League Rundown - Episode 562: Not so happy Honda Days

[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. They're Nexus. Hello and welcome to episode 562 of the League Rundown. This is your 2025 LTA and North split two week seven review and the LEC slash LTA split two playoffs preview. That's right they're having at the same time we can finally morph our intro together and it will be in sync for the rest of playoffs. This episode though is lovingly entitled not so Happy Honda Days. I am your host kangas and I'm joined by three esteemed co hosts. Up first, confused as always. We got Badger. [00:01:40] Speaker B: Damn. I knew I. As soon as you says confused I knew you were going to. I knew you were going to go to me shout out. Oh gosh. I was going to think of the dam one. [00:01:51] Speaker C: What? [00:01:51] Speaker B: My old dam. One Kia Forte 2023 whatever. [00:01:56] Speaker A: You're doing great. [00:02:00] Speaker B: Yeah, that. [00:02:01] Speaker A: Yep. What was it? Down one Kia Forte off road, four wheel. All the things, all the nominators on the car. The episode of the the original working title of the episode was Christmas for Kia because they're very happy with some of the news we're going to talk about here shortly. But before that let's introduce the rest of the cast. Also joining US we have Mr. Mozopio. [00:02:25] Speaker C: Is the Honda in the room with us right now? [00:02:28] Speaker D: Not anymore. [00:02:28] Speaker B: Is the Honda the friends we made along the way? [00:02:34] Speaker C: Excited to be here. It's gonna be a fun time. Maybe not so fun for some of. [00:02:37] Speaker A: It, but yeah, some of the news is fun. So the dude's less fun, but of course we'll cover it all. But also joining us. You heard his giggle. We got Yanni. [00:02:46] Speaker D: Yeah, what's up? We back once again. [00:02:48] Speaker A: I gotta find a fun way to introduce you. [00:02:50] Speaker D: Well, if I think of that, I. [00:02:51] Speaker C: Was gonna say that was the most low ball softball I've ever heard. [00:02:55] Speaker D: If I. If I showed consistently, this wouldn't be a problem. [00:02:59] Speaker A: You know, first off, self call out right there. I didn't say it. We. I'm happy to have you whenever you can, Yanni. Don't worry. [00:03:06] Speaker D: Hey listen bro, those Kidney stones had me in a chokehold last week. [00:03:10] Speaker A: Oh, well, do you want to regale the experience for. For everybody listening? [00:03:14] Speaker D: It actually wasn't really that bad, so. [00:03:18] Speaker A: Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there because I actually don't want to listen. [00:03:20] Speaker D: I wasn't gonna. I wasn't gonna get into that part. That part was fine. I just had a lot of pain on my left side as I tried to flush the rest out. The actual deed was fine. There was no problems. [00:03:34] Speaker A: Actually, you know what deed? [00:03:36] Speaker B: You know what a way to describe that. [00:03:38] Speaker A: Well, there we go. That's how I'm gonna introduce Yanni next time left. [00:03:41] Speaker D: Please don't. [00:03:41] Speaker A: Feeling better, Yanni. But thanks for coming on. Regardless. We're gonna start off as we always do with a little tour around the world before we get into some of the more relevant news for our regions that we cover. So, Miselle pl what's happening in local league? [00:03:59] Speaker C: Dude, Top Esports dropped the bag last night. They lost 20 to Billy Billy Gaming and after that they secured Billy Billy the fourth seed trouncing Invictus Gaming had a hell of a hard time winning their series. That was last night as well to set themselves up to potentially be that last fourth seed. But Billy Billy just handled business. The entire team looked way better than their series against JDG which they had lost 20 in the last series before that. And now that means our group ascend Top four is locked. It's Top Esports. Anyone's legend, JD Gaming, Bilibili Gaming and the bottom six will be fighting in that playoff. Play in to get spots in the actual playoffs which that'll be Invictus Gaming, Wavo Gaming Team We FPX nip TT and then from group Nirvana, LGD and Edward Gaming. Yeah, they get a little bit of influence but games have been pretty banger. There's still some movement. There's only two days left. I don't know how many days it's going to be when we get this one out, but as of right this moment, there's two days left, four series left in the regular season before we get to that playoff playing, which is going to be a lot of fun, a lot of stakes. It's best of fives. Immediately we get the full fearless experience. There should be a lot of fun and seeing who's actually going to make it to the playoffs. [00:05:25] Speaker A: Cool. Cool. Well, it's awesome that you know we're getting to that point for every region around the world because playoffs always going to be a little more exciting than Group stage still crazy. We're not going to see a couple of the LPL teams for the rest of the year, but now more that we won't see for the rest of the split. [00:05:39] Speaker C: Just real quick, as an addition, if you just want to take into a measure of what we've got and when we still have four series left, still some games to be left played. 