Episode Transcript
[00:00:13] Speaker A: Gets a little too far here. He's gonna have to try and get himself out. Let me go. Tillery and the rest of the shots of fire. Zion is just killing the next. Zion can eat it single handedly Win the game by game by game by game by should be. Oh my God. Stupid. Passes through and manages to the table with Messiah tanking it up. I do not believe. He just believe.
I cannot understand this game.
Unicorns of love. It wasn't a mutant. The Nexus.
Hello and welcome to episode 561 of the League Rundown. This is your 2025 LEC Spring Split Week 7 review and LTA North Split 2 Week 6 review. This episode is lovingly entitled League is better with Crowds. And I'm your host. Kang is joined by two esteemed co hosts. Up first, we have Fresh out of the can and yet again introduced first. So he better be ready for it. We got Badger.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: You know, I brought this up with my wife the other day about the fact that you just like threw me, like threw me the biggest curveball that I wasn't expecting.
So. And she's like, well, that's kind of shitty of him. And I'm like, oh, no, it's fine. It happens all the time. I never am ready for it. It's okay. So nice.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: You know what I learned there is that your wife is a good one because she immediately went to the defense of you.
I approve.
We also have joining us Mr. Mazelpl.
[00:02:04] Speaker C: Hello.
Here to spread the LPL gospel. You know, just as. As. As is needed in this time and day.
[00:02:12] Speaker A: As is also appreciated because as we're getting closer and closer to msi, I mean those story lines are going to be needed more and more for all of us.
[00:02:20] Speaker C: Dude, there's only like a one, one and a half weeks of games left. It's crazy.
[00:02:24] Speaker A: That's actually.
[00:02:26] Speaker C: No, actually not even. It's literally eight days of games left.
[00:02:30] Speaker A: So y' all get a big break then because.
[00:02:33] Speaker C: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Because you're forgetting the format, kangas. We have what is called a playoff play in. It's a mini playoff tournament to get into the playoffs.
[00:02:45] Speaker A: Oh my God. God save you. More games cover that because it's LPL update time. So what's going on then? Outside of like, when are we wrapping up what's currently happening? And then what does that transition look like for what's coming next?
[00:03:00] Speaker C: All right, so we finish on the 22nd of May. So next Thursday after that we will transition into the playoff Play in where the top two teams from Group Nirvana will face off against the bottom six teams in Group Ascend in best of threes. Fearless to get the final.
Let's see, is it 8? 8 slots available in the playoffs.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: So. So top teams from Group Ascend auto qualify in.
[00:03:33] Speaker C: So there are four top teams that will auto qualify. We already have two of them locked in and they will have buys because it's the same playoff format as normal. So top two will be all the way at the very like round four or five.
Then the third and fourth will be in the round before that. But then there's like two or three rounds before that with everybody else thrown in there.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: Interesting. Okay.
[00:03:58] Speaker B: So wild to look at. Honestly I. I get lost every time I look at this bracket right now.
[00:04:04] Speaker C: I lied. It was best of fives for the qualification. We did best of threes for the first couple last split but it's best of five so we automatically are getting the best of fives.
And like I said, it'll be 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.
Is it 12 teams? Actually, hold on, let me make sure.
Yeah, it is 12 teams. I lied. I'm so crazy. I thought it was 10. So it's 12 teams that make it all the way through and then go through the playoff spot. Obviously the eight from the playoff play in and then the four from the already secured spots. Right now as we speak it is Top Esports and AL already securing two of the top four slots.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: It's wild to me, honestly.
[00:04:49] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Remember when I was joking last year about TSM being being like the. The one that's going to purchase like anyone's legend as a joke and now they're like a top 14.
[00:05:04] Speaker C: It's crazy what money will do for you. It's crazy.
We are done with Group Nirvana. We've been done with Group Nirvana for almost a week.
Which means that LGD and Edward Gaming, who are the two teams that will be joining the playoff play in, are gonna have a lot of time to sit and wait until that starts off until they get into those best of fives. LNG and Ultra Prime. They are safe for split three. They will be returning. RNG and OMG are done. They will not be playing anymore in 2025. The rumor has it RNG might also be done for eternity.
Things really bubbling up from the LPL side of things. A lot of official sanctions going in onto the team and they have to figure out what they're going to do for the rest of this year to try to make money to pay their rosters so that would be a really big heartbreak. RNG obviously one of the biggest perennial giants for so many years in the LPL. It's sad. ThunderTalk Gaming going back to the group ascend side of things. They are the team that's kind of locked in that bottom six. So we will be seeing them in the playoff plan. Besides that though, a little bit of checkup on teams. Wavo Gaming is having an absolutely catastrophic fall. They're on five losses in a row. The team is just not functioning well together. They're right there with team we in seventh and eighth place where we is now in a four loss streak.
Invictus game and they're starting to fire it up a little bit. There are three wins in a row now as well over top tier teams. They're 50% win rate, 20 and 20 in games played. JDG looking really good. The biggest news though is that Bilibili Gaming, the rumor of their downfall is no longer on a six win streak. Since they brought in Be Chuan to replace Wei, they have been undefeated and now they're looking to secure one of those top four slots here in the end when they were one of the teams that were struggling in that middle half of the pack going into the second round robin.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Nice.
