Episode Transcript
[00:00:31] Speaker A: At the table with Messiah tanking it up. I do not believe he just leaves.
I cannot understand this game.
Unicorns of love, it wasn't you against the nexus.
Hello and welcome to episode 534 of the league rundown. We're in world's preview stage with our swiss review and quarter finals preview. This episode is lovingly entitled luck of the draw. I'm your host, Kangas, and I'm joined by three esteemed co hosts. Up first, we got Bickle.
[00:01:26] Speaker B: I swear I've seen this script for worlds before, but call me crazy.
[00:01:31] Speaker A: No, we didn't beat g two on the way in this time around.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: Fair, fair.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: But still did get quite lucky in how things shook out in swiss stage. Also joining us to boast about how well his region did with all teams making it out. Mister Mazelle pl.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: Hello. I'm. You know, I'm not. I'm not gloating. No, I'm not. I'm not. I'm just here. I'm just here now to talk about some of the world stuff. It's gonna be good.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: Absolutely. And also to maybe mauled a little bit over how much harder the LPL teams still all made it out. And also joining us, rounding out the cast today, a special guest host, aka returning longtime host, but we had to put him at the end cause it's been a while. We got Badger.
[00:02:20] Speaker D: They called me and said that they need someone to do the eulogy at Damwon's funeral. And unfortunately, I was available to do so. So here. Here lies the 2024 2025 Damwon D plus kia fortes deluxe.
Yeah, I was so sad watching that happen in real time. But surely, surely next year I can believe in showmaker and Dom wanna win worlds, right? Right.
[00:02:49] Speaker A: Well, okay, let's ask a question then. Why do you have to do the eulogy? Can you specify for the listeners that might not be aware?
[00:02:57] Speaker D: So, you know, there's this lovely thing that Raya does called the crystal ball. And this is now the third year in a row that I've put Damwon winning worlds as my. As my Shirley. Surely we're in a world's meta where mid lane jungle matters to the point. And Damwon always has great mid jungles. And then I remembered that Mohammed is their support. And then I got really sad.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: So anyways, at least you did your pickups. That's more than some of us on the broadcast can say. Cough. Cough. Me.
[00:03:37] Speaker D: Well, technically also me, because I didn't do plans, but that's fine.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: Okay, fair enough. Fair enough. Well, it's time to get into global news before we cover what happened last week and preview what's happening next week at the world's stage. Up first in global news. Reminder that knockout stage will continue this coming week at 08:00 a.m. eSt. 05:00 a.m. pST. And I believe October is it 18th?
I don't have it here. Wait, no, I do have it. 17th. There we go. October 17 is when worlds will begin again. So mark your calendars right there, as I should have. That should be Thursday morning.
Hopefully this podcast is out before then, but we also have a couple roster news now. We don't know. There might be things that we've missed because there's been a lot of stuff going on in the off season already, but we're just going to go through what's at least in front of us right now. Jojo officially parting ways with as he is out of the contract database. This was heavily rumored. It was basically confirmed and guaranteed. But now when you're out of the contract database, that is the final confirmation. Badger, we haven't gotten your thoughts on this. Have you heard about the Jojo to EU rumor going around?
[00:04:47] Speaker D: I didn't realize it was EU. I had loosely heard some stuff about potential, like landing locations for them, but I didn't know to EU was an option. That's.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:05:01] Speaker D: That he. He might get eaten up and chewed up and spit out. As 1 may say. If he goes over there, that's my I. If he can't survive in a team like C nine, then he's not going to survive anywhere, at least in a respectable and a respectable team.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: Yeah, that's still my concern is if he does leave Na and goes to EU, he's. I really hope that he's got the right mentality to handle the competitive nature over there. So yeah, we'll keep our eyes on that. Fingers to the pulse, but at least he's out of the contract database for c nine for right now. Also, a lot of news going on in EU. It seems like Lec's just got all the roster news happening right now. I think part of it just being that we don't even know the teams that are in NA next year technically, but let's get through them. Bickle. We got fnatic extending an offer to Oscar reninhouse. This rumored or confirmed? Do we know this is the two.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: Of these three are rumors. The middle one, we have a general confirmation. As the player posted, they were granted the opportunity to explore new options. So fnatic extending Oscar and is still a rumor but has been largely rumored. MDK parting ways with Frascawi right after worlds first Gowi posted, he is now looking around exploring his options. So that is basically confirmed. This last one just came out as soon as Swiss ended and kind of hammers open saying yeah, anything you thought had beneficial is now underway as g two is blowing things up already allegedly parting ways with yike and Mickey.
[00:06:50] Speaker D: Yeah, I don't think that's the wrong move to make.
[00:06:55] Speaker A: I think based on world's performance and even based on summer performance, it's not too surprising.
We already heard rumors about a potential jungler coming up that they could be looking at, right?
[00:07:06] Speaker B: There are heavy rumors that the replacements are going to be schumanned from BDS academy who has been compared to Yike as almost a more higher potential yike that originally came out of LDL C and Mickey's rumored to be being replaced by oh my God, why am I forgetting Lebrov from BDS? Those are the two names we're coming on, new mod and LeBron.
[00:07:34] Speaker A: That's interesting. Lebrov would be pretty exciting. Lebrov Hansama who?
Well, either way, that's fast because spoilers, in case you missed any of worlds, you probably living under a rock. If that's the case, G two did not make it out. And that means that, yes, that's very quick. Roster rumors and news coming immediately after the world's performance, which I'm not even going to say. I know some people have said like, oh, disappointing worlds result, I guess more so than performance, but God, did they get quite unlucky with their swizz stage draws. They had to play some real tough opponents, and they still looked pretty damn good doing it. We'll talk more about that later, but that's the global news for right now. If we miss any roster news, let us know in the community discord so we can know if you can find a link to that in the description wherever you are listening to the podcast, because there's a lot of stuff going on globally right now, but most of our focus right now is still on the world stage, so we might have missed some things, but also just let us know your thoughts on how the episodes are going, your thoughts on who's going to win worlds, anything you want to join in the conversation, especially as off season is approaching and there's wild speculation every year. Also, shout out to the patrons who support the podcast and anybody who has supported us on the new website Badger. Were you aware that we have a merch store now.
[00:08:54] Speaker D: No Kangas. Can you tell me about the merch store that we have now for the league Rundown podcast?
[00:09:01] Speaker A: Well, absolutely. We have league dash rundown Dash shop dot fourthwall.com where you can purchase things like mugs, which I'm now showing off to my camera so that everybody in the call can see and everyone at home will have to listen and imagine how cool that looks alongside t shirts, hatsheen mouse pads, and soon to be a badger specific trophy that you can order, which we will explain only if you listen to the bullshittery episode.
[00:09:30] Speaker D: I don't think anybody else wants that trophy. I feel like that one's one that would not be a hot commodity in the community. 1 may say, as our non existent.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: Legal department, I'm not sure we can sell those.
[00:09:46] Speaker D: Please do not attach my name to the chat.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: Well, either way, anybody who helps support the podcast, you all rock. Thank you so much for everything that you do. But that's time now to get into the world's news proper because we've wrapped up swiss stage and oh boy, what a wild ride non seeded Swiss continues to be we talked about it last week of how the draws had gone, and this week it is even crazier what happened, because some teams had arguably easier paths into the quarterfinals than some other teams ended up having.