250 games played as of last night in the regular season. [00:05:54] Speaker B: Oh my God. [00:05:56] Speaker A: That's a lot of. [00:05:57] Speaker D: For how many straight days? [00:06:01] Speaker C: Ever since whatever the March, whatever, however long ago it was. That's so every day. Yeah, that's a lot of games. It's a lot of games. [00:06:12] Speaker A: Shout out to everybody on the production crew for the LPL Unofficial that put all of their time towards covering those games. Make sure to go follow them again. LPL Underscore on. Or LPL Underscore English on Twitter and then LPL English English on Twitch. Yeah, yeah. And then we're also gonna have a little more LPL news later here, but we'll first get the LCK update. Badger, anything fun happening in the LCK that you want to let everyone know? [00:06:39] Speaker B: So remember how I said that Hanwha and Jen G are the two best teams in the region and they play each other this week. Actually they play each other in like six hours at this point and neither of those teams have dropped a series beyond. Besides, again, besides Hanwha dropping their first series of the split against Jeji. Well, Hanwha literally the next morning after we recorded last week was like hold my beer and got two one by Katie and basically threw a wrench into everything and then. But actually it worked out really well for them because they're top three locked at this point and Gen G is top two locked at this point, which means that Gen G is in the win and you're at MSI stage of it. Lose and you're the gauntlet boss at this point. So. Okay, so it's. We're basically barreling towards Genji and Hanwha playing as the. As the winner goes to MSI as the 1 seed from Korea because Hanwha just running down the table real fast. Gen G 14 and 0, 28 and 3 game score. Hanwell 12 and 2 or the 25 and 7 game score. Yeah, 20, 28 and 3 game score. [00:07:58] Speaker A: That's crazy. [00:07:59] Speaker B: That's insane. [00:08:00] Speaker A: In the LCK not dropping a series. [00:08:02] Speaker B: Yeah, Katie Rolster did go 20 last week and Fearx did go 0 and 2. So that pretty much made it so that there's a clear top six and a clear bottom four because T1 is sitting at nine and five. The noodle boys are sitting at eight and six and then dom one or D plus apologies and Casey rolls. They're both sitting at seven and seven with BNK fear X sitting at five and nine and then you got the okay bros at four and ten. Your 2022 world champion DRX at three and eleven and then the did not finish. I mean the DN freaks at one and thirteen. [00:08:45] Speaker A: Freaks. [00:08:45] Speaker B: The DN freaks. That's the name of the team is. [00:08:48] Speaker D: Don'T make. [00:08:52] Speaker B: But they're Berserkers. Berserker's new squad is now sitting at a crisp 1 in 13 series score with a 6 and 27 game score on the split. [00:09:03] Speaker A: So you're goddamn right the that's what NA does to Korean. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Let's go. [00:09:07] Speaker D: I would like to point out that Berserker is doing the summit career speed run here. [00:09:13] Speaker C: Yes. [00:09:14] Speaker A: It's gonna end up in lta se any day now. [00:09:17] Speaker B: Any LT school probably next season. [00:09:20] Speaker C: Dude, that's crazy. I'm just. I know this is really random. Anyways, keep going. I'm not gonna do. [00:09:27] Speaker B: Sorry. I was just gonna say. Just coming up in the next week we. I mean we've got. In five and a half hours we've got J versus Hanwha. As like the series of the second half of the split. Non is playing KT on Friday morning. Hanma plays Dam 1 on Saturday. Maybe Dom 1 can start to get their shit together and maybe hop back up into top four, top three potentially. I mean the three through six is kind of wild and how close it is at this point considering they're all just split by two series score, pretty much so close to a week from Dom1 and a 02 from T1 could easily put Don Juan back into the contention of being like second to last round. So they're not gonna be interesting to see how it plays out. [00:10:19] Speaker A: Keep cheering for them. It's okay. We know that it's gonna be Hle and Genji at msi. [00:10:24] Speaker B: Oh, I. I'm fully like betting it at this point that like Jenji and Hana. If. If Jiji and Hana aren't the two representatives from LCK at msi, something severely up happened in the next couple of weeks. [00:10:39] Speaker A: Well, that's expectations. Thanks for the update on lck but I'm going to bring us back to the LPL here briefly. Or maybe not even briefly. We. We can give our thoughts on it because in terms of Other big global news that happened, we actually had an official announcement of the next hall of Legends inductee. So I kind of realizing should have reversed the order. They've done LCA then lpl. But mazel. [00:11:03] Speaker C: Can I do it? Can I do it? Can I do it? [00:11:05] Speaker A: Player? Who is it? [00:11:07] Speaker C: Can I get a drum roll please? It's that dog in the bot lane. It's Uzi. To the hall of Legends. Let's go baby. [00:11:17] Speaker A: Hell yeah it is. The legendary 80 carry from the LPL never won Worlds, got close and is just inspired a generation of players to chase that same dream. And I think really does live up to the title of legend. I know some people like really the only criticism that I've ever heard from anybody in the community of like oh, why he shouldn't have gotten it is because he just never won Worlds. But that's not the point of the, you know, hall of Legends. From what we've heard from Ryan. The point is to highlight players that have left a gigantic impact on the. On the scene. And outside of Faker. I can't think of a name that's a bigger impact than Uzi or Uzi. Ey. As technically it. [00:11:58] Speaker C: It. [00:11:59] Speaker A: It should be. [00:12:00] Speaker B: So it's. When you. When you look at it. Cuz I actually this is a conversation that I've had with people before of like the. [00:12:07] Speaker A: The. [00:12:07] Speaker B: You think of like the big names like from the past. You think of Uzi, you think of like I don't know like Clear Love for Clear Love. [00:12:16] Speaker C: That's my next. Yeah. [00:12:17] Speaker B: Yeah. I think it's like Clear Love like mad life Ra. And then Top Lane did. Don't worry. [00:12:26] Speaker A: We'll. [00:12:26] Speaker B: We'll wait like three years to figure out a top laner to. [00:12:29] Speaker D: By that time it'll be Zayers. [00:12:30] Speaker C: I. We're just waiting for that. I. I think the only other person could have been because I think it. It had to be somebody from the lpl. [00:12:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:39] Speaker C: Another league that has such rich history. It. It was either Clear Love or Uzi. I'm glad it was Uzi. I'm glad that they