All right, good for them. That's cool. Well, sounds like bid farewell to two legacy orgs for the rest of the year. Wish them luck. Man, that sucks to try.
[00:07:08] Speaker C: I don't even understand. I talked about on cast like I don't even know what you do. Like what? First of all, what do you do as players but what do you do as an org?
[00:07:15] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:07:16] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awful because like even some, some like the other international tournaments, like let's take Red Bull for example. It's not like you can just go like you.
[00:07:24] Speaker C: Yeah, no, not at all.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: So it's like even some of the third party tournament opportunities aren't necessarily available to you so that's gonna be tough to see. Hopefully we don't lose another legacy org if we enter a year that has no clg. Tsm.
Freaking misfits. I don't know. I'm trying to think of it I guess. Origin of all the teams no RNG. Like oh my God, 2016 me would have been sad.
[00:07:55] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah.
[00:07:57] Speaker A: But sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles.
All right, that's LPL also again, shout out, make sure that you are following the LPL on socials. The unofficial English broadcast has been doing a great job and Zelle's been doing a lot of work for them as well. So not just Cassie, you're also doing a lot of the admin stuff behind.
[00:08:14] Speaker C: Oh God, admin stuff sucks. Don't ever do it so bad.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: Imagine. So shout out to you. Go follow LPL underscore English for the socials. And then it's just LPL English for Twitch. Or do I have that reversed?
[00:08:29] Speaker C: I believe you have it correct because we are not LPL English on Twitch to it or Twitter. Twitter. But we are lpl underscore English on Twitch.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: Gotcha. All right, cool. Go follow on Twitch.
[00:08:41] Speaker C: We have a Flandre interview coming out soon.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: Oh, hell yeah. That's awesome.
[00:08:45] Speaker C: Yeah, it was really good.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: That's LPL though. So, Badger, do you have any fun stuff going on in LCK that you've been paying attention to? Anything to update our audience on?
[00:08:54] Speaker B: Trying to think Genji Hanwa already locked for playoffs. I mean it's, it's kind of grim in the middle of the pack of the LCK right now. It's. It's a rock fight at this point. But Genji is 120 with a 24. 3 game score. Han was 11 and 1 with a 20, 22 and 5 game score. T1 is still holding third place. 8 and 4 with 19 and 10 defeated in series.
[00:09:20] Speaker A: Like I haven't dropped a series.
I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere like Gen G are undefeated in series.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: They're undefeated in series and Hanwha has not lost since the first season or this first series of the split when they played Gen G.
So they're on a collision course here.
Next week on Wednesday at 4am East Coast Time 11 1am Pacific Time just for you.
But we get gen G Hanwell Round 2 as their as both teams is second to last match of the group stage. But if playoffs started tomorrow, it'd be Katie Rolster versus D plus KIA in the fifth sixth game. And then the winner of that would play Nong Shim and then the winner of that would play T1 and the winner of that would play Hanma and the winner of that would play Gen G. Because you know we're back to Gauntlets, baby.
Wow, we're in a Gauntlet already.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Dude, I love some Gauntlets.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: Actually it's one versus oh actually no it would be because we're doing two teams to msi. So Gen G and Hanwha would play for the one slot and then the loser of that would be the Gauntlet boss.
But that's not until like end of or middle of June when we figure that out, like, who's going to be that team.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: So, yeah, MSI itself is just happening so late to my normal, like, brain processing it, but it's still crazy.
[00:10:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Somebody on Twitter was talking about how it's usually during Eurovision, so they watch like the MSI into Eurovision. It's like completely offset.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Yep. I mean, it usually be happening around now, right now, right?
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Yeah, it should be. It's usually middle. Middle of May to end of May is when it's going. Going on. So. Yeah, no, like the whole first. First stand.
Yeah, I finally said it. Right, let's go.
I did. It only took like two months after the tournament for me to say it right.
But yeah, it feels weird with like, first stand being in the calendar. Everything is just messed up for the rest of the year at this point. And I mean, is when is Worlds technically. Is it still October?
[00:11:32] Speaker C: Yeah, it should still be October. November.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:11:35] Speaker A: It moved back like a week or something like that.
[00:11:37] Speaker B: Yeah, Yeah.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: I remember being slightly later, but not craz later.
But yeah, I did affect as well.
Yeah. All right, cool. Well, thank you for the update, guys, on what's happening around the globe. We're gonna get into our LECN LTA stuff here shortly. But before that, we actually did have a bit of roster news, technically, because Badger, not all the LEC teams had their starting rosters this past.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Yeah. So Jung Hoon for player formerly known as Jung Hoon, now known as Execute. The support for Rogue went Rogue and got himself suspended for the last game of the season, which forced Trick, old Jungler Trick to come out of retirement and Mao wrong to play support for Rogue and their final match against mcoi. And if you're wondering what Execute did, he put out a statement. And I'm just gonna read this one paragraph and this will. This will sum it up entirely. Quote quote recently, during a solo queue game, I typed quote, take your life.
Close quote in chat. Frustration. In Korean, a similar phrase is used to mean, quote, focus on your life. Close quote. Implying that someone shouldn't mind their own business. However, I misunderstood the English meaning of the phrase and now I realize it can be interpreted in a very serious and harmful way. Something I did not absolutely intend.