The way we're going to do this, though, is we're going to talk mostly about the teams that were not able to make it out of the swiss stage so we can focus on them in the first half of the episode, and then we'll talk about the quarterfinals preview where we'll highlight more about the teams that made it out. So first off, we had a couple of one two matches that happened with BLG versus PSG, Fnatic versus Weibo, and then team liquid versus gam. BLG advanced, Weibo advanced, Team Liquid advanced, which meant that fanatic PSG and gam all bid adieu. Rough draw for Fnatic getting Weibo I think Europe in general got fairly unlucky with the draws, although Fnatic also weren't looking that good going into this one to begin with pickle, because we didn't really expect them to do even as much damage as they did to their opponent.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: In my honest opinion, Fnatic could have drawn any team in that one two group and still would have lost.
They look they looked that bad.
[00:11:26] Speaker A: They could have beaten gam, right?
[00:11:28] Speaker D: They already did beat Gam was the problem.
[00:11:31] Speaker B: They couldn't play gam again.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: True. I guess they couldn't pull them in. No.
[00:11:35] Speaker B: So that means their options are blg. Hell no. Team Liquid. We've already seen how that match has occurred over this entire year. Weibo, we saw what happened in that match. Matchup and PSG, who I think had just been looking better than fnatic.
[00:11:51] Speaker A: Yeah, it was going to be tough for Fnatic no matter what. But again, they were able to pick up a game. So I guess that's something to celebrate.
[00:11:59] Speaker B: They picked up a game because Weibo decided, what if we just pretended this was back at MSI and drafted it like it was that comp again with Renekton Italy. No, not Renekton Italy. It was.
I can't remember the top laner, but it was Nidalee, lucian jungle mid.
[00:12:17] Speaker D: I thought it was.
[00:12:18] Speaker A: I'm pulling it up. Right.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Wasn't Renekton Nidalee?
[00:12:21] Speaker D: I'm pretty sure I thought it was.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: Yeah. Let me take a look here because I'm about to have it up in front of me. Fnatic versus Weibo and Weibo on their loss. Yeah, it was Renekton, Nidalee, Lucian mid with Miss Fortune and Leona.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: The hell is that like? And the thing is, they had a lead early. They just then threw it all away because crisp did his favorite thing, which is getting randomly caught out.
But then the next two games happened, and it was not pretty for fnatic.
Honestly, I hate to talk negatively about a player. This, I think is Humanoid's worst international performance ever.
I don't think he had a single.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Good game, which is so rough considering kind of the reputation. I know it was memed on by the community and even like, his teammates of like, oh, the super carry humanoid. But he had a somewhat clutch factor where like, when it mattered, he could step up and be that carry that they needed. But we just didn't see that version of Humanoid at this world stage, unfortunately. So do we think. Do we know when Humanoid's contract is up? I actually don't know what the fnatic contracts look like. I know Oscar Renin would have been up because they're rumored to be extending that one. But I don't know.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: Humanoids.
[00:13:42] Speaker D: Is that.
[00:13:43] Speaker A: If it is up, though, do we think that we keep humanoid at this point?
I don't know. Like other mid laners EU that are better. Yeah, exactly. Jojo, wait.
[00:13:53] Speaker D: Fanatic Jojo.
We solved it.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: Humanoid, Noah and June are all up in 2025. Razor in 2026. Oscar is the only one coming up, but expect them to make roster changes. I do want to give props to Noah. He looked rough coming into the tournament after season finals, after summer finals. But I think he stepped it up at the international event. Had some good performance. It just wasn't. Yeah, he had his moments.
[00:14:22] Speaker D: I'm not going to say if there were good moments or bad moments, but he. He had his moments.
[00:14:26] Speaker B: So he had some positive moments. He had some moments where he was trying to make a play when the game was already lost.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that, again, this was the expected results.
Mazelle, while. While we're talking at least about Weibo, we'll talk more about them later. But what was your thought on their running back? Kind of like the Renekton Nidalee with Lucian mid? Was this them? Just like seeing if something old would work? Or do you think that they're like.
[00:14:52] Speaker C: No, I think if you listen to a lot of the interviews that LPL players are having, I think it's been the case at a lot of other worlds, is like, our meta reads are really bad a lot of the time. And you hear from them that, like, they're just trying to pick comfort. Like, the whole reason Jace got picked by Nia is he's. He will never pick it again. But he just. They needed something and they knew he was good at that. Right. And I think that a lot of the time, that's what LPL teams will default to and see if it works. Right. Like they want to see if they can out hand you. But it's also comfort knowing that they don't really have clarity in the meta right now. So I think it's really interesting.
[00:15:29] Speaker A: All right, well, that is the fairly unceremonious farewell that we bid to fnatic at this stage, as they did not advance with the one and twos, they.
[00:15:38] Speaker B: At least gave us a game of Swain.
[00:15:41] Speaker C: It's true.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: It's true.
[00:15:44] Speaker C: It's literally going to be the start of the exodus from Na to EU. Now, this is the beginning of that era. We had the exodus of EU to.
[00:15:53] Speaker B: A.
I mean, two years in a row and a MX quarters.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: EU doesn't completely validly as well as we will cover later, but also we saw that PSG and GAm bid farewell at this stage as well. The only wins that they were able to pick up at swiss stage were just beating up MDK as they took turns doing that, but weren't able to accomplish as much afterwards, although they still looked like decent teams. And I think that that's pretty exciting when you look at the merger that's going to be happening next year. As this was Gam's last hurrah as their own region. This was also Maple's last hurrah as it was kind of the last dance, as he's been saying publicly. So I know that, like, we didn't expect them to make that much damage, but they didn't bomb out. Neither of these teams went oh three. They were able to at least pick up wins, one series win, even for the likes of Gam. So I think that they can at least leave with their heads held high.
But in general, yeah, like I said, kind of where we expected them to.
[00:16:59] Speaker B: Be overall, I will say in those, in that one two series game, one game gave every north american fan a heart attack as they demolished team liquid.
[00:17:09] Speaker D: I.
Yeah.
[00:17:14] Speaker A: Go for it, Badger. I do have a thought.
[00:17:16] Speaker D: I was impressed. I was like, whoa, this is, is this. I'm like, is this how the lcs era as we know it just ends? Is losing to gam, like, getting eliminated by gamut worlds?
[00:17:30] Speaker A: It was not close. And it was like the, the Orianna plus the Vi combo just freaking destroyed us over and over again. And I know, Mazelle, you had really strong opinions on this. The Maokitra Tristana picked up by team liquid.
[00:17:50] Speaker C: I can't believe we've drafted well for. I guess my biggest complaint is Tristana because we still see LPL teams also drafting Tristana. It's like, I'm sorry. Like, this champion was relevant. It is semi relevant, but not comparatively to, like, everything else we have. And then Maokai is just not the choice when you're going to play passively like that. It's just rough.
[00:18:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
But at least seemed like it was able to bounce back in the next two with pretty convincing performances. Very fast games. Like, they just smashed after that game or in that game too, like a 24 minutes game, something like that. Spawn, we got some cool, like, social media posts of the speeches he was giving to the team and that was kind of fun to celebrate.
