The 2025 League of Legends World Championship is set to start in 6 days. Throughout this break, LPL and LCK teams have been facing off in the Asia Invitational and Challenger Series. JD Gaming and NIP were completely shut out in the China-Korea matchups. At the same time, in the secondary league’s Challenger Series, the LPL was decisively beaten by the LCK. BLG’s second squad was swept by T1’s second team led by Smash, with LCK’s secondary squads taking first place in all three groups.

The primary league was played like bots, and the secondary league was crushed again. The competition between the two major regions is a complete disaster for the LPL. If IG can't defeat T1 at Worlds, they will be thoroughly outclassed this year. Judging by the form of teams like DK and BFX, it looks tough for IG to beat T1. In the play-in matches against JD Gaming, IG had some back-and-forth, but DK shut out JD Gaming completely. T1’s strength is even more undeniable.

BFX support shares a cozy photo

Recently, IG has been training in the LCK. Since their training opponents haven’t been revealed, fans have been wildly speculating. Some online rumors claim IG trained with GEN and were heavily beaten, but that’s clearly trolling. A more credible claim is that IG has been practicing with teams like DK, NS, and BFX who are participating in the Invitational, as BFX’s support player Kellin recently shared a photo with Gala.

The North American team FLY is also currently at the BFX base (which they rented). It’s possible that FLY is among the teams training with IG. This match is very important for IG because regardless of the outcome, they will make history. If they lose to T1, IG will become the only team to finish in 17th place historically. But if they beat T1, IG will break T1’s undefeated BO5 record against LPL teams at Worlds.

TheShy's close brother banned

In the North American LCS region, the promotion and relegation matches recently started. Ghost, the world champion, and TheShy’s close friend Summit from EST faced DSG. Due to a DDOS attack, the match was paused multiple times, totaling over three hours of delay in this BO5. During the break, Summit was spotted by viewers watching the live stream of the match, and the officials banned him for cheating.

Besides Summit, Ghost was also caught chatting on social media during the pause, but no punishment has been issued to him yet. After Summit’s ban, EST released an appeal statement: they believe the penalty was too harsh. The player sat silently in front of the computer for over five hours waiting. The team feels the ruling lacked humanity and has appealed to the league to seek fair treatment for their players.

Tangyuan refuses to join LPL practice sessions

The LOL Worlds practice team roster is mostly finalized. A LOL blogger recently revealed that besides the previously confirmed Angel, Zika, and Leave, mid laner Care has been added. Tangyuan also received an official invitation but chose to decline. It seems he fears being exposed as a training match god. The official invitation was declined. Additionally, the duo ZDZ and TT have joined the practice squad.

The officials likely arranged two players per position to form two practice lineups. The only positions not finalized yet are jungle and support. Jiejie is unable to participate due to injury and therapy, while Xiaohao is expected to attend. Although the lineup looks somewhat weak, mostly composed of reborn players, practice sessions don’t require top-tier skill. Previously, T1’s practice team KDF was consistently at the bottom of the LCK.

Conclusion:

Players sitting still for over five hours waiting can be quite boring. Summit probably just wanted to check when the game would resume but got caught by viewers. Due to severe DDOS attacks, the promotion match was interrupted after EST took a 2-1 series lead, and the match only continued today.

So, do you think watching the match during a pause counts as cheating?

Feel free to leave your thoughts and join the discussion!