chose somebody who had a lot more impact outside of the game while Clear Love did as well. I mean he's the really the first one to champion that winning culture in the lpl. I think Uzi had such a big impact across the world in so many ways. It's just been so cool to see all the responses from players like showing out their. Their personal experiences against Uzi. What made him such a good player and what made Him a figure that made other people want to be better. [00:13:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:11] Speaker C: So cool. [00:13:13] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. I think that it's no surprise. Nobody should be surprised by this. And I disagree with the very few people that have said that. Nope, it should have been somebody else. [00:13:24] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:13:24] Speaker A: There's years. [00:13:26] Speaker C: I want to see Faker's response. I want to know if Faker, like wrote something about it. I want to see. Because all these big name players have been showing their, like, history, right? They have like these little moments like, oh, I remember screaming against this guy this one time and this memory came out. Like, I want to see if Faker has any stories like that to come through. [00:13:41] Speaker D: I remember beating this guy at Worlds. [00:13:44] Speaker B: I just kept hunting as support in 2013. It was really easy. [00:13:50] Speaker A: I remember back. This is gonna be a bit of a throwback, but MSI, I think it was 2016. I know I talk about a lot because of CLG's run, but I just remember that, like. No, I don't think it was. I think it was even the 2017. It was a year after MSI when we looked at like the bot laners that were there. It was like reckless Uzi double lift. I forget who the Korean bot laner was, but I know that they were considered. [00:14:19] Speaker C: It was. [00:14:21] Speaker B: It wasn't. [00:14:21] Speaker A: Was. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Was prey. And God, it was. Who is the support at that point? [00:14:28] Speaker A: Maybe. Maybe gorilla. [00:14:30] Speaker B: So maybe gorilla. Yeah, yeah, but. [00:14:33] Speaker A: But like, I just remember that being like a dude. These are the best bot laners in each region ever. And they're at the same tournament, like just playing against each other. Like that was just like a cool thing to hype up. And then reckless. Just. [00:14:44] Speaker B: Oh, no, it was bang cannon. [00:14:47] Speaker A: Okay, wait, no. [00:14:48] Speaker B: 2016? [00:14:49] Speaker A: Or was it 2017? I think it's 2017. [00:14:52] Speaker B: 17. Yeah. Because he wasn't at. He was. He didn't make it to MSI in 2016. [00:14:58] Speaker A: Sure, sure. Well, I just remember that one being like a cool narrative and, you know, he's up there in the conversation of, you know, some of the best players to ever pick up the keyboard. So awesome. Uzi is able to pick that up now. What do we think? This is the real hot topic. What do we think about those skins and the champions? [00:15:15] Speaker C: It should have been vain, bro. [00:15:16] Speaker A: Should have been vain. [00:15:18] Speaker C: Although. [00:15:19] Speaker B: No, I mean, I think Kaisa. Kaisa sells the skin. But having Vayne in the past, as. [00:15:25] Speaker C: As a reality checker, I know we all want it to be vain. To be fair. [00:15:29] Speaker D: Yes. [00:15:29] Speaker C: Win record and games played. His Vayne and his Kaisa are actually right. Next to each other. He actually did play a ton of Kaiser. It was a little bit more in the back half of the of his career. But the big pop off moments we all remember. The mechanical intensity that we know him for is from the Vade. But if you look at his actual track record, he's got like 40 more competitive games played on Ezreal than any other team. [00:15:52] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:15:53] Speaker A: Really? Oh that's really. [00:15:54] Speaker B: Oh yeah. Ezreal is by far his most played. [00:15:56] Speaker D: Yeah, it's actually not by far. It's pretty close with Lucian. I think it's like a seven game difference but it's still. It's still like a large gap but. [00:16:04] Speaker A: From either between Ezreal and I think of Vane. When I think of Uzi, I think of Vayne what was in the world cinematic and like all these other things. So that is actually very funny. [00:16:13] Speaker D: He stays alive. Clip was just so crazy. Like that guy was just so. Just otherworldly on that champion. And yeah, I, you know glad veins. [00:16:21] Speaker A: In the past they want to sell the skin. Yeah. And I'm sure Uzi also wants to sell the skin. So. [00:16:28] Speaker D: Yeah, sure. Why not? [00:16:29] Speaker B: Surprise. [00:16:30] Speaker A: It was surprise. That was the kind of cool big news that dropped. There's also other big news, less exciting. [00:16:39] Speaker B: Which other big news that dropped about a drop. [00:16:44] Speaker A: Well, okay. I was gonna. I was gonna give you the option. Which TL news did he want to talk about? Because technically there's two. One's a roster. [00:16:50] Speaker B: I feel like we should just go bad. Good news, bad news. Good news. So that we can propel ourselves into. [00:16:55] Speaker A: So what's going on over at Team Liquid? [00:16:58] Speaker B: So, so when you're watching the broadcast this weekend when it just says Team Liquid, don't be surprised by that on the graphics because Honda has dropped Team Liquid as like. Or Honda's a longer responsoring Team Liquid. [00:17:16] Speaker A: They are no longer sponsoring Team Liquid. Yeah. Do you wanna first off, everyone take a get. If you haven't heard the story, take a guess why. Two, three. There you go. Whatever you're thinking in your head, just be. Have that present. Badger. Why did Team Liquid get dropped by odd? [00:17:34] Speaker B: So the, the, the. The immediate reaction to this is from a tweet from the Rainbow Six player. I can't remember what his name is at this point. [00:17:47] Speaker A: I don't