[00:18:31] Speaker D: People were losing their minds for no reason over those. Him being like, we're not pressing buttons good. Yeah, you guys aren't pressing buttons good. Like, that's just all it is. Like.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: I remember, I don't remember who said it, actually. It might have been mazelle. I don't. Somebody in a call one time in my discord when we were doing a watch party was mentioning that, like, a lot of coaches job on game day, what coaches like in traditional sports have said is like, you're not teaching at that point, you're just maintaining mental and like, reminding the players of what they've already learned, because you're not gonna, like, learn new lessons or drill new things on game day at these tournaments. So at that point, Spawn's job is to just get his players head back in the game, because it's not like you're going to actually go over moments in that game after game one and be like, okay, this is what, like, what you can learn from this moment. It's like, no, the lessons have been learned at this point. It's execution. So that's kind of, once I heard that, I was like, yeah, that actually makes a lot more sense of the style of coaching that we saw from that, because I definitely see Spawn as more of that kind of traditional sports kind of coach.
Yeah, that was team liquid. Backs against the wall, at least advancing forward to the two and two stage. But there were also two in one matches going on around this time as top esports took on DK, Hle took on flyQuest, and g two took on t one.
Let's cover at least the lcs and lec to start off here. G two versus t one. The l classico at international events, it's usually pretty hype. T one took it to zero this time around. Badger, I actually want to hear your thoughts on this one to start us off.
I.
[00:20:18] Speaker D: So, coming into this, I was very low on g two. I I didn't even think they were going to get to, like, the, like, the two two games. I thought they were going to get eliminated in the one two games, just depending on how the draw went.
Luckily. Luckily, they drew pain as their first round, and then they had the win over weibo, which, when we get to weibo, when we talk about them, I have thoughts on that team, but.
[00:20:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:52] Speaker D: I just think, like, if this. So a lot of the stuff going on and a lot of the narrative is this is the last, like, run for the Zeyuzoner, faker guma carry a lineup. And I I don't know, I just feel like that team's inevitable. Like, t one, when they get to worlds, it's just, oh, okay. Like, we. We make quarters. Like, no matter what Chovy six years running, it feels like t one nh. They haven't been eliminated in a group stage. Like, fakers. Like, got 40 game wins more than anybody else at worlds at this point, it seems like, I think is what the stats.
[00:21:32] Speaker A: Did. He just get a hundred wins at worlds?
[00:21:35] Speaker B: He hit 100th win.
[00:21:37] Speaker D: Yeah, he's won a hundred league games at worlds in his career.
[00:21:43] Speaker A: That's what, like, he's got like a.
[00:21:47] Speaker D: 70 plus percent win rate, too. Like, that's the wild thing in all of it.
[00:21:51] Speaker A: I mean, he's the goat that makes sense.
[00:21:54] Speaker D: And goats just. And goats don't go out in swiss stage, so.
[00:21:58] Speaker A: No. Isn't it like, t one's never.
Well, no, but I think that this would be the first time, right? Hasn't t one never got done worse than semis?
[00:22:07] Speaker B: Correct. They have never done worse than semis.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: Yeah, they've missed world, but whenever they go to worlds, they never miss semis. Sorry, what? Missile?
[00:22:15] Speaker C: I said sorry about your t one fans.
[00:22:18] Speaker D: I actually, as well, I have thoughts on top as well once we get there. Actually, I have a thoughts on all of China. So Mazelle and I are going to.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: Get no badgers thoughts have much weight. When you said DK was going to win?
[00:22:31] Speaker D: Well, yeah, that's the problem.
Damwon literally ran into the great Wall of China after going two and zero to start this twist.
[00:22:41] Speaker C: They were never going to make it, man. I'm sorry.
[00:22:49] Speaker D: Why can't they draw?
[00:22:51] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:22:52] Speaker C: Why can't they have the run of never facing an eastern team?
[00:22:55] Speaker A: You and every EU fan asking the same questions.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: It's Don one versus the LPL, and they hate those odds.
[00:23:04] Speaker D: Just get showmaker in the quarters and that's when he levels up. Like, I don't know what it is.
[00:23:13] Speaker A: Well, let's talk about the top esports side, though, because they went 20 against DK. This was their promotion match, though. We'll cover more about them in the quarterfinals preview because, I mean, what do you think, Mazelle?
[00:23:24] Speaker B: Are?
[00:23:24] Speaker A: Were you proud of your boys? Cause I know that they're the team that you're really backing at those worlds.
[00:23:28] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I think we've still not seen the entirety of what we. What is possible with the team, but I think we've seen them handle some of the meta reads well. And I think their hands are what I'm most excited for going into quarters. Cause in a best of five, I like just as a premise, I do not expect any of those best of fives to be clean, even all the way to finals. I expect all the LPL teams to be brought to four or five games. But that's where I think we've seen LPL teams are making the difference in those game threes. They are not messing up, they are not making mistakes, and they're actually capitalizing really well mechanically. And I think that's where I hold top esports above all the other teams. I think mechanically, they are just really good it's just about if they can actually read the meta and utilize it well, and I think we've seen some of it.
[00:24:16] Speaker A: Okay. What I learned from top esports versus DK also was jackie loves ash is filthy.
[00:24:22] Speaker D: Pretty good. Yeah, I think really low. So I was really low on top and weibo coming in just because I didn't think that. I don't know, it. It just seemed like the meshing of the players, like, the way that they were playing. I wasn't too high on some of them coming in. Like, I thought TN was kind of. I wasn't as high on TN and 369 coming into it. And Jackie love it.
[00:24:49] Speaker A: World MVP, bro.
[00:24:51] Speaker C: I don't know.
[00:24:56] Speaker A: Hey, man.
[00:24:57] Speaker D: Hey, man. Now, now. Okay, so now I've pivoted, and I think that if top esports doesn't win worlds, I will be disappointed. Honestly. I'm not gonna lie.
I think this team is. I think this team is good. I think this team is actually really good after watching them play.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: Yeah. I cream. His development and improvement since MsI, when we saw him at international, has been.
[00:25:22] Speaker D: Cream is. Cream is.
[00:25:23] Speaker C: And we're also going a little bit back into his meta. So I'm.
Dude, if he whips out his akali, I'm gonna fucking scream. I can't wait.
[00:25:32] Speaker A: Are you gonna cream?
[00:25:33] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:25:34] Speaker B: Oh, God.
[00:25:35] Speaker C: Part of the lactose.
[00:25:36] Speaker D: Oh, God.
[00:25:38] Speaker C: I love that. Nymera has now just made the lactose tolerance club a thing. It's great.
[00:25:46] Speaker A: I actually haven't heard. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. We'll cover more of the lactose tolerance club as we cover the quarters previews. Kasapi sports did make it out, but there's one other match that happened here that was HlE versus Flyquest. This is an LCS matchup versus the number one seed from the LCK. And wouldn't you know, FlyQuest did not just give up and give an easy win to HLE. They actually made them work for it. They did lose game one, but they were able to bounce back in game two with just the wildest freaking, like, gameplay. Whip o just down, like, 30 cs and a kill and, like, turret plates and just doesn't matter because he's olaf. And once they fight, he's just like, well, Zyra's not gonna stop me. I'm just gonna run at them.
[00:26:33] Speaker B: Hey, Kangas, you're kind of missing the biggest thing you mentioned the Zyra jungle for a han wife.
[00:26:40] Speaker A: That's the only interesting thing.