[00:13:00] Speaker A: Man, hated when that happened.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: I hate just being like, damn, take your life. And then them being like, oh, what? And then it's like, whoa, whoa. I went. I mean, to focus on your own life.
[00:13:11] Speaker A: Like, yeah, they always take it out of context. They never, like, listen to the other things.
[00:13:15] Speaker C: It's literally the next iteration of whatever happened.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: I just abbreviated keep yourself safe. What are you doing? Come on.
[00:13:22] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: Gosh.
[00:13:26] Speaker A: It is that. It's. It's pretty egregious.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: It's pretty bad.
But it didn't really change anything, let's be honest.
[00:13:35] Speaker A: Like, they were. They were knocked out, right? Like they didn't have a shot of making it anyway. Maybe there was like a 1% chance if like everybody else lost, but I'm pretty sure even going into the weekend, they knew that they could not make it into play.
[00:13:46] Speaker B: No, they were mathematically eliminated going into the weekend.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: Yeah, but shout out to Trick. You know, the old G2 juggler kind of crazy. Kind of crazy there. That was the only roster news that we had from this past weekend. I haven't seen any. Even though we do have four teams already eliminated from the LEC playoff picture, I haven't yet seen anybody making drastic moves that might have changed by the time that this episode actually airs. So make sure to let us know if we are no longer up to date on that. But before we get into everything else, also shout out to everybody doing LTA fantasy in the community. We have updated top three polls. Pacific takes first place with 687 points. Apollo in second place with 685. And look who's back on the podium, baby. It's me at 667. Had a great weekend.
[00:14:37] Speaker C: Doing your own horn there.
[00:14:39] Speaker A: I'm shooting my own horn. Hell yeah.
Look man, I was first place for the first couple of weeks and tanking last week made me a little bit of espresso. So I am very happy to be back at least in the top three. But shout out to everybody for playing. Shout out to everybody in the community and make sure if you have not yet joined, check out our community Discord link the description wherever you are listening. And you also can support the podcast if you want through our Patreon or through our Merch shop. Links are also in the description.
Okay, let's get into it guys. We have two different regions to cover and we're going to start off with the region that doesn't have games coming up this next weekend. LEC wrapped up the regular split and now are preparing for playoffs coming not this coming weekend, but the weekend after. So we'll have a little breathing room here.
But also we have something fun to talk about because Badger, we were back on the road and actually I don't.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: Know why I set you up on the road again. Can't wait to get back on the road Again, Is that what we're saying?
[00:15:40] Speaker A: No, no. I was actually gonna set up, like, where. Where'd we go? And I know Mizell's the. The Frenchman on the broadcast, so, Mizell, where did we go on this road trip?
That's crazy.
Really, really cool. We set it up last week on the podcast.
How much potential. This has to be, like, just a beautiful moment for our community. Even if you're not in eu, even if you're not French or they're live. Just, like, being able to watch and hear that kind of crowd and, oh, my God, did that crowd deliver.
Mizel, do you feel like you were disappointed by any stretch that the roof was still intact? Because last week you said there was a hot chance.
[00:16:22] Speaker C: I think Kamero would have been very sad. And he spent all that money, and a roof just collapsed after he got a bunch of fans in there. No, I was not upset. I think it was. I. The. I didn't catch all the games, but the ones I did catch, I mean, it felt electric.
[00:16:35] Speaker A: It was absolutely electric. Not just for the KC games. Like, they were making noise for everybody. Obviously, Casey was the favorites, but they definitely brought it for. For everybody involved. That Casey Vitality game, especially was just. Man, they were making noise. It was so cool that they had, like, a whole section, so. So the way that the arena was laid out, if you didn't see any of, like, the. The footage of. Of the crowd, there's, like, different rows that you can sit in, right? Kind of columns more, and then a bunch of rows occupying that column, and one of them in the dead center was just called the blue wall, and they had a big sign in front of it, and everybody in there were clearly the super fans. Everyone was wearing blue. So it literally looks like a blue wall in the middle of the arena, which was so cool.
And that crowd, that, like, group specifically, just never stopped making noise, which is awesome. But, Badger, what'd you think about overall, the games? Which games kind of stood out to you? Which series do you think were the must watch from the weekend from your perspective?
[00:17:39] Speaker B: I. I mean, the obvious answer at this point is movie star Koi vs Rogue, because we got to see ma. Wrong place to put. No, it's. It's G2 versus Carmine Core. I mean, this is. Is the. This is the series that. When. When they said, hey, we're going on the road. We're going to France. K Core is going to play G2, week seven, day two. Like, everyone's like, oh, yeah, that's going to be the good series. Like we.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: We.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: We've had this on the calendar for so long at this point and quite frankly, it lived up to the expectations. This was.
[00:18:15] Speaker A: Oh for sure.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: This was such a great series. It was back and forth G G2 coming out in game one and just punching him in the mouth and saying or on your home turf. But this is our region. Pretty much just skim on. And Hans had a great game. Caps. Just the caps. Galio is kind of scary. I mean Galio in general is a scary.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: He got the counterpick into the Silas which is never fun, man.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: No, I felt. No, it's not.
