The 2026 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational Play-In stage is just two BO5 matches away from concluding. DCG, the all-Chinese team from the provincial region, suffered a clean sweep by KC and then lost 3-0 again to TL in the losers' bracket, making them the first team knocked out of the MSI. In total, DCG failed to claim even one small game victory across both BO5 series. Out of all four participants in the Play-In stage, DCG stands alone with a winless record, which is quite disappointing.

DCG had shown fairly impressive performance in the LCP league. However, perhaps because the roster includes many newcomers with little experience in international tournaments, the whole team seemed nervous, leading to a sharp decline in their competitive level. Although their record looks bad, this team never realistically had a chance to advance—after all, with a 4-into-1 format and T1 in the mix, it's extremely difficult for any other team to make it to the knockout stage.

After T1 easily defeated TL, they faced KC in the second round. Many thought this BO5 might be competitive, as Doran looked a bit shaky in his first match. But it turned out that the second seed from Europe was no match for T1. The series lasted only three games, and T1 swept KC to advance to the Play-In finals. With just one more BO5 win, T1 will enter the knockout stage and face LPL's top seed BLG in a highly anticipated showdown.

In this BO5, Doran made fewer mistakes than in the first match. In game one, his Jayce applied strong pressure in the laning phase; in game two, his Gragas held his own against the Renekton. Those two games were fairly well played, to be fair. But in the decisive game, Doran started struggling again. His Yorick was solo-killed by the Gnar at just five minutes, and after being targeted by the enemy jungler, he fell to 0-3 within 13 minutes, feeding a massive Gnar.

Fortunately, T1 built a huge advantage in the mid and bottom lanes. Peyz's Lucian dealt massive damage in team fights, carrying Doran who had gone 0-5. In the previous BO5, Doran underperformed in two games; this time, he only had one bad game. So overall, Doran is showing some improvement. Perhaps in the next match, he might have a flawless performance and help the team reach the main stage. However, given Doran's skill level, the probability of him playing an entire BO5 without any issues is quite low.

If Doran plays like this against BLG, T1 will likely fall into the losers' bracket in the knockout stage. BLG's mid and bottom lane strength is no weaker than T1's, and Bin, when ahead, has a very strong carry potential. For T1 to go toe-to-toe with BLG, Doran really needs to step up. Additionally, Faker seemed a bit off in this match—his decision-making looked fuzzy, noticeably worse than on day one. I wonder if he needed a sugar boost.

Keria and Oner have been carrying consistently in every game. Peyz is in such incredible form right now—if T1 plays around the bottom lane, he can take over the game in the mid-to-late phase. Could it be that T1's management actually made the right call by developing young talent? After T1's victory in this match, Keria's all-time MSI assist count has reached 888. Faker currently has 885, so Keria has broken Faker's historical record.

After breaking Faker's record, Keria confidently stated in an interview: "When I participated in MSI 2022, I wanted to become the best support in history. Now I can confidently say I am the best support in history." With three world championships, the highest assist count surpassing Faker, and unrivaled achievements at his position, calling him the greatest support of all time is hard to argue with. Moreover, T1 still has matches ahead, so Keria's stats will continue to climb.

Conclusion:

T1's final game in the Play-In stage will be against the winner of TL vs. KC. T1 has already faced both teams and swept them 3-0 in two BO5 series. No matter which team advances, it's highly unlikely they can beat T1. It seems we will indeed see BLG take on T1 in the knockout stage. Hopefully, BLG can handle the pressure and defeat T1 once again.

So, what do you think of Doran's performance on the stage?

Feel free to leave your comments and discuss!