[00:26:42] Speaker B: Totally the only interesting pick for jungle there. And you know, FlyQuest totally didn't pull out the nunu for inspired.
[00:26:51] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I don't think Doran realized they pulled out the nunu, either. There were a couple players on Hle that didn't seem that they understood exactly what Nunu's kit did, because that pick, that champ, is so low pick prio did not expect it. I didn't even seem like inspired was particularly good at it. He hit snowballs into walls. So.
[00:27:12] Speaker C: Reel that they made and posted was so good because, like, half of it was just him failing.
[00:27:17] Speaker D: Yeah, I was saying it wasn't. It wasn't an inspiring performance, 1 may say, but it was.
It was definitely something that caught them off guard. I I, for one, zakayasuo, please.
[00:27:32] Speaker B: Oh, my God. No.
[00:27:33] Speaker D: Please get rid of it. Yeah, burn it.
[00:27:36] Speaker C: Burn it in the fires.
[00:27:37] Speaker D: I do not want to see that again.
[00:27:40] Speaker A: Well, thankfully, you didn't have to, because then he played Sylas later on, which. 100% win rate.
[00:27:45] Speaker D: 100% win rate, by the way.
[00:27:47] Speaker A: Yeah. Into quads. Cassiopeia. It's cool to see flyquest developing their own sort of style. I do like the Cassiopeia into the melee matchups, but it's just like, now we just need to get wins with it. Cause I like it, theoretically, but I don't know. It just like, it feels like we're falling too far behind too fast with it.
[00:28:06] Speaker B: So, does anyone actually know the last time an NA team took a game off the korean number one seed at worlds?
[00:28:14] Speaker A: Oh. Oh, I do not.
[00:28:17] Speaker B: Single game.
[00:28:17] Speaker A: Interesting question.
[00:28:19] Speaker D: I was so.
My PTSD flashbacks take me back to 2018.
[00:28:26] Speaker B: You would be incorrect, as KT never. KT did not drop a game.
[00:28:32] Speaker D: Never. But freaka was the big loss.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: Yes, but they were not the number one seed.
[00:28:38] Speaker B: The last time it happened would be 2016.
[00:28:42] Speaker D: Was it CLG and Rocks Tigers?
[00:28:44] Speaker B: It was CLG and Rocks Tigers.
[00:28:47] Speaker D: That's the other one that I was thinking of. I just didn't know if it was. I I was between 18 and 16.
[00:28:52] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: That's wild. Well, we got a game. We didn't get the series, and that would have been our first series win against an LCK team since 2018, when C nine was able to do against the freak of freaks. But that's all hypotheticals, as, unfortunately, Bwipo on the scion fell too far behind. Doran's gnar is filthy as this is. You know, something I hear he's known for? I hear that he's pretty good at that pick. And viper in particular. Remember that moment last week on the podcast, when I was like, yeah, xayah was picked, and it didn't do that well and just do a lot of damage in lane. And then I saw this game, and I was like, oh, wait a minute, viper zaya. Now I can.
[00:29:33] Speaker D: Turns out that Viper guy is pretty good at the game.
[00:29:36] Speaker A: Like, he smashed this bot. There was a time when it was like a three v one. And doesn't he get a double?
[00:29:44] Speaker B: He gets a double kill and gets out alive. You're thinking of the mid lane game. When he's on Kai'sa, it's like, okay, so we can't give him xayah, we can't give him kai'sa, we can't give him ash, we can't give him kalista. Can we ban, like, 27, 80 carries against this guy? But then they'll just pull up mage's bot lane, because what can't he do?
[00:30:04] Speaker A: Yeah, that was rough, because Masu is a very young na player as well, and you could clearly see the difference in, like, just lane understanding and how to play out these little skirmishes. Viper was just so much more experienced and comfortable than Masu.
So hopefully Masu is able to quickly bounce back because their competition is not going to be that much easier.
Arguably, it's going to be the hardest it could be.
[00:30:32] Speaker B: I'm sure this is the hardest korean team they'll have to play.
[00:30:36] Speaker A: It's the number one seed.
A little teaser for the quarterfinals preview, but, yeah, that's how flyquest two one went. Not great. Two one bracket. At least they got two one as it was Hle moving forward. So that was top esports, HLE and t one making it out of the swiss stage at that point, which meant that there were three more matchups and three more teams to say goodbye to, with three more teams advancing in the two and two bracket.
[00:31:03] Speaker B: Yep. So the two and two pull is what happens after all these brackets, and the first matchup that gets drawn is east versus east. We get Weibo versus Damwon. This means, of the three western teams left, two of them will be facing off, which means one of them is guaranteed to go through. However, the third has to bite the bullet for the rest and face blg.
Now, what do you think ends up happening in terms of.
[00:31:35] Speaker A: Before we answer that, I actually got another question, just. Just a side tangential one. Were you aware that statistically, if you made this same group of 16 teams, but eight of them were monkeys on computers, statistically, one team of monkeys would make it out?
Statistically, it's like 53% so monkeys might have made it out. Unfortunately, g two was the team offered on the altar.
[00:32:10] Speaker B: I mean, what are the odds a team is gonna draw? You know, the. Maybe they draw hanwha life plus weibo plus t one plus blg. You know, what are the odds?
[00:32:27] Speaker A: Hey, they got pain. They got pain in there.
[00:32:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:30] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:32:30] Speaker D: Well, they're there. Pain gaming. They were in pain afterwards. Like, yeah, I. It was. Yeah, that was kind of rough, dude.
[00:32:39] Speaker A: I feel so bad for g two and EU because for. I mean, we all did not want this draw. Like, na fans that were celebrating this, I believe, are the minority. I at least hope it's a minority, because, like, I didn't want to make it in like this. I would have loved, like, a flyquest g two, or something to be like, okay, can we do it to EU again, then? Na deserves it. Otherwise, g two looked like the better team of the west.
[00:33:06] Speaker D: I mean, it's just the repeat a lot. Like, we were talking about it earlier. It's just the repeat of last year. Cause remember, you remember that the five teams that they played at worlds last year?
[00:33:17] Speaker A: Well, they did lose to NRG, so.
[00:33:20] Speaker D: Yeah. Win against om, one win against Weibo, gen g nrg, blg, and the two. Two.
[00:33:28] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:28] Speaker D: Yeah. That's pretty fucking rough.
[00:33:33] Speaker A: That is brutal for g two. And it's so sad because they did not look like a bottom eight team in this swiss. No, but, you know, that is the luck of the draw, and that is how at least this format of worlds is structured. I would not be surprised if next year, the format and the structure does change either to a proper seating system or.
I don't know, maybe. Maybe just make a rule that, like.
Well, I don't even like a rule that you can't face your own region doesn't really save them other than na.
[00:34:05] Speaker C: And then it makes everything super complicated.
[00:34:07] Speaker A: Yeah, it really does complicate a lot. Yeah. I don't know what the solution is, but it. This is so sad to see how this happens, but let's at least talk about it, because we can at least start with g two. Blg. G two get a game yet again. I mean, they're showing that they are a competitive team at this world tournament, but it was not enough to get a full win. Their win was in their second game, and we're talking about yasuo on some players. Will broken blade. Yasuo. Pretty fun, dude. The counter pick into bin's gnar and then cap's also pulling out the silas and maintaining 100% win rate. This felt like g two firing in all cylinders, at least for the second game of the series.
