The LCK Third Stage Play-In tournament is just one final BO5 away from ending. On the previous match day, NS, ranked 2nd in the Rising Group, faced off against BFX, ranked 3rd, to compete for the last playoff spot. During the group stage, NS had swept BFX twice, leading most viewers to mistakenly believe that NS was stronger than BFX. However, in this BO5, NS only managed to win one small game before being easily defeated by BFX.

The first game went well for NS, as the whole team focused on ganking side lanes around Kingen, quickly snowballing and winning the match in just 27 minutes. However, from the second game onward, NS's form started to slip. Scout picked Lock in a counter position, but despite getting first blood, he consistently fell behind Vicla in roaming support. In the bot lane, Diable had a lead in farm but kept dying in team fights. The Fox played by Daguang dominated team fights, leading his team to tie the series.

Being outclassed by a Fox that built a Mejai's Soulstealer and stacked it to 25 charges, Scout's Lock in this game was truly terrible. By the third game, the coach's draft was also outclassed, giving the opponent the "Suan La Fen" combo while picking a weak version of Varus for a solo lane. After 15 minutes of laning, the AD was down over 30 CS. Diable's Varus was even built as a lethality build, which was useless in team fights. NS's team fights crumbled at the first contact, and they lost the match point.

In the decisive game, NS picked a very late-game composition with a three-carry lineup of Ryze, Sivir, and Gwen. This lineup needed to reach 2-3 items before it could come online. However, NS managed to gain some early advantages around the mid lane, with Scout's Ryze going 3-0 at the start. If they had just stalled, NS would have been dominant by the 30-minute mark. But they kept taking fights, and the mid-game collapsed entirely. By 26 minutes, their base was destroyed.

Looking at the overall BO5, Diable was the worst performer. Aside from the first game, he was useless in the next three, completely outclassed by Taiyong in the lane. When he won the Rookie of the Year award last year, everyone called him "Little Uzi." Unexpectedly, this season, he has shown his true colors. The irony is that NS management previously thought Taiyong was bad and actively contacted BFX to swap ADs. As a result, Taiyong directly embarrassed his former team in the play-ins.

This kind of satisfying revenge story is indeed quite interesting. After the match, Taiyong made two gestures — "Check your brain" and "Good night" — to mock NS management. NS was in the loser's bracket of the play-ins with no room for error. After this match, the team not only missed the playoffs but also lost any chance of qualifying for Worlds. With three international FMVPs and a talented AD, who would have thought the outcome would be like this?

What's even more interesting is that the LPL Demacia Cup has been upgraded to a "Mini Worlds" this year. Teams from the six major regions that did not qualify for Worlds are all invited to participate. The LCK teams ranked 5th to 7th are all invited, but NS just happens to be ranked 8th. That means Scout won't even have the "Regional King Cup" to play in. It's worth noting that in the last Mini Worlds, Diable won the championship and even took the FMVP award in the final.

The Demacia Cup this time is quite interesting. Like the World Championship, the group stage uses a Swiss format and also implements regional avoidance. After reaching the top 8, the matches become offline play. The schedule is also cleverly arranged: it starts on October 3rd, with the group stage running until the 8th, offline matches from the 12th to the 15th, and the final on the 17th. Except for the 14th and 15th, which conflict with the play-ins, the rest of the time falls during the off-days of the S World Championship.

Conclusion:

Scout is not eligible to participate in either international event. Returning to the LCK region this year, he has truly ended up with nothing. NS, this team, has invested as much as WBG. They spent a lot of money on three international FMVPs, and DaGen was probably acquired at a premium. Yet with such a roster, they ended up in 8th place in the league. The management must be furious.

So, who do you think was the worst performer on NS?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!