It's.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: But Casey never stopped fighting even in that game one. They were like Giga behind. They kept fighting G2 through it all and then I. I don't know. I. They put something in their water for that game too also because Kalis Ezreal Holy dude. This kid is.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: That kid is so good.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: The play mid where he's like. I think it's when he gets. It might be his first couple kills. I don't remember exactly when in the game it was but basically he does one of the few moments where you arcane shift forward to turn a play because it was like a one for one, but then he turns into a three for one because he just decides to go psycho mode. It was like, that's what you want to see, baby. Let's go.
And yeah, G2 just were not ready for the Cliff special, which kind of kept going for the rest of the series too. It was awesome.
[00:19:33] Speaker B: Got the momentum, wrote it into game three and just everybody was. Just had a great standout performance on that team for game three and took care of business at home. Crowd was going crazy.
Man, I wish we did road shows in NA but at the same time, just given how NA crowds are sometimes it could be disappointing.
[00:19:52] Speaker A: So yeah, you never know. You never know. The big takeaway that I had from this series in particular is that kc they look like the better team in fearless drafting over G2. I think G2, pure mechanics in a game one can still beat pretty much pound for pound KC. Like even Hansama on the right matchup can. Can answer Kalist. But later in the series, like especially that game three, I just. I look at G2's comp and I'm shaking my head like, what the hell are we doing? Warwick Mundo Yone Kalista Rell. Sure they all go the same direction, which is forward, but they just don't have a lot of damage and like they don't have that many tools to protect Broken Blade in the side lane, which he just kept dying over and over and over again.
So concerned about G2's prospects as we get into best of fives because that's what's going to be ahead of them.
I'll do a quick kind of synopsis of the rest of the weekend because that, that really was the marquee matchup.
Vitality also stood out a little bit to me. They, they had a quick win over SK and they also pushed kc, so Vitality getting some of that home French buff as well. And I think that it's cool to see that like Niski is slotting into the roster and into the role of support way better and way faster than I gave him credit for, man.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: Like, yeah, I think this was, I think this is still a really good week. I mean Carsy and Carzy and Niski just had a really good weekend overall, I would say. So it just, it's something that I didn't expect. I thought, oh, Niski's gonna come in, this team's gonna crash and burn, they're gonna miss playoffs, but we'll talk about it. Actually no, they lot, they don't make playoffs. Just kidding. Haha funny. Just kidding.
[00:21:32] Speaker A: It's rough that they don't, but I still think that it was a good look for them at the very end. Just basically a defiant like, hey, we can still win games. And especially pushing KC because it's. They're actually just pissed at Giant X for having their upset. I I don't know if we can really call it up as a Giant X beating Team Heretics, but if Team Heretics had won their series on Monday, which we all predicted them to, then Vitality would have made it in. Or if Vitality could have taken that second game off of KC over this weekend so their destiny was in their own hands then. They even had a reason to, you know, stick around on Monday. It was just heartbreaking that Monday GX closed it out. That's just rude, honestly.
And I don't even feel like GX looks that good. I mean neither does Team Heretics. So I guess that's the, the takeaway there is that both these teams are not going to do a lot of damage in in playoffs. But that I think GX making it is the big surprise for LEC overall because I just had no expectation for these guys with Yzma coming on.
If you remember, the big story here was this is the team that like ended up with Yzma after everyone else was playing hot potato with him GX was like, okay, fine, we lost closer. We'll take him.
And they were able to sneak in. So Giotto does it again, baby. Let's go coach Kyoto for the win.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: You know, and Kyoto's playoffs.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:23:03] Speaker A: It's a classic saying. Everyone in. Everyone in Europe always says that one.
But that will leave the top standings from spring. Mizell, do you have the. The doc in front of you? Want to give me the rundown of the teams in the upper bracket and then the teams in the lower bracket that we can still expect over the coming weeks?
[00:23:21] Speaker C: All righty. Do you want both the standings and the bracket or just the bracket?
[00:23:26] Speaker A: Give me the standings and then we'll standings.
[00:23:29] Speaker C: Oh, boy.
We got Carmine Core at 8 and 1. In first place got Fanatic at 7 and 2. In second place got Movie Star Coy 6 and 3 third.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: That's our boy JoJo.
[00:23:45] Speaker C: Joe JoJo. G2 Esports at fourth place. 5 and 4. Giant X 4 and 5 at fifth place. Another 4 and 5 team in. Team Heretics in sixth place. And out of the running, Team Vitality and seventh place, 4 and 5. I know they were really disappointed about their split performance. Team BDS at eighth place at three and six. NSK Gaming two and seven right there with them. Rogue two and seven, ninth and tenth place in the bracket. The fun part in the upper bracket, we got KC versus movie star Coy in the first best of five round one. That'll be a lot of fun. Fnatic versus G2 in the next one. So a lot of the rivalries and stuff come to a head in the first round. Then in the losers bracket, Giant X and Team Heretics await.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: There it is. And reminder that KC getting first seed got to pick their opponents.
And another reason that Team Heretics was able to sneak in down there at the bottom was that the tiebreaker scenario that happened. They actually were able to get that win over Team Vitality as well. So they earned that spot in there fair and square. But we'll see how long GX and Team Erictics can hang on because I'll just say at the top four, strength in LEC is significantly higher than the rest of the league. And I do expect Casey and G2.