Yeah, I don't know, badger, do you have any thoughts on g two and how they kind of looked on their way out of the tournament?
[00:34:53] Speaker D: I I think that game two draft, just going full g two in that situation is exactly what that team needed to do. And they caught blg off guard. I mean, who's, who's expecting Yasuo top with, with, like, no real. No, I mean, outside of, like, rakan, like, no real knockups. I mean, you could, like, silas alt steal the naralty, but, like, they just played their game. They played the side lanes, they played the wind side lanes while the rest of the team kind of played stable, and then they just, unfortunately weren't able to recreate the same magic. And the game, the game three with the rise from caps and it just.
[00:35:39] Speaker C: All that rise, man. Yeah, it was so good.
[00:35:44] Speaker A: Was almost getting to critical mass. Had the Rabadons, the Seraphs, the cosmic drive was getting towards the Zodiac.
[00:35:51] Speaker C: Do we not play their game plan?
[00:35:52] Speaker D: Do we talk about the rend bug?
[00:35:55] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, so, so that's how the game ended, right? It's a pause in a fight, and then pause is investigated. Hans sama claiming that he was not able to rend league officials say it was not a bug. They resume play games over. It's just freaking edge. Like 30 seconds after it was insane.
[00:36:18] Speaker B: Chinese x real is a hell of a champion.
[00:36:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't know. It's just that g two didn't play their game plan. Like, they literally drafted, like, a supermassive comp and then they just kept taking fights. And, like, that Baron play was just probably, like, that is literally what doom them. If you listen, like, I retweeted it as well, but, like, like, they literally didn't keep the TP timers and they thought that they, the other team didn't have TP. And that makes the difference on that call. If you look back to the gameplay itself, like, not knowing they have TP there, that's why they went for it. Cause they thought they didn't. And that's like a game losing in a, in a pivotal match where you are literally one and done and this is your season. Like, that's, that's a mistake that can happen.
[00:37:05] Speaker B: That Baron is literally what loses them the game.
[00:37:07] Speaker C: Yeah, no, absolutely. It's the game changing moment. G two actually had a chance until then.
[00:37:13] Speaker A: And, yeah, that's the most heartbreaking part, is that there is a real world where g two actually makes it out here if they just make slight different decisions at the very end of the game when they had been making pretty good decisions. Intense moments throughout the tournament. But what I want to know here, mazelle, is, are league officials aware that elk's ezreal does bonus damage? I wasn't aware that this was, like, a feature in the game. What the hell?
[00:37:40] Speaker C: I thought with Jackie love space gliding on Ash, I was like, oh, we're hitting peak ADC's for LPL.
Just goes and does that on ezra. Like, he can't miss a single ability. And he's dodging everything. Like he's in the matrix. Like, I don't even understand, man. It was actually insane.
[00:37:57] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:37:58] Speaker D: It was like, oh, my. It was so funny. The pause came through, and I'm like, oh, my God. Like, do they think he's like. Scripting was just, like, going off in.
[00:38:09] Speaker C: Like, a one v three, cuz plg.
[00:38:12] Speaker B: Loses a fight, and then elk's like, what if I just made it so that we actually win this fight?
[00:38:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:18] Speaker D: Like, he's like, no, we don't lose fights around these parts.
[00:38:21] Speaker B: Just, like, 10% hp. But I'm going to e forward. Cue the callista. Kill her. Dodge out on Xin Zhao going in. Kill him. And then just.
[00:38:31] Speaker A: Yeah, it was. Yeah, I agree. Mazelle elk heard people saying, vipers, best ad carry in the world. He was like, hold my mystic shot.
As it seems like these are the two, at least at the tournament. I really, really hope that we get to see a series delivered between the two of them, because that would be insane. Are they close to each other in the bracket? I actually. I'm trying to think here.
[00:38:58] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:38:58] Speaker A: Wait, no, they're literally the match.
[00:39:00] Speaker B: Yeah, they play round one.
[00:39:02] Speaker A: Round one. Well, look at that. I don't have to wait.
[00:39:05] Speaker D: You don't have to wait very long for it.
[00:39:07] Speaker A: Might have forgotten that fact.
All right, well, either way, that was the two and two teams, at least for that first. Or the first of the two and two teams. G two were not able to make it out again. Heartbreaking for that. But you know who did make it out?
Motherfucking America. Let's go, baby. Hell, yeah. Let. We were the best around. It's insane. I'm looking for my air horn. There it is. There it is. USA. Canada. We're the best.
We team killed and we beat minor regions, and we're in quarterfinals, baby.
[00:39:45] Speaker C: Yeah, we made it. That's all it matters.
[00:39:47] Speaker A: Flyquest versus team Liquid also happened, and it also went the distance and did you know how historic. I didn't really realize I knew like the narrative going to lcs, but I forgot about it going into worlds that this is like their 27th game against each other this year.
[00:40:03] Speaker B: It's a crazy.
[00:40:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
The number of series they played against each other because they always matched up like in the upper brackets of playoffs and then in the finals again.
So yeah, this, these teams just duking it out but flyquest yet again getting the better of it and I have to say, did not expect to be saying these words. If you had asked me a couple of weeks ago, I'm happy Flyquest took it because I. They look like the more convincing team at this world championship. Team Liquid has not looked like they can bring the competition to a lot of these international teams outside of two fairly close teams. Games against LPL teams in the first two rounds of, but hasn't looked great since.
[00:40:43] Speaker B: This meta change has been the worst possible thing for Team liquid. Yeah, like it's not even close. The reintroduction of a lot of carry style top laners, specifically the Jacks, the flex of the aurora and melee mid, specifically yone. The fact that team liquid could not play Aurora or yone this entire worlds killed them. Like they were either perma band champions or things that they just left up and took the chance and we saw that when it came down to it in game number three, Flyquest would play them. Team Liquid would.
[00:41:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Specifically the yone quad has a fantastic yone. Apa just can't pilot it and tries to pull out the clad to counter and oh, pointed that crash and burn real fast. Bit of a feast of famine champion make that first play. If.
[00:41:36] Speaker C: If it goes the way that they wanted it to go, it would be good. But unfortunately it was a relevant champion versus a non relevant champion and that's what happens.
[00:41:46] Speaker A: And also, I hate to say it again, but unfortunately Oompty had one of his worst games all year in their final worlds game on the Sejuani, one of his champions that he's been playing all year as well and looking really good on. And God, he just was in the wrong place at the wrong time and just making mechanical misplays that are just not expected of him. Them.
[00:42:10] Speaker B: This. Yeah, umpty has been having a really rough worlds overall alongside Apa. Those are kind of the two that had a major slump in worlds impact.
Did he at least picked it up a little bit coming towards the end? The only real shining spots you can look at that bot lane duo and say, yeah, they did well, but then they have something like a jin. Tom Kenshin can't do jack shit in the game.
[00:42:36] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:42:37] Speaker B: Where Tom Kench buys three elixirs of iron.
[00:42:42] Speaker A: Yeah. The value, the heart, steel. Tom Kench support baby. Gotta love it. Badger is flyquest. Are they still your babies? Are they still, like, your team of the LCS?
[00:42:56] Speaker D: Not really, because unfortunately, my prodigal son that came over from Korea has abandoned us in the light is left for my life, and I'm back on the team liquid. I was back on the team liquid train this season, so.