remember either. Yeah, I. [00:17:49] Speaker B: But one of the Rainbow Six players tweeted a gif of the Hiroshima bomb. [00:17:59] Speaker D: Yep. [00:18:00] Speaker B: After beating a Japanese team or losing. No, they lost to him. I thought. [00:18:06] Speaker C: Yeah, they lost. [00:18:07] Speaker B: They lost to him. So he Tweeted that as like the team, like mental boomed. [00:18:14] Speaker A: Exactly. Which in his defense, Brazilian player, from what I know about him, he's very young. I, I, you know, obviously if you're in the US or in Japan, you're gonna understand the historical context of nuclear bombs in Japan. I could imagine a world where a Brazilian wouldn't immediately think of that. When you search in Twitter bomb, that's the first gift that pops up. So I, I actually think that I'm on the side that he did not intend it and that it was an accident that he did not understand immediately. I think the historical context and just search bomb and then just click the first one. [00:18:54] Speaker B: Listen, I, I, I, I'm not condoning, condoning the action whatsoever. There's definitely another layer to it. But like just having, you know, Honda, Japanese company just be like, oh, hey, by the way, Hiroshima bomb gif. [00:19:13] Speaker A: Yep. [00:19:14] Speaker B: It doesn't sit well with them. And who knows whether or not this was the straw that broke the camel's back or if, if, or if it was just an isolated incident of stuff that was leading into it. [00:19:27] Speaker A: So we're hearing reports that Honda and Team Liquid were in active negotiations for the next step in their contract and that Honda was not happy with where they currently were in the discussion. These are unconfirmed reports. It's just I am hearing that this was conversations happening between Tim Liquid and Honda. This was kind of like you said, the straw that broke the camel's back. It's like a. Well, Japan's pissed. So now it's just. No, we're not going to go forward with it. We're dropping you. So that is tough for Team Liquid because, yeah, title sponsor in esports, winter slash, maybe we're starting to see a bit of spring. It feels like it's, it's warming up, but this is not gonna, not gonna keep the team warm if they can't replace Honda as kind of that title sponsor or at least find some kind of replacement for it. So heart goes out to Team Liquid and their business development team. Tough spot to be in. [00:20:24] Speaker C: Feels real bad, man. [00:20:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:26] Speaker D: You're telling me the groundhog didn't see a shadow? We got six more weeks of winter. [00:20:30] Speaker A: I think we might, I think we might in fact have six more weeks of winter. Yeah. But there was also fun Team Liquid news. So, Badger, you wanted to sandwich the bad with the good. What was the fun Liquid news that we saw this weekend? [00:20:42] Speaker B: So announced a couple weeks ago, Yuji was joining the team as the sixth man of the team. Got Stage time this weekend, made his LTA debut against Shopify Rebellion and look off. [00:20:58] Speaker C: Let's go baby. [00:21:00] Speaker B: Than Umpty did before. So had a great weekend. We'll talk about it later on when we talk about the games. [00:21:08] Speaker C: But yeah, you're right, we will. [00:21:10] Speaker B: You're gosh darn right. [00:21:13] Speaker A: But still he yeah. Oh he showed up on stage. [00:21:16] Speaker B: Oh I want to talk about core JJ's jungle shenanigans that he ridiculous. It was so funny. [00:21:25] Speaker A: There's a great core quote that I I'll bring up later when we're actually talking about it, but remind me if I forget. But again, saving some of that conversation for later. We just wanted to highlight UG did start for Team Liquid this past weekend. It was a story that we were following very closely and I think it's really cool to see him have a fantastic debut. Other variety topics we'll get through these a little quicker because we're already kind of going along. I know we don't have a lot of games to talk about, but I do want to get into the games. Nor if you're a fan of Tier 2 and you've been following Doublelift's team near Airport had a bit of a mental boom. You can go find a lot of Reddit posts that were blowing up of their very public scrims and very public reviews after, you know, public stage games. And things were looking tough over there. So they had a tough loss. Miselle, do you have. Do you want to give any more insight into that as somebody that's on the NACL broadcast team? [00:22:14] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean that definitely was a crash. I think that the team is okay. I think the biggest problem is they don't at least Doublelift and speak. I don't feel like they have somebody who can kind of like take charge and tell them how to fix things because right now they feel like Croissant is kind of just like a mediator and like passing word from one to the other instead of like deciding on things for the team. So I hope it's kind of a wake up call. It definitely was a little bit of a crash out there. Have a little bit of fun with it. But I think it might be one of those situations where it like actually does matter a bit and the reason why the crash out and nobody watched it. You should go watch that series because it was actually a banger series. Winthrop just have their number. But it was a lot of really bad mistakes, a lot of weird engages, a lot of disconnects in team fights and kind of not being on the same page of what they wanted to accomplish and win. So it definitely feels like the team is buckling a little bit. They have one life left. We'll see if they can keep it going. [00:23:11] Speaker A: And Winter, of course, a collegiate team as well. That's NACL for a bit now. So shout out to the college boys. That's. That's it. I think that's actually global news that we have. Anything else I missed? [00:23:25] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The status of rogue going into. [00:23:29] Speaker B: Oh, that's