Actually, I don't even know if I can say G2. The top half is stacked. Guys like yes, Casey got to pick their opponent, but they pick Koi and Koi can still do damage. And then Badger, we got Fnatic G2 in round one of upper bracket playoffs.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: That's a weird thing. To think about. Normally we get. Is this their earliest Fnatic G2? It feels like it has to be the earliest Fnatic G2 we've gotten in playoffs at this point.
[00:25:34] Speaker A: I. I've never seen it before. Yeah.
[00:25:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:37] Speaker A: I don't remember. I don't remember.
[00:25:38] Speaker B: I can't remember either. It's.
[00:25:42] Speaker A: I mean, hey, they're spoiling us early, let's put it that way.
[00:25:46] Speaker B: Maybe this isn't a one team region after all. Who knows?
[00:25:50] Speaker A: I think we're definitely past that point until G2 wins again somehow. And then, yep, we're right back at it. But hey, it must be nice to be reading to send two teams to MSI as both finalists will be making it there.
But a reminder that LEC playoffs will return May 24th. So we will have one weekend open. 17th and 18th.
You will get a break from LEC and then it'll come back the 24th and the 25th. So. And I believe you. Yeah, maybe the 26. I don't remember if playoffs is that same three day schedule. I don't think it is. I actually think the playoffs just goes to the two day schedule. So. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. I did notice that did not go over my head.
But that's it for LEC and Europe. We'll have more to talk about our expectations for playoffs on next week's episode. But that means we have a little bit more time to talk about LTA North.
What kind of party is it? Mizell?
[00:26:44] Speaker C: El Tan party, baby.
[00:26:46] Speaker A: It's an Eltan party, baby. There we go.
We had four series happen this past weekend. We got four more series ahead of us because we are technically just wrapped up our group stage and now we are doing the cross group play this coming weekend before playoffs start the following weekend. There is no break for the North.
It'll start the same weekend as LEC playoffs. So at least we're syncing up. No more long titles each episode because we're at different weeks.
[00:27:15] Speaker C: I'm gonna miss it.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: I. I'm not. I can tell you that right now. I'm just. I'm gonna be happy to say LEC and LTA north split two playoffs.
But to end the group stage, this was the final round robin here in our each little groups. And Mezzelle, talk to me about the weekend's games. What were some of your favorites to watch? What were some of your favorite series?
[00:27:40] Speaker C: Even if it was 2 0, I gotta say, C9TL was very interesting.
[00:27:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:47] Speaker C: I think absolutely should watch. And funnily enough that was on the first day. My second game to watch is also on the first day because Shopify Rebellion, baby.
[00:27:57] Speaker A: Damn it. They did it.
[00:27:58] Speaker C: Took down 100 Thieves 2. 1. It was a banger.
[00:28:01] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:28:02] Speaker A: It's really not helping my argument that 100 thieves the number one team.
[00:28:05] Speaker C: Yep, yep. Not helping. Not helping the other games that we had on the day or the weekend. Sunday fly quest took a 2.0over dig, which was interesting. And lion took 2.0for DSG. Even if I had TSG in my hopes and dreams, it didn't matter.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:20] Speaker A: Do we want to talk about your predictions over Almost.
[00:28:22] Speaker C: Shut up. Don't worry about it. No.
[00:28:26] Speaker A: Not the way you want it.
[00:28:27] Speaker B: I got one, baby.
[00:28:29] Speaker A: It was Fly Quest.
[00:28:31] Speaker B: So you're saying there's a chance.
Yeah.
[00:28:33] Speaker C: You are.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: I definitely echo the sentiment though. C9TL was the best series of the weekend. That game too was though. God damn it. C. And I just. They are strongest when they're under their Nexus turrets. I do not understand why they're able to pull off these back to back comebacks. First it was lion, then it was tl.
They just. They didn't hear no bell. I guess something. Something like that.
But yeah, I think TL did look way better than I expected them to. I actually thought C9 was going to 2.0this but clean duo. TL did push them very, very hard. And again, mazel. Umpty's coming back, baby. Right when they sign Yuji and make it official, Oopty starts JD together.
[00:29:19] Speaker C: Because that's what happens. You know. Your job's in trouble. You're no longer just sitting there eating grapes and hanging out.
[00:29:25] Speaker A: Is that what he was doing before?
[00:29:26] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:26] Speaker A: Confirmation.
[00:29:27] Speaker C: Yep. I was there.
[00:29:29] Speaker A: Something like that. Something like that.
[00:29:31] Speaker C: No, I mean it's. It's good. I.
I still am hesitant to say Umpty's back, baby. But he's getting there. And the biggest problem is I don't think his time is long for this TL squad. So I don't know.
[00:29:45] Speaker A: Yeah. He at least doesn't feel like a liability anymore.
[00:29:49] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. It impacts the liability.
[00:29:51] Speaker A: Yeah. That. And that's the problem. Right. It's like now that shows even more is the fact that we can really notice impacts mistakes that he's making.
For example, the York gameplay. Oh no.