[00:43:16] Speaker A: Okay, well, how did it feel seeing them have such a fantastic year up until LCS finals and then this world's performance? Because I think this was a little out of left field. This was not the expectation for this.
[00:43:29] Speaker D: Team, you know, coming into worlds. If the format was any different way with, like.
With such a big emphasis on luck of drawing the right teams at the right time, I was genuinely convinced that none of the western teams coming to worlds stood a chance against LPL LCK, so.
[00:43:53] Speaker A: Okay, that's not where I thought that was going to.
[00:43:56] Speaker D: No, I. Like I said, the light has abandoned my life and all hope is gone.
[00:44:00] Speaker A: I understand.
[00:44:01] Speaker D: So.
[00:44:02] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:44:05] Speaker B: That's what really hurts for team liquid. I don't know if they could have gotten a better draw, like, tournament. I. I mean, LNG, Weibo, pain Gam.
[00:44:19] Speaker A: Flyquest and their best games, the games that they looked best outside of the one that they won against FlyQuest, I think their best looking games were, like, the ones against the LPL teams that they lost. That's when I actually had faith and I was like, okay, they lost. They're in the o two, but they were competitive against LPL teams. I think that team liquid can do it. And then he. Just as the world's meta is shaped, I think that's really the nail on the head there that, you know, they were not able to.
[00:44:48] Speaker C: When you're.
[00:44:48] Speaker D: When you're banning Aurora and young, like, intermittently on blue side, you are the. You. You lost a point where you cannot win. Yeah, that's because blue side was so prevalent this tournament. Just because the fact that it freed up so much for you from the fact that Aurora Yeon had to be taken out on red side bands. And if you're banning it in on the opposite team, the other team has already won draft.
[00:45:21] Speaker C: I just feel like, internally, like, obviously, the cloud didn't work out. Right. But internally, it also feels really bad because everybody knows that champion issues are something that APA has been dealing with. And in that moment, I don't know what the comms were like behind the scenes, but at some point there had to be, like, we believe in your clad APA, right? At some point in that. And to so disastrously lose that in a deciding match when you know that you haven't been able to play yone this entire time. Like, I just feel it. Like, not only on the surface does it feel bad, but it also feels bad behind the scenes. I'm sure that gave a huge, you know, knock to the confidence in APA from other players as well.
[00:46:03] Speaker A: It's ammo against, because that was the narrative I remember, like, the summit Reddit posts and stuff, like, complain about APA's champ pool last year, and the hope was this year, always picking up more things. He's not just a Zigzniko two trick anymore, but he didn't play the champs. That happened to be worlds, and it feels like it happened again, not for lack of development. Apa is a better player and has a bigger champ pool this year than he did last year, but it just wasn't the right champ pool, which is the, I think, hardest part. But hopefully, my hope is that a player like Apa is able to bounce back and just continue growing, continue learning. This is only as second Internet or second worlds. He's made many international events at this point since being a player. Actually, he hasn't missed an international event that he could attend. So I still think that there's a lot of hope for this player. I hope that team liquid continues investing in him, or if they do make roster changes, at least somebody else in na picks him up, because I don't think that we let a player like Apa drop just off of these international performances when he's shown the ability to grow so much in a relatively short time.
But that means that there's one other team in the two two stage, so let's cover it. DK versus Weibo gaming and Badger. This is your time, DK.
They did not make it out.
[00:47:29] Speaker C: Can you feel the light?
[00:47:34] Speaker D: I feel the light leaving my system, you know?
[00:47:39] Speaker C: No. He showed up, though.
[00:47:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I was gonna say light was on Weibo, actually, so. Yeah.
[00:47:45] Speaker D: Yeah, they won game one. And I'm like, yes. Showmaker Leblanc doing work, aiming Calista.
Everything is looking smooth.
And then. And then lucid. Had a little bit of an oopsie. Whoopsies. And so did Mohammed for the rest of the series.
[00:48:07] Speaker A: And King and at least game two.
[00:48:11] Speaker D: King and two is not great. King in three with with the gragas, just.
I understand it's a signature pick, but, like, kind of like, kind of like how I knew.
I don't want to say it was doomed for liquid when Apa picked Kled. I kind of knew it was doomed for Damwon. When King and picked gragas, I was.
[00:48:42] Speaker A: Hey, but showmaker got yode. I mean, that's kind of hard. Yeah.
[00:48:45] Speaker D: He also lost and shown it against. Well, I guess it's against Aurora. So that's, like, the two flavor of the tournament picks. So he. He managed to lose both sides of the matchup to show who so clearly. My, my, my go. Well, not really my goat. My, my. My. Mid lane appreciation of showmaker did not show up as well as I thought he was going to. But I can't be too mad because it's lucid's first worlds, and he's 19. I would say his birthday, but that would just send everybody into a tizzy.
[00:49:28] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:49:28] Speaker D: Man's man was born January 2005.
That's the year I was in 6th grade when this kid was born. I can't be too upset about it then. I think Mohammed's, like, also young too.
[00:49:43] Speaker A: So, yeah, we did see, I think, bright spots. Aiming in general, had a pretty good series.
But light, man, two Ezreal games in a row. Also showing up huge there. Mazelle. I think, dude, watching LPL ADC play Ezreal, I'm like, oh, this is what the champ does.
[00:50:04] Speaker C: The amount of ease forward, like, the aggressive stances they use is actually so insane. And that's why it was so funny to watch that. This is gonna be a little bit tangential, but, like, when Ziggs was starting to come up, especially gala was playing it, and light was playing it, like they would use their satchel charge so aggressively. And it just shows, like, the essence is there wherever, where you just take something, I guess, and play a little bit more aggressively. And people don't know how to handle it.
[00:50:28] Speaker A: Yeah, well, D plus kia forte, 2024, Sorenta plus Ultra. We're not able to handle it.
As they were bidding farewell at the tournament this stage, two and two. So we said goodbye to DK, tl and g two at this point, which meant that Weibo, Flydenna and BLG advanced. All four LPL teams advance out of Swiss. Three LCk teams advance out of Swiss. And wouldn't you know, statistically speaking, a team of monkeys will make it out.
And Flyquest are also making it to the quarter finals.
[00:51:09] Speaker B: Wait, it's four LPL, three lck and an Ellie Lcs.
Wait, where did I. Where did I see this before?
[00:51:16] Speaker A: Probably last year worlds.
I'm pretty sure it was about the same different region, though, as we are in EU, so we won't get at least t one running the gauntlet. Although technically. Oh, no, it can't happen. No. The side of the bracket they're on because they have an LPL team, but three of the other LPL teams are on the other side of the bracket, which is going to be tough for LPL overall. But what are your thoughts, Bickel?
[00:51:41] Speaker B: Technically, hanwha life can run the bracket this time.
[00:51:46] Speaker A: True. That's a good point. So going into quarters, we did have a draw show, and the draws are as follows. In order from October 17, 18th, 19th, to 20th, we have LNg versus Weibo, the LPL versus LPL matchup. Then we have hle versus Blg. That one's going to be a banger. Next up is top esports versus t one, also arguably a banger as we got to see them in the first round of Swiss. And now we get the run back. And then Gen G versus fly quest. We pulled the tournament favorites, who three owed, didn't drop any games except for one to Hle on their way out, and technically haven't played since October 5. So that's over two weeks. Totally. Play again because they're the last game out of the quarterfinals, so maybe that'll be a plus for us.