right. [00:23:30] Speaker A: Really good point. I totally forgot to add that. Yes, Navi, thank you for bringing that up, Yanni. Navi, is. Is this rumor to confirm? [00:23:38] Speaker D: Diani, do you remember sources say according to Sheep Esports. Okay, we know that Sheep doesn't often report these things if they're not fairly. [00:23:51] Speaker A: Certain they have a really high hit record. Yeah, yeah. Like they're pretty accurate when it comes to when they decide to make a post, make a whole article. But yeah, it's looking like Navi, who are. I mostly know them prevalent for Counter strike. Do they have other esport teams that people are aware of? No. Okay. [00:24:11] Speaker D: I can't remember. [00:24:12] Speaker B: Their Dota team was good back in the day, but like. [00:24:15] Speaker D: Okay, but this is a return to league for them. [00:24:19] Speaker A: Is it? [00:24:20] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They were back in like season two. Citizen Wayne was. [00:24:25] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, yeah. [00:24:26] Speaker B: Remember the. Remember the Citizen Wayne like lore bomb that I dropped on you and you're just like. That is a name that I have not heard in a while, brother. [00:24:34] Speaker A: That's. Why would that stick? If there's nothing for me to connect to you, I know that was not me at least. [00:24:40] Speaker B: Yeah, they. [00:24:41] Speaker D: They played a bunch in 2012 and they tried to qualify for the EU Challenger Series in 2016, but after that they lost a millennium. And then after that they uh, they stopped being a team in league, but now they're back. [00:24:56] Speaker A: So how long ago was that then Badger, like at this point? [00:25:01] Speaker B: Well, two season two. So February through like August of 26, 2012 and then the tail end of 16, the beginning or 16 or whatever. [00:25:14] Speaker D: Tail end of 15, beginning of 16. So. So if you split hairs, nine years and some change. [00:25:19] Speaker B: Yeah, but so they have a really. They have a rich history in Dota. They're part of the EMEA VCT system. And then they're have a good counter strike roster as well. [00:25:30] Speaker A: Okay, so cool. So they're in the riot ecosystem with Valorant then. Yeah, I know about their counter strike stuff. So cool that they are. Are looking to pick up a spot because that's the tough thing is like who is willing to buy a franchise spot at this point. We had heard a lot of rumors that Rogue was looking to leave even like at the beginning of last year. It's been like almost a full or over a year now. [00:25:53] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:25:53] Speaker A: That we've been hearing. [00:25:54] Speaker B: If Larson's still on this team though, we riot like genuinely like I, I, I swear he had a lifetime contract with Rogue that for as long as they stayed in the lec he was gonna be the mid laner of the team. So hopefully the, the evil will be defeated if, if they finally exit the scene. So. [00:26:17] Speaker A: Yep. But we have not heard any roster confirmations yet. I'm sure that they will start announcing stuff but they have, I mean they got basically two months to figure it out. This is the great like a good time to buy a, a roster. Buy a spot if you want it. I'm also hearing so this another now that you say it other like roster stuff and swap ups. Alliance or no, it was Audi Lamb, the jungler for lion, the team in LTA north had an interview. He was very candid saying that there's gonna be roster swaps, roster changes in this offseason. So we'll, we'll have a lot of episodes during MSI to kind of COVID what's going on with all the updates. Lead split three. Okay, thank you Viani for that one. I forgot about that. Other Community news. I have the updated standings for Community. Let's run through them fast. Apollo still in first or actually now back in first place. Apollo and Pacific are kind of ping ponging. Apollo has 835, Pacific has 826. I am in third still, but have not broken 800. I'm at 795 so I got some ground to make up. Probably will not retake first place, but as long as I get a podium finish, I'm happy. Shout out to Apollo and Pacific for having fantastic fantasy performances though. And if you want to join our league, make sure to join the Community Discord. You can find a link in the description wherever you are listening. And also if you want to support the pod, we got a Patreon, we got a merch shop and Yanni might be announcing a third thing soon, but we got to check the legality of it first. And I also, I, I don't think I'm comfortable with it. So we, we'll see. We'll see. [00:27:51] Speaker D: You know what? I don't think I am either. [00:27:54] Speaker A: Okay. All right. All right. Well in that case, support us through the Patreon and the Merch Shop. With that said, let's up into the leagues. There was only one of our two leagues that was competing this past weekend that was LTA North. So we're gonna start there with reacting to last weekend's games, give our predictions for week one of playoffs and then end with LEC and our predictions for their week one playoffs kicking things off. Mazel. I want to hear from you first here. Run through the schedule from this past weekend and what were some of your key takeaways, the stories that you want to start off talking about. [00:28:28] Speaker C: All right, my friends. It was an interesting one, that's for sure. The banger to end all bangers was not the one that you might expect as we started off the week. Week number seven, the final week of the regular season with C9 versus Fly Quest which on paper you're like oh my God, this is going to be hype as hell. Fly Quest said no, they said 20 and they ended up taking down actually bigger. Yeah, we'll get to talk about that one then. My thought process was always right all along. You guys are the doubters. Dignitas took down Lion 2 one in that first day and that Saturday with a big upset knocking lion out of playoffs, which is actually wild. And then the second day on Sunday