The League of Legends S16 season is underway. Following the LPL’s release of the first split schedule, the LCK officially announced a preseason fun tournament on January 9. Similar to past years, players occupying the same role will team up, forming five teams to compete for the best lane title. Each of the 10 LCK teams will have at least two players participating. The first split will begin after the preseason ends, with the specific start date still pending.

The LCK Cup in the first split leans more towards entertainment. To make the matches more exciting, the organizers have added a “Super Week” on top of the group stage. After the third week, teams tied in rankings from two groups will face off in a best-of-five series. The winning team will earn two points for their group, increasing the chances for weaker groups to advance to the playoffs if they beat teams with the same rank.

Chovy has no goals for the new season

After the return of GEN’s dual carries, the club recently held a fan meeting for the new season. Host Park Soo-bin asked Chovy: “What are your goals this year?” Chovy replied, “So far, I haven’t failed in my plans,” which confused the host. She followed up, “Did you have any goals before?” Chovy’s answer was blunt: “I didn’t set any goals.”

Having no goals means no failures, which seems reasonable. Chovy also said he doesn’t plan to set goals in the future, preferring to take life flexibly. It feels like after completing his military service in the community service, Chovy’s motivation has dipped a bit. In contrast, Kanavi was quite confident at the fan meeting, boldly stating: “First, we’ll win the LCK championship. With GEN and T1 around, HLE’s chances of winning seem slim.”

Xu Ge caught dining with his girlfriend

DK mid-laner Showmaker was recently spotted dining at a restaurant by LPL fans. Because Showmaker was with a girl, fans didn’t approach him for an autograph. According to online reports, Xu Ge and the girl sat at the table next to them, frequently interacting during the meal, looking like a couple. A video was taken by fans, but out of respect, only Showmaker was filmed, so the appearance of his girlfriend remains unknown, though fans say she is very beautiful.

The funniest part was the fans’ comments. Someone asked: “How tall is Xu Ge’s girlfriend?” A fan replied: “Even sitting down, she’s half a head taller than Xu Ge. She must be at least 165 cm tall.” Xu Ge’s height has always been a mystery, rumored to be only 156 cm. If she’s 10 cm taller, sitting down would roughly equal half a head difference. Now that he’s in a relationship, it’s uncertain if Xu Ge can maintain his form in the new season.

Breath responds to flanking in team fights

LPL’s unemployed mid-laner Breath has been entertaining on his recent streams. Letme joined him for a voice chat, joking about last year’s WBG insider. Bai Yun’s comments were harsh, targeting the top laner and AD carry. Bai Yun bluntly said Light has major problems and is far less impressive than before. When discussing Breath, Letme said the issue remains the same: Breath likes to flank in team fights even when teammates are already down, with the top laner still trying to flank from behind.

Breath knows his problem but is stubborn: “So what if I flank? I watch these fights. If people don’t like me flanking, I’ll keep doing it.” Then Breath started joking about himself: “Keep flanking, or else I might lose my job.” Hearing that from him was genuinely funny. Breath’s laning is actually decent, and flanking itself isn’t a big issue, but he poorly times his flanks.

Conclusion:

Every time Breath flanks, he fails to create opportunities for the carry. Either he gets spotted by the enemy or his teammates have already been overwhelmed while he’s still flanking. By the time he reaches the enemy’s backline, most of his team is already dead. Sometimes, flanking is unnecessary; playing straightforwardly in the front line might make Breath more effective.

So, what do you think? Is Breath’s flanking style problematic?

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