Whoo. That's a rough draw for FlyQuest.
[00:52:45] Speaker C: That's wild. Is such a long time.
[00:52:48] Speaker A: That is crazy, right? But we'll. We'll cover them at the end because they are fourth in the matchup. Let's talk about the first one. First, Lng versus Weibo. As we have our predictions, I have LNG three one alongside Badger, Bickel and Mazelle have LNG three and two. So maybe thinking it's a little bit closer. I was just convinced more by LNG throughout the swiss stage, and I was by waybo. It was purely just like. Even though I still think that LNG had an easier draw making it out, they had a quick exit. It's been a while since they've been playing, but I still thought that they looked great. Mazelle, I want to get your thoughts, though, on this matchup, because these are two LPL teams, and, of course, you've covered them all year.
[00:53:27] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I think LNG is just a better team than Weibo. I think, especially in the regionals, they took advantage of Weibo's kind of faltering there and just had a really cool, quick, clean sweep of them. But I think scout can outplay Shaohoo. And I think that's one of the crux that Weibo plays around very heavily, and especially Tarzan. So unless light just has an insane performance over gala, I think that they'll be able to stay on par and LNG is able to take it. But I think it's gonna be a knockout dragout series.
[00:54:00] Speaker A: Okay. I mean, you also have had the privilege of watching many best of fives go to five games at the LPL. So I hear that that's kind of a trend.
[00:54:10] Speaker D: I should have expected that with the. Just the fact that it's LPL.
[00:54:14] Speaker C: LPL.
[00:54:14] Speaker D: So, yeah, you know, I'm gonna change my fan.
I'm convinced now at this point.
[00:54:19] Speaker A: I've been convinced. Now comes up the opportunity for Mazzell to convince me to change his next one, too, because this one was so close for me. And I will hear arguments for either side. Hle versus Blg on October 18.
We have myself, Badger, and Bickle with Hle. Me and Badger have it a three two. Bickel has at a three one. Mazelle, the lone LPl believer at a three two as well for blg. So most of us think it's gonna be very close. Bickle thinks still a game for BLG, I guess. Bickle, let's hear your thoughts first here, because you're the one that has the furthest away from, like, a 50 50 here. Why do you think Hl league get the better of blg?
[00:55:02] Speaker B: Honestly, these are the two number one seeds coming in, so it's going to be a slugfest, a pretty good fight. But I just haven't been convinced by BLG's performance at this tournament so far. They've kind of underperformed and been disappointing in a sense. They nearly dropped to g two there. They almost didn't make knockouts. Hanwha has also had some struggles, but they went toe to toe with Gen G, who look like the best team at this tournament right now, and I think just got caught off guard by a weird ass nunu pick. And other than that, they've been looking really solid.
It'll be really exciting. I think if BLG is able to make something happen, it'll be around that top lane. I think bin can be a big pressure point, but I'm so excited to see two of the best ad carries in the world face off.
[00:55:55] Speaker A: Yes. I think no matter who wins, we all win because that bot Lane is going to be fireworks cinema, as it were. But, Mazelle, I want to hear your thoughts because you believe in BLG to take it.
[00:56:08] Speaker C: Of course. No, I think if. If Viper has a really good series, it can be very difficult for BLG. But I think everybody's going to discount elk going into it. I think it's going to be back and forth. I think it's pretty much like a 50 50 to me at this point.
But it all depends on who's feeling themselves on that day and what kind of meta read we get from these two teams, because BlG come away from these positions that they haven't really wanted to be in. But the you hear in the interviews, they're still very confident. They're still very joyous about it all. I think that's the biggest thing, is as long as they have a good head on their shoulders going into the series, they can absolutely take it. But if they don't, if they have, like, a bad meta read, I mean, Hrtaine Chile will take it all away.
[00:56:49] Speaker A: That's what I'll say. I think BLG's meta read was getting better throughout the tournament and night. Pulling out things like the Silas gives me more confidence that BLG can actually do this.
That's why I was so hard for me to, like, make a decision for me. Also, bend versus Doran. I just feel like Ben should smash that matchup, so I don't know. I kind of want to change to BLG, but I'll keep hle out of respect. Flyquest, who drops to them. So there we go.
That's the top half of the bracket, which means that up on October 19, we'll have the bottom half of the bracket, top esports versus t one. To kick things off. I have top esports three and one alongside Mazelle. Bickle has them three two. Badger sitting alone with t one.
[00:57:40] Speaker C: Whoa, whoa.
[00:57:41] Speaker B: No, no, no. I have t one.
[00:57:43] Speaker D: Wait.
[00:57:44] Speaker B: Oh, you have t one badger, you changed mine.
[00:57:48] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:57:48] Speaker A: Amazing.
[00:57:49] Speaker D: All right, well, let's start that over again. T one in my initial thing, and then I'm like, oh, wait. I. I forgot what team they were playing against, so.
[00:57:59] Speaker A: All right, well, then just swap. Badger and Bickle. Basically, bicklaws t one. Badgers, top esports, and now they're both three twos. Me and myself still think top esports three one. Okay, what's your argument? Let's hear it.
[00:58:09] Speaker C: I need some fucking person to just sweep the leg. Johnny on t one. I just need them out of the tournament. I need lpl to win. And honestly, at this point, I think they're the only person that can take us out. So I don't care how it happens. Top esports, but make it happen, all right?
[00:58:29] Speaker A: That is terrified to think that t one is the kryptonite of lpl, but if they beat top esports, it's only going to be in the finals that lpl can try to take them. At that point, you're ruined for gen g. Wait, this is perfect for you, mizel, because you don't need lpl to.
[00:58:44] Speaker C: Take out t. I just need somebody. I just need somebody.
[00:58:48] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:58:48] Speaker C: Anybody.
[00:58:49] Speaker A: Well, you think it's three, six, nine, t on cream. Jackie love and mako. We'll see if they're able to pull it off. I still have faith in them, as well. I just. God, watching Jackie loves ash was insane. Cream's really been stepping it up. Last time we saw cream versus faker, also, I think he performed admirably and just kind of bodied faker in lane. So I actually think that cream can step up and do this again.
And, yeah, I think this is potentially the easiest way to do it.
[00:59:18] Speaker B: Now, counterpoint t one at worlds. T one doesn't miss semifinals.
[00:59:27] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:59:28] Speaker A: Historic. This would be the first time ever.
[00:59:31] Speaker B: They just hit another level. Whenever world starts up, like they.
They are just on another level. Owner, I swear, becomes a different player. Like, it's not even funny. The difference between regular season and playoff. Owner versus world's owner.
[00:59:50] Speaker A: That is a good point, as there are three of us thinking that this is history being made with t one missing. Bickle, you are the only one holding out. Badger, you have it close at a three two. What do you think gives top esports the edge?
[01:00:06] Speaker D: They. I think they play really well in this meta. I was very much convinced. I don't think cream is going to be the catalyst, but I don't think cream is going to be the lose. The reason they lose these games.
I don't know. It's. It's just three, six, nine rolling nines. And Jackie love playing like he's a world champion.
[01:00:29] Speaker A: Yeah, I think he's won.