was TL taking a two zero versus Shopify rebellion and 100 Thieves. They, they answered in kind to DSG knocking them out and taking that two zero themselves. [00:29:26] Speaker A: Yeah, very fast Sunday. Both two zeros. Both pretty fast series. But the fastest series was on Saturday. C9 fly is the fastest series of the year by a full six minutes over the second fastest series, which is just insane to think about. Fly quest smacked Cloud 9 around. This was not what I expected to see. I actually had Cloud 9 favored in this one, but Mazelle. I guess I'll let you show about a little bit more because you're the only one that predicted Fly Quest. What was your favorite part about this series? Because it was so one sided that it's kind of hard to like really pick apart the highlight moments other than maybe like Boost, he was Rumble and stuff like that. [00:30:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean you could think about like the different picks that they had. I mean it's obviously they're, they're willing to be very flexible with the meta itself, but I think the domination of what I love the most about it. I think they were very clean in a lot of decisions. I think Inspired is absolutely earning all the praise that he's been getting towards the end of the regular season and I think this team's just starting to cook. I think they're feeling a lot more comfortable and that's a very terrifying prospect as we crest into the playoffs. [00:30:35] Speaker A: Yeah, it was it really felt like Fly Quest were one step ahead of C9 at every point after they locked in Rumble support and then flexed it down there. Like C9 just seemed rattled like they did not know how to deal with that lane and they didn't know why like where Fly Quest was able to fight them and they like try to contest them for stuff that they just were not able to and like you said inspired was just kind of putting on a master class in the jungle making Blabber's life a nightmare. So yeah, a cool result I suppose. Do we think this is cool? I want to hear from Yanni and Badger. Badger, you first. Do you think it's cool to Fly Quest Cloud nine? [00:31:16] Speaker B: I watched the games back today. The the decimation that they they had was something else to like watch in real time happen. I you kind of feel concerned for Cloud9 because it feels like all of the like compounding issues that they've had this split of like oh you know players are hit and miss like if Zven and Vulcan don't get the game going then that's going to be an issue for them for the rest of the like to finish out games like Thanatos had one of the Thanatos performances of all time this the that game too the yeah the Orn just sit in the sideline don't die to Renekton but get Pantheon man dropped on multiple times did not work out well for them and it just I I I I don't want to take anything away from Cloud 9 because I think just Fly Quest played a really good series Inspired showed he's still the best jungler in the west like Masu and Busio were putting on their last state last last performances to be put into all. [00:32:33] Speaker A: Pro ballots True this was an argument from them because a lot of all pro first it wasn't an argument it. [00:32:39] Speaker B: Was a a statement from that yeah. [00:32:42] Speaker A: It'S pretty much all C9 and FlyQuest members and after this smacking from FlyQuest I think some opinions might change as to who deserves which spots. Yeah I I think that flag was across the board showed up and it makes me very excited for what they can do in playoffs if they can maintain this type of form. Makes me very excited for them at MSI as well which I know is scary to say getting excited for An NA team going to MSI or any international event. But hey, we saw what they were able to do at World, so maybe they can make some magic happen again. True. But yeah, this is like the one I think we'll spend the most time talking about just because it's the hypest matchup other than Lion Dig, which I think was a great series as well. But yeah, I want to get your thoughts overall. Fly quest, C9, where you stand on it. [00:33:25] Speaker D: Yeah. So first of all, I agree with you. Even though we have been burned in the past by getting excited, it is okay to be excited about Fly Quest. This is the Fly Quest. Yes, this is the Fly Quest. They look like the Fly Quest that, you know, took Gen G to the limit last year. Right? Like they, they look like they're. They're rolling at the right time now. Let me grab the copium tank here. Okay, so obviously this was bad. Like this was really bad. Like this was horrifically bad. Like 2 non competitive games at the 15 minute mark best bad. Like me inting my face off in solo queue bad. However, it was not a game that is going to define Cloud9's playoff run. Sure, it puts them against Team Liquid instead of Shopify Rebellion. That's okay. It is a tougher matchup, but it's not like it's a matchup that you can't win. So ultimately what I'm trying to say is that this match, while yes it was for the number one seed, didn't have nearly as much negative impact as it could have. And it's not like it was a. [00:34:35] Speaker A: Finals or anything like that. [00:34:36] Speaker D: Really want Cloud 9 to beat team Liquid as I. And I love Team Liquid, but I want them to beat Team Liquid because that means we get fly in C9 again. And I want to see how C9 responds to that. [00:34:48] Speaker A: You want the, the potentially triple matchup where they match in the eliminate or not elimination in the seating for playoffs, then again an upper bracket playoffs, then again potentially in Grand Finals. You want like the three pieces, Pete? [00:35:02] Speaker D: I don't necessarily know if I need all three of them. I just want to see Cloud9 play against FlyQuest again because. Okay, Cloud9 is a good team. Sure, inconsistent, but good. They are way better than what they showed. Regardless of how good Flag Quest has been, you would expect Cloud9 to be competitive in that match. I'm willing to give them a mulligan and if