left together.

The idea of a "good horse wanting to return to the pasture" is unlikely to happen now. The current T1 team feels like a dream home for players. No matter the changes, as long as Faker remains the anchor, their results won’t suffer much. After Doran and Peyz joined, T1 still maintained an undefeated record. It seems other players could join T1 easily, but Zeus probably won’t. He’s already burned bridges with the team, and unless he lowers his value and signs for a lower price, T1 won’t pay a premium for him. Currently, the worst reputations are held by head coach Redmi and jungler Kanavi, who seem like costly burdens.

Farewell thoughts.

Who would have thought that Zeus actually expressed a wish to return to T1 in an interview? Could such statements really be self-sabotage? After all, he shouldn’t be thinking about his old team while at HLE. Or could this interview be a fan-made joke? In any case, I feel that players who left T1 might want to go back because the team's current performance is truly outstanding. Joining T1 now feels like having a ticket to the finals, with one hand almost touching the World Championship trophy.

What do you all think about this situation, dear viewers?