With only two days remaining before the League of Legends S15 World Championship play-in stage begins, the clash between T1 and IG has captured global player interest. Barring surprises, this best-of-five will outshine the finals in excitement and break new audience records. The competition is imminent; IG is back home training, and T1 has arrived securely. Both sides are fully prepared, awaiting the battle for Swiss stage qualification.

Now comes the unified stance: most LPL fans and teams hope IG can defeat T1 in the play-ins and advance to the Swiss stage, as having one more team increases our region’s chances of winning the championship. Crucially, without the strong T1 team, LPL’s odds against LCK improve. Interestingly, the neighboring region’s situation seems reversed—HLE, GEN, and KT all do not want T1 to win.

Chovy mentioned in a late September interview after winning the LCK annual championship that it’s been a long time since facing IG, and if given the chance, it would be quite interesting. His teammates Kiin and Duro also expressed before departure that they hope IG wins. Kiin said, “Fans are eager to see me face TheShy, and if we meet, it would be both fun and enjoyable.”

Duro was even more straightforward: “I personally prefer matches against strong teams. IG is truly a strong team, but we haven’t met this year. Top, mid, and support all want to face IG—it seems the whole team ‘really dislikes’ T1.” Hanwha’s top laner Zeus previously said the player he most wants to face in Worlds is TheShy. His teammate Viper said before leaving, “I personally want to compete against IG’s bottom lane; Gala is a very explosive player.”

Wow, both the LCK’s first and second seeds want IG to win. The only one not explicitly supporting IG is the third seed KT. Although they don’t openly offend T1, behind the scenes, they have actually helped IG quite a bit. Before departure, Cuzz revealed in an interview that he recently scrimmed with overseas teams training in Korea and felt their strength firsthand, so he must be well-prepared.

GEN and Hanwha just talk, but KT is truly putting in effort. Two teams went to LCK for training this year: FLY and IG. Could Cuzz have meant FLY? If so, that would be a misunderstanding. However, since Cuzz didn’t specify one team, maybe both IG and FLY trained with KT. Out of four teams in the region, three want IG to win. It seems T1 is being boycotted.

It’s understandable that LCK teams don’t want T1 to advance to the main event since they all aim for the championship. If T1 makes it, the pressure on HLE and GEN would be even greater than on our region’s top seed BLG. Past Worlds have shown that when T1’s league form is average, they tend to explode at Worlds—especially Gumayusi in the bot lane, who plays like a completely different person on the international stage.

LPL is united against LCK, and LCK is united against T1. This is quite an interesting dynamic. Although everyone supports IG, it will still be tough for IG to beat T1 in the play-ins. After watching the Asian Invitational, everyone understands the gap between LPL and LCK. Even if IG trains in Korea and learns some of T1’s tactics, the outcome depends on their in-game performance. If they’re off form, they definitely won’t win.

In conclusion:

Faker has never lost to an LPL team in a Worlds BO5 series. LPL fans hope IG can break this record, but there is a skill gap between the two teams, especially in mid lane. Rookie’s playoff and bubble performances have been mediocre at best, arguably disappointing. If he hasn’t improved recently, he might be outplayed by Faker in their matchup.

What do you think about the LCK teams collectively supporting IG?

Feel free to leave your comments and discuss!