they don't and they get trounced again, then I really hope that, you know, I really hope they find a Way to get together at some point because for a little while they were humming along but not, not, you know, they're in a weird spot now. [00:35:37] Speaker A: I think the big concern for C9 is that yes they've swapped up the roster a little bit, but the past couple of years they just have not really delivered in playoffs like they. They look better in the regular season than they do in playoffs. I don't know what it is about about them. The last time they won a split was 2023 and that had also been been I think like three years since they had won their previous one. So it's. It's tough to really say like you know, obviously different players this time around. So some of that historical context doesn't necessarily are like build an argument against them right now. But the precedent is there which I think is it brings the cause from the fans at least cause for alarm higher. So C9, they have their work in front of them here. We'll talk a little bit more about their coming weekend after. After we react to the rest of the games. But C9 versus fly, I don't think it delivered on the hype, but it added a weird different layer of hype of just Fly quest looking really good. So that's always cool. But the series that did actually kind of bounce back and forth and go the distance was Lion Dig. Mizelle, you. You kind of set the tone that it's surprising lion got knocked out of playoffs. They're gonna have baby, a two month break here. They're not in playoffs. They will have no chance of going to msi so they're gonna have to rebuild. But Dig got it done and I think Serdy finally had like a pop off game on a carry. He played Jax and had a really good at least second half. He got kind of bodied in Lane but then brought it back. [00:37:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I think Shane deserves the praise. Really good. Yeah, he had really good control. I think the. The biggest thing about that was it was it felt like not exactly what we had expected when we saw the. The Shaden Serde combination. I think this combination was one of the most deadly top jungles in NaCl. But it's not been that same way for them. But it finally was like a step in the right direction for these two guys and it couldn't have happened at a better time. It's so crazy to think that Dignitas take down lion who looks so promising so much of the this split at least to be one of those middle of the pack teams. [00:37:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:51] Speaker C: And now we don't get to see them at all in the playoffs, which is just absolutely crazy. And I know there's some there maybe not so nice words that a lot of the teams have for the playoff format, but, you know, it is what it is. [00:38:03] Speaker A: It is what it is. Now that makes now two teams. The dignitas around them that they beat in best of threes. They also beat Shopify Rebellion in their best of three. And then now they, you know, beat lion and best of three as well. Unfortunately, they're still the lowest seed in the lower bracket, so they will match up. Unless FlyQuest gets upset by Shopify, they will match up against the loser of C9TL, which I think is gonna be really tough for them. But I still think it's awesome to see them make playoffs and overthrow a team like lion that we had all split. Been thinking like, maybe this is the team that can punch up and take out some of the top four. Nope, apparently not. So flowers to shade. And. And I also think that the Bot Lane, Tomo and Isles. Isles had a really good series as well. I think Isles as a support player, it's hard to stand out, but he. He definitely turned some heads and got some more respect from. From myself and a lot of the colleagues in LTA for just like how well he played that series too. So I will say, though, Sunday, a bit of a snoozer. I don't even care to talk too much about these games other than Yuji and his performance. Hundred Thieves was a smash that was. I know C9Fly was also a smash that was a little more surprising. So we spent time talking about it. I don't want to talk about those dudes. Disguise Smash dude. It was just like it was. Watch. It almost felt like watching like a. Like a playground fight of like a first grader versus a fifth grader. [00:39:32] Speaker B: It's the League of Legends version of the. Stop. Stop. He's already dead, right from the Simpsons. [00:39:37] Speaker A: Like, first grader was punching his heart out, but he hit himself a couple of times and just does not have the weight, the mass behind the throws to actually do any damage. So that's basically the only analogy I'll give there. We'll talk about some of the players afterwards. But tl, Shopify, Badger again. Yuji, we got to see our first look at him on stage. So what. What's your impression? What'd you think? [00:39:59] Speaker B: I. I mean, he, as you were alluding to earlier, the hand holding that he got from Core jj. Core JJ Invaded contracts on Blue Buff at like well, it was level. It was straight up level one, right? [00:40:18] Speaker A: It was level one. Yeah. He was poppy, and I believe Contracts. Was it Xin Zhao. [00:40:21] Speaker B: Yeah, Xin Zhao. He was playing Xin Zhao. So he walked. He laid invaded onto blue buff. Invaded on two contracts. Got him off of his first bot, got him off second camp. [00:40:33] Speaker A: Maybe he pushed him off the first and then also stuck around. [00:40:38] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right, because it was. Yeah, he pushed him off his first camp. Yuji basically had his full first, full clear done. And Contracts hadn't even cleared a quadrant yet of the jungle, essentially. [00:40:53] Speaker C: Can you re. Talk? I want to give a second iteration. I want to give a secondary because I love it so much. Can you retoss the question to me? [00:40:59] Speaker A: Me? Okay. