Before the S15 World Championship began, HLE’s jungler Peanut candidly shared in interviews and on social platforms that this would be the last World Championship of his career, and he planned to retire after this event. Many fans, upon hearing this, wished that HLE’s mid laner ZEKA could trigger the “Dream Ambassador” passive during the matches to help Peanut achieve his first world championship, especially considering Peanut’s career has been filled with many regrets and runner-up finishes.

However, what disappointed many fans was that champion mid laner ZEKA made multiple mistakes during the matches. In the second game, playing Akali, ZEKA dealt just over 30,000 damage in a 50-minute game, while GEN’s support Titan managed 15,000 damage in a single game. Due to ZEKA’s poor performance, HLE ultimately lost 1-3 to GEN. Many LPL viewers regarded this match as the most heartbreaking of the S15 Worlds; if ZEKA had performed even slightly better on Akali, HLE might have pushed GEN to a fifth game.

After HLE missed the semifinals, Peanut’s fans at the venue broke down in tears, and LPL commentators expressed regret over Peanut’s career. Many insiders believe that given Peanut’s skill level, he deserved a world championship. In the post-match rating, Peanut received the highest score in this BO5, and many viewers even said that if Peanut joined GEN, GEN’s strength would increase because Peanut consistently outperformed Canyon in lane matchups during the games.

Zeus misses the World Championship finals for the first time in his career.

Besides mid laner ZEKA’s underperformance, HLE’s top laner Zeus and support were also heavily suppressed in their lane matchups. Before the Worlds started, many fans regarded Zeus as the world’s strongest top laner, but in this BO5, Zeus was completely dominated by GEN’s top laner KIIN in both laning and team fights. Playing Lillia, Zeus was solo killed by Gwen within three minutes, and playing Camille, his invisibility had no impact throughout the game. Many viewers lamented that the current Worlds meta favors tank top laners, relegating top laners to a secondary role.

After losing the match, Zeus reached the quarterfinals of the World Championship for the first time in his career but missed the Worlds final for the first time ever. Many T1 fans believe Zeus should not have left T1 because their team system suits him best. Faker and Ruler often sacrifice themselves to allow Zeus to carry and farm, but HLE’s team composition does not support Zeus playing carry-style champions. Thus, many T1 fans are hoping Zeus will return to T1 next year. (Do you think the chance of Zeus returning to T1 is high?)

Of course, many LPL fans felt despair for the region’s future after watching the GEN vs. HLE matches, as GEN showed overwhelming strength throughout the tournament. Especially mid laner Chovy has improved tremendously this year; previously, he was seen as a weak player in Worlds, but starting from the Swiss stage this year, Chovy has been the world’s top mid laner. Do you think GEN has a high chance of winning Worlds this year? Can AL or TES defeat GEN? (Of course, AL reaching the final depends on them beating T1 first.)

Conclusion

Peanut’s career filled with so many runner-up finishes is truly unfortunate. Had he won a world championship, he might have been considered the world’s top jungler. What do you think is the reason Peanut never secured a world title? After GEN advances to the semifinals, can Chovy break the “semifinal curse”?