[01:00:31] Speaker D: Mako is Mako. Jackie Love is Elaine that I never knew that I needed until I started watching this worlds.
[01:00:39] Speaker A: It has been a treat, and I agree with Mazelle's giddiness. Guma versus Jackie Love is going to be awesome to see in that bottom lane.
[01:00:46] Speaker B: So eight world champions in that matchup.
[01:00:51] Speaker A: That's cool. My God, that's insane.
That's got to be close to a record. But there is one more quarterfinals match to cover. And, oh, boy, is this one going to be interesting. Gen G versus flyquest. Not the number one seed LCK team, but the one most people had as the best LCK team coming into the tournament, as they were able to sweep their way, essentially, through the swiss stage, only dropping a game to hlevere, which was the kind of run back of LCK finals. And flyquests have to take on giants. Badger and Bickle have a Gen G 30 sweep, but me and Mazel, baby, we believe in a game for FlyQuest with Gen G 31.
I'm going to give my thoughts on this one. To start off again, I kind of alluded to it. Gen G has not played since October 5.
By the time they play, it will be October 20. That is over two weeks of not playing any stage games. I think that FlyQuest are going to come in with the right energy and the right attitude for the series and take game one. Gen G is going to be a little shaky just because they've been away from the stage for so long. And then G and G will swiftly break the fastest game record at some point in the rest of the series and smash FlyQuest in the remaining three games. I honestly think that's how it's going to go. If likewise do win a game, I think it's just the first one because of, like, momentum, and then Gen G will get it back together. Mizel, do you have, like, a same read, or do you have a different reason for why you think FlyQuest can get a game?
[01:02:28] Speaker C: I think they're scrappy little underdogs and they'll take a game.
[01:02:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I love it. Bring us back to earth, though, bickel and badger. I want to hear Bickle's thoughts first.
[01:02:38] Speaker B: This is really sad to say. The question to me is not, will flyquest take a game? The question is, will gen g break the record for fastest game at this tournament?
[01:02:46] Speaker A: I think they will. Yeah, I think both could happen.
[01:02:49] Speaker D: I was gonna say, I.
[01:02:50] Speaker B: This is the worst possible draw fly.
[01:02:52] Speaker D: Could have gone hard to get at this point, just based on the fact that, like, grubs and there's so many different ways to get all the. Get a tally on the board. But I. If. If we're gonna see a perfect game in this tournament, this is the series that it would come from.
[01:03:08] Speaker A: There's no way. Right? I mean, this would be the series, but that doesn't mean that it's, like, likely to happen or going to happen.
I think fly quests are good enough, I think that they'll have something cooked up in draft to take Gen g by surprise, to at least make a game close ish. Even if they don't win a game, I think one of them could be competitive, but Gen G are just looking that much better. So, yeah, not a lot of expectations on Flyquest.
[01:03:35] Speaker B: Question.
If on some miracle, Flyquest pulls off the upset and wins the series, where does this rank among the greatest upsets in league history?
[01:03:47] Speaker A: It is the greatest.
[01:03:49] Speaker D: It's got to be.
[01:03:50] Speaker A: It would be misfits actually beating t one levels if they were able to pull off that legendary series back in, what, 20 1717?
[01:03:59] Speaker D: Yeah.
[01:04:00] Speaker B: Cause I feel like the only things it might compete with is g two beating RNG in 2018 to end the golden road or team liquid beating IG at MSI. Those are the only two that come.
[01:04:16] Speaker A: World champs?
I think those are. But those were further along in tournaments where I think there was more hope for the western teams. Hope and expectations are at a freaking minimum for this flyquest roster right now.
Like, I remember going into that IG series thinking, Team Liquid have a good style matchup versus IG. So even if they don't win, I think, stylistically, they would rather pull ig than. I forget who was on the other side. If it was, like, t one or something like that.
[01:04:53] Speaker B: T one and g two.
[01:04:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
But I can't even think of, like, how Flyquest is supposed to do this other than one of the games. They pulled off, like, an ergot or an Olaf top lane, and they, like, get some kind of snowball rolling. And Genji just aren't, like, used to playing against this type of style. But I don't think that's enough to win a best of five. So what's the next one pick they.
[01:05:15] Speaker B: Pull out to try and win a game?
[01:05:18] Speaker A: Ooh, a mumu top lane.
[01:05:22] Speaker C: No.
[01:05:23] Speaker D: Rammus.
[01:05:24] Speaker A: Ooh.
Okay.
[01:05:27] Speaker B: It'll be something like Xin Zhao top with a fiddlesticks jungle.
[01:05:32] Speaker D: What's the most? Well, I guess no, because Quad wouldn't play it. I'm trying to think it would have to come from topper jungle.
[01:05:39] Speaker A: Yeah, Karthus jungle with, like, I don't know, just all prior agro lanes, and then it's just like a roaming, roaming.
[01:05:50] Speaker D: Jana, top lane from Wippo Masu is.
[01:05:55] Speaker C: Gonna ask the ref if he can have a Wi Fi adapter installed on his PC and unplug his ethernet cable.
[01:06:02] Speaker A: And then the Wi Fi wizard returns.
[01:06:04] Speaker C: SSG. You know, fucking just ultimate.
[01:06:08] Speaker A: Hell, yeah. For anybody who's not aware Masu played the first three weeks of challengers league on Wi Fi from Canada cause he didn't have an Ethernet cable.
[01:06:17] Speaker C: Man had like 160 ping.
[01:06:19] Speaker A: It was insane. We literally have clips of improved, like, once he got an Ethernet cable. Or actually, once he moved to LA and was on zero ping, we have clips of him like, pre cleansing ash arrows because he's not used to it. It was really funny, but, yeah, I like that. And actually, if everyone's on Wi Fi, that would be even better for Masu because then put them out of their element.
All right, there we go. Well, that's how quarterfinals is expected to shake out from us here on the pod. But don't forget to let us know what you think is going to happen in the old quarterfinals in the community discord. Reminder that you can find a link to that wherever you are listening along. But that'll do it, at least for this week's episode. We have knockout stage of worlds. Baby. Swiss is in the books. Sorry to all the EU fans out there. I really do think g two could have been done better and should be in the knockout stage. But luckily, the draw is what it is. At least Na fans can be cheering on FlyQuest for potentially a little while longer here. Maybe a miracle happens, but you won't want to miss any of the action. October 17. Thank you so much for my co hosts for coming on here. Badger, can we expect more of you going forward now?
[01:07:29] Speaker D: Yeah, I'll be around.
[01:07:31] Speaker A: Hell yeah. Happy to have you back, man. As well, to hear you and Mazelle just go at it for lck versus lpl. I forgot how.
[01:07:39] Speaker D: It's going to be pretty great next week when I. I guess we're gonna have one LPl team guarantee.
[01:07:43] Speaker C: We go find out.
[01:07:45] Speaker D: Go find out. Gonna learn today we're gonna learn today.
[01:07:48] Speaker C: We'Re gonna learn in the next couple days.
[01:07:50] Speaker D: In a couple days, in a couple days, yeah.
[01:07:53] Speaker A: Well, thank you for tuning in and listening along, everybody. Also reminded of five stars, wherever you are listening, but most importantly, remember this, we love ya and we'll see you next time.
[01:08:04] Speaker B: Peace.