I remember just hearing Azale go in on that. That he's like over grouping. He's down almost getting flame horizoned as Yorick when you're supposed to be this perma split pusher when he's Summoning the old. He's like doing it in the incorrect location. Then he's throwing out E while he's running away, which was going to trigger the maiden to then go hit that person, which means that they can just kill the maiden and then it's not going to be up for another two minutes. So then you're useless in the side lane. So it's just like all these little things that I know we're not going well for Impact on that pick in particular. And it really just does feel like he's behind the meta. He's behind the plays and he's behind the competition. Like the top laners in in the north are making Impact's job very, very difficult right now. So yeah, I'll see if he's able to turn it around. But as things shake out there in the groups, we'll talk about Sunday's games after. But Badger, give me the rundown. How to Group A standing shakeout.
[00:31:07] Speaker B: The standings in Group A go as follows. It's Cloud nine three zero.
[00:31:14] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:31:14] Speaker B: Took care of tl.
TL is second. They are two and one with a four. Two score.
Lion is third seed. One and two probably got themselves a favorable matchup going into next weekend. And then disguised his own three with the 06 game score. But that did.
[00:31:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
Yet to pick up a game that's. You have to pick up a game. And while we're at it, how's group B shaking out here?
[00:31:42] Speaker B: Group B at the top of the table. 3:0 fly quest. As expected, second seed from the group is.
Hold on. Let me. Let me make sure my glasses are right for this one.
[00:31:55] Speaker A: This can't be correct.
[00:31:57] Speaker B: Shopify Rebellion.
[00:31:59] Speaker C: What?
Let's go.
[00:32:01] Speaker B: With their win that they had last weekend over the Hundred Thieves, they have officially got them into the third place seating match against tl. Which means they've officially made it to.
[00:32:16] Speaker A: Playoffs and then upper bracket of playoffs.
[00:32:19] Speaker B: Upper bracket of playoffs too. Yeah. Who am I kidding? It's upper bracket. That's kind of nuts for them actually.
And then bringing up the rear, 100 Thieves in third place and then Dignitas in fourth.
[00:32:33] Speaker A: Yep. And the reason it shook out that way is because all three of Shopify, 100 Thieves and Dignitas were tied at a 12 series score, all taking series off of each other. But Shopify Rebellion importantly picked up a game against Fly Quest. 100 Thieves was not able to do that. So even though 100 Thieves had less losses, they're 3 and 4. Shopify Rebellion are 4 and 5, which is statistically better and also just more wins which is what would have mattered I believe anyway.
[00:33:03] Speaker C: So yeah, in a lot more wins.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Let's go.
[00:33:07] Speaker A: Yeah. A whole percentage point above them in game score. Hell yeah.
So a shopify rebellion taking it. They've. I've said this up multiple times. They're kind of the dark horse of the league in my opinion. I thought that more in split one than split two but it still held true and split two that if this roster, if every player plays at their peak that they've ever played, they should be one of if not the best team in the league. Like if we actually had prime fudge, prime contracts. That's not coin flipping Prime Palafox like PR bvoy when he had that first all pro split when he first came in here and even like Prime SEOs. I don't know as much about him as a Brazilian player but from what I hear he's the goat of of Brazil. Like yeah, this team should be able to do damage. And they were always getting close.
And now they finally snuck their way in to guaranteeing a playoff position. An upper bracket position.
And now they're leaving 100 thieves in an awkward position where they're playoff lives are not guaranteed even if they are expected because that will all lead into the following weekend of games. We do have games this coming weekend for the Nora so let's talk about them.
Up first, C9 versus fly. Because the way it works is the number one team from each group goes against each other. The winner of that determines which opponent they have for first round of playoffs.
Which is a funny way of saying that the second place matchup does not matter.
Yes, it's kind of funny that we're even doing it the only way it matters. And again again the reason it doesn't because second place matchup is to see third and fourth seed. But if the winner of fly C9 determines who they play anyways doesn't really matter until in the lower bracket. Let's imagine third and fourth seed matched against each other. Third T gets side select. There you go baby Team. Look what a shopify are playing for Side select if they rematch in the lower brackets specifically.
God, that's so funny. This is such a weird format but. And then we also have elimination matches happening as well. So we're gonna have one of the upper bracket matches and then one of the elimination matches happening each day. It starts off with C9 versus fly. We all have C9 taking that except for Mizel who actually has fly quest with a 2:1. So yeah. Do still back in the boys in green.
[00:35:37] Speaker C: Hell yeah.
[00:35:39] Speaker A: Do you think that there's any big reason for it? Because I believe C9 actually, I don't know who gets side selection in this. My thought process was C9 because they were the first seed going into groups, but now we technically reseed it.
But I. I do. What are the big reasons why I think FlyQuest can take this one, C9 in general?
[00:35:59] Speaker C: I. I just think overall it's gonna be a lot about what the meta is leaning out to. And I. I do. Even though we've been seeing some really good performances from C9, I think fly Quest will have a better handle on the. The meta setup as well. Best.
[00:36:12] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. It's a best of fives or. Sorry, no. This coming weekend, best of fives once playoff starts. Sorry, I missed.
[00:36:17] Speaker C: Yeah, okay, that's what I figured. Yeah.
[00:36:18] Speaker A: Yeah. But it is on the new patch, which is important to think about that specifically Mages very different with the itemization changes. So I know Quad does like mages. Loki maybe has shown a little more flexibility there, but I think Top Lane will be happy. And also with Nafiri Nerfs, that should be a hit to Umpties Champool more so than inspired. So I can see a world where FlyQuest take this. I still just think that. But the way Thanatos was able to crush Bwipo last time around, I still. And we get flashbacks too. I think C9 can. Went through Top Lane fairly. Maybe not easily, but like, it's. It's a way for them to win.
[00:36:57] Speaker C: So. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:36:59] Speaker A: That's why I got C9 taking it 2:1 as badger. I don't know if the audience was hearing as maybe dying of coughing.
[00:37:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm good now. I just.
[00:37:08] Speaker A: Okay, okay.
[00:37:08] Speaker B: Had a little bit of a fit there.
[00:37:10] Speaker A: We're.
[00:37:10] Speaker B: We're alive, I promise.
[00:37:12] Speaker A: Well, I appreciate you coming back to join us here. Next up, we have lion versus Dignitas. This is the first of two elimination matches this weekend. The loser of this, their split two ends. They will not play a game of League of Legends for about three months.
[00:37:28] Speaker B: Two months probably.
[00:37:30] Speaker A: Yeah, about. Because it's gonna be in like late July, maybe even August, when split three stars. I don't know if that's been like, official, but I'm just thinking like, timeline of when MSI should be.
[00:37:41] Speaker C: Early July.
[00:37:42] Speaker A: No, because MSI is early July and then there's ewc and then the next split would start. So it wouldn't be until at least like the third weekend. Or fourth weekend of July. That'd be the earliest it would start.
Either way, it's a long break, at least a two month break for the team that loses here. So I have Lion, Badger as Lion. Mizelle has Dignitas. So still sticking with D Dig.
What's your, what's your reasoning there, Mizel?
[00:38:12] Speaker C: Big Dig?
No, I, I just want to be a little bit contrasting. I also don't have a lot of faith in in lion, but I'm just hoping that the Dig boys show up. I, I definitely think it's not in their favor.
[00:38:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that the, the tough thing about Dig is that yes, they beat Shopify Rebellion, but Shopify Rebellion also in that series kind of beat themselves.
So it's tough to get super excited when Dig. Like when I look at this team, it's basically the Shade in show. Like if Shaden it gets ahead, they look really good. But if Shaden has to like help out a laner that's losing hard or like gets invaded and put behind, the team looks much worse.
So I think that lion is a team where they're specifically mid and bot Lane will have advantages. And also Audi Land, he I think can match Shade in in gank pressure and can kind of be a Thor on his side, stopping him from getting a big impact in the game anyway. So that's why I'm lying with the 2 and 1. But again, loser goes home. It's gonna be tough to see either way. I'm casting both of the elimination matches this coming weekend, so I'm gonna be doing my homework for those ones.
Then on Sunday we have team looking versus shopify rebellion. We all are in agreement. TL2O badger, why do you think team liquid two zero this one and there's no chance for Shopify I if, if.
[00:39:38] Speaker B: They don't 20 this one, they just need to sub empty out at this point. Like it's getting to that point. I I the, the patience is wearing thin with the team. I I think the, the community is ready to see them succeed.
Especially against the Shopify team that we kind of know.
I know. Well, how good is 100 the it's just like how good is 100 thieves? How? I don't know.
[00:40:10] Speaker A: They not only did Shopify beat 100 Thieves, Contracts has now tied Xmithy for all time smite steals at 18. That was exciting to see.
[00:40:19] Speaker B: That's wild that, that's kind of wild.
[00:40:22] Speaker A: To think about, right? But also contracts have been playing for a long time. Like 2016.
[00:40:26] Speaker C: Random. Yeah, random aside just because I'm LPL pilled. Did you see that Mako hit 10,000 assists? Yes, number one and number one in the world. Yeah, number one in the world by like a fucking country mile.
[00:40:40] Speaker A: Didn't he also have like a really int split crank game where he like died 12 times or something?
[00:40:46] Speaker C: Listen, no, if you're thinking of on in finals last year, maybe he went 09 on Bard.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: Hmm.
[00:40:53] Speaker A: I had heard about a blitzcrank game in lpl. Maybe it must not have been him.
Either way though. Either way Shopify contracts cool staff for him. And also I think Fudge has really been coming back. I was a Fudge hater, baby. I don't know why I'm so excited about that, but I was a Fudge non believer.
There was that one weekend where he like serifs is twice just for nothing and then he's just like dying permanent side lanes. But then the moment that he asked a matchup against Bwipo last weekend we had a really cool quote from him because it was pretty public knowledge. People were talking about pros. We're talking about. We were talking about it on content for the show that Fly Quest's coach had a list of like the worst players in the league.
[00:41:38] Speaker C: The.
[00:41:38] Speaker A: The worst three at least. And Fudge was on that list and Bwipo was talking about it publicly. We asked Fudge his thoughts on it because we're like dude, what was just saying this stuff like in our content and on his stream about you. Like what do you think about that?
And going into the match he was like, well honestly it takes away all the nerves because like now nothing I do is gonna change or like make him think any worse of me or anybody think any worse of me.
[00:41:59] Speaker C: Right.
[00:42:00] Speaker A: He already thinks I'm the worst top laner. So like at this point I just play my game. And then he fucking bodied Poe in lane and now he just bodied sniper as well. Like Fudge actually kind of is the standout player crazy to think about on Shopify rebellion over the last two weekends. So.
[00:42:16] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:42:16] Speaker A: But all that said, I still think team look at.
[00:42:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:19] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:42:20] Speaker B: Yeah, of course.
[00:42:21] Speaker A: Yeah. I was just trying to hype up.
[00:42:24] Speaker B: You gotta. You gotta sell the people on your on the series. So.
[00:42:28] Speaker A: Yes, yes. I think that Shopify are a really strong argument. They're the fourth best team though. And they are against in my opinion the third best team here. I mean no surprising based on the seating. That's how this is supposed to work. So if they can manage a win versus TL Awesome. But even if they don't, I still think that they can do a lot of damage in the lower bracket regardless, so.
But I mean, not even that they were going to be in lower bracket. They're going to be in the upper bracket for the first main. God, it's confusing.
I've been staring at like the informational sheets for the last two weeks and I still am getting stuff wrong.
But next up after Team Liquor Chop Fire Rebellion is the other elimination match of the weekend. Meaning we will say goodbye to one of these two teams.
Hundred Thieves versus Disguised. And as much as we love them and I'm a big fan of, you know, the, the streamer and, and the way the team vibes, I understand why unanimously, this entire cast would say with our chests fully, confidently, dsg. Wait, what?
[00:43:30] Speaker C: Yeah baby.
[00:43:31] Speaker A: What?
[00:43:32] Speaker C: That's not what you're talking about.
[00:43:33] Speaker A: That's crazy.
[00:43:34] Speaker C: I thought you were talking about the washed hunted thieves.
[00:43:37] Speaker A: All right. Wow, Wash. Wow.
Are you just really down on the Thieves right now?
[00:43:44] Speaker C: I just really want DSG to win. I know this like actually has big implications. I just want.
It's not that big of implications.
[00:43:51] Speaker A: But what's crazy about this matchup in particular is that it was pretty public information. We talked about it on the podcast. It was like brought up in different other interviews and news outlets. That 100 Thieves spot is not necessarily the same as all the other franchise teams.
They are like, they kind of took the buyout but are still holding the position until Riot can find somebody else to come and take it. And Riot has not found somebody else to come and take the spot. So 100 thieves are still in the league, but they aren't of like the same franchise ownership status as the other teams that have bought in.
So it's a weird matchup because like one of these thieves is the guest spot, the other one is like the quasi guest. If you want to like think about it that way.
I don't know how much that affects the motivation of the 100 Thieves players. I imagine that they just don't think about that and they're just focused on playing the game. But the DSG players, I can tell you right now, they definitely think about it. I got a chance to hang out and watch their scrims last week ahead of the matches and this team wants to improve so bad. Dude, like especially Abadaga, that, that's the one that really stood out to me is the mid laner for how much we clown on him and be like, why did he even like come back his whole Motivation for coming back was like, well, first off, I. I knew I wanted to play tier one, so that was the top priority. I'd much rather play Tier one in NA than tier two in eu. And it gives me an opportunity now, uniquely in na, to prove that I've gotten better since the last time I was here. Because he feels like he didn't get his flowers for how much he was doing on the team. But also to his own admission, he was like. But I also realized that I wasn't doing as much as I could have been doing for that 100 thieves that won a split, made two more finals afterwards.
So he wants to show he's gotten better. I don't think he's done that, but the motivation is definitely there. So gonna be a fun match no matter what. I got Hunter Thieves 2. 0, though Badger has it. 2. 1. Mizel, the non believer in the thieves with disguise. 2. 1.
[00:45:59] Speaker C: Imagine a world. My head.
Imagine a world.
[00:46:02] Speaker A: No, no, it's actually SMH stands for Shaking my head.
[00:46:05] Speaker B: See, I know that's the joke afterwards.
[00:46:08] Speaker A: But it really doesn't make sense because you're just saying my head.
[00:46:12] Speaker B: Shaking my head. My head. It's like rested pepperonis rest in peace. In peace.
[00:46:17] Speaker C: No, but that also, I'm just subtly singing John over here. No big deal.
[00:46:22] Speaker A: All right, you know what? If we. How about this? How about this, Badger?
[00:46:26] Speaker B: If.
[00:46:26] Speaker A: If the audience could leave a review that had as many stars as awkward seconds in that bit we just did, how many do you think that would be?
[00:46:32] Speaker B: That would be five stars, obviously.
More than five stars, honestly, but way.
[00:46:37] Speaker C: More than five stars.
[00:46:39] Speaker A: Well, if you could leave us a review on the podcast.
Also, if it helps you leave the review, I. I do know what smh. My head means. I was. I was being facetious.
[00:46:50] Speaker B: He's. I. I knew it.
[00:46:52] Speaker A: Yeah. But it does get noticed as well. If you do leave a review. Thumbs up, whatever the option is at the listening medium of your choice. Thank you so much, guys, for coming on for another week of league rundown. Again this coming weekend, we only have LTA north to cover. We will not have LEC games happening. And with that said, if there's one thing that you want to take away from this episode that I hope you take away from this episode, it's that we love you and we'll see you next time.
[00:47:22] Speaker C: Bye.
[00:47:22] Speaker A: Bye.