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. So, Mizelle, how do you feel about Yuji and his debut performance? [00:41:07] Speaker C: That's my goddamn goat right there, baby. That's my goal. That's the Mongolia monster you're talking about right there. [00:41:13] Speaker A: Hell yeah. [00:41:14] Speaker C: Very. Not that that man deserves a ton of praise. I know the game one was definitely handheld from. From Game two. [00:41:22] Speaker B: He was really. Game two was vintage. [00:41:26] Speaker C: It was vintage Yuji. This is something that he's decimated every jungler on over the last two plus years at the Tier two level. It's so nice to see him actually get his flowers there. And obviously, I think it's hard because, you know, you look later in the day and see what happens to tsg, the Maryville fandom, you know, maybe not living so strongly in the second series, but this is what happens when you. You have a good team, a stable structure, and you input new talent and they have room to grow. That's why this experiment with Yan. That's why the experiment with APA has worked out. Because the structure behind Team Liquid is so good. [00:42:07] Speaker B: Yes. [00:42:07] Speaker A: And Spawn was also in person this past weekend, which I think was another big buff. [00:42:11] Speaker B: That is also true. [00:42:12] Speaker A: Another reason that they probably had the confidence to run Yugi is because head coach was there, there. So love that for Team Liquid. It makes their next series very interesting to think about with how well UD looked and how bad C9 looked. But then of course, I. I just want to talk from mostly from the DSG side because we're not going to see them again. They got eliminated from playoffs just like Lions, so we will not see them for the rest of the split. Maybe the same roster will come back for split three, but they haven't said anything public like team or like a lion. D did. But I would not be Surprised if there were changes. You have two months to make changes. That's a lot of time. If you want to change a player on the roster, you can go for it. And I gotta just feel for the all the players. I got a chance to talk to some of them. Everyone's worried for their position. Everybody's feeling like it could be them. That goes like the team knows. Like, oh yeah. I don't think it's working like somebody's. Somebody's moving or somebody's getting dropped. If not multiple of us. So tough to be in that position. But they did not pick up a series win. They only picked up a single game win. All split. It was in the positioning phase versus Team Liquid, which was surprising. That was like a big moment. We're not able to replicate that in the group stage. So yeah, again, just heart goes out to them. Don't want to beat down. They already got that from 100 Thieves. So we'll leave it there. But I will say series to watch. I have lion versus Dig as like the entertaining one to watch. It was back and forward and dig really had to to dig deep and work for it. And then also team look at Shopify just to watch Yuji and the shenanigans that core JJ give us for game number one. Okay, well, that was last weekend. I'll talk about this coming week. We have two series ahead of us and we are in the best of fives, baby. It is playoffs time and it's upper bracket to start things off. Flock west versus Shopify and then Cloud 9 versus Team Liquid. Across the board, we all think Flyquest smash Shopify. Only Mozelle has Shopify picking up a game. The rest of us have a 3 0. But Mizel, do you want to defend it all? Shopify rebellion as to like why you think they pick up that one win or do you just not? [00:44:26] Speaker C: I just believe that whatever stupor contracts and palofars are in, they'll shake out of it for one game. Game. [00:44:36] Speaker A: Okay. [00:44:36] Speaker C: And then go back into it. [00:44:38] Speaker B: I can see it. [00:44:39] Speaker A: I could see it. Hey, Fudge also did smack whipo genius the mid lane two weeks ago. It's a savant. Yeah. The rest of us still just think FlyQuest is that much better. [00:44:51] Speaker C: I just realized that whole quote comes from Shahu. Right? Shahu stocks are like underneath the earth right now. His last series was better. His last series. That man has been been into the out of it. So maybe genius call is not great. [00:45:11] Speaker D: That guy is. Listen, I played against a guy in in Flex the other Day. And his account name was WBG Zhaohu. And I'm pretty sure that guy played better than Jahoo. [00:45:23] Speaker B: His roommate Kevin was playing at that. [00:45:25] Speaker A: Point a bigger brother on the controllers. But yeah, we all think Flying Quest takes that one. Regardless of what the series score is, Most of the US think it's a smash and a sweep. CLT9 or. Sorry. Well, what the hell just happened? TLC9? [00:45:43] Speaker C: It's the new sponsorship since Honda's out. [00:45:46] Speaker A: This was gonna be the Battle of Honda vs. Kia, by the way. But now it's not. So we can't have like. [00:45:51] Speaker C: Now only one of them has a car, the other one's walking. [00:45:54] Speaker A: God. Wait, the new meme. Yeah, C9 has a car. Team Liquid shows up on scooters. There we go. [00:46:00] Speaker C: You might get fired, you know, but it's fine. [00:46:03] Speaker A: It would be. That's worth it. I'll put my whole career on the line for that joke alone. C9TL though we are a little more split. Me and badger think it's TL with a 3:2. We both think it's a close series. Mostly convinced by how good Team Liquid and how rough C9 looked last weekend. I assume Mazel and RMC. RMC through his predictions in here as well actually have even more phase in TL with a 3:1. Yanni's the only one still holding out for C9. Yanni. Is it just because you want to see C9 fly in the upper branch it. [00:46:33] Speaker D: So I think it's a couple factors here. So number one, the personal factor. As I've mentioned, I do enjoy myself from Team Liquid. I am a Philadelphia sports fan and before the Philadelphia sports enjoyed recent success we were very doomer. So I'm generally doomer about my favorite teams now. Okay, onto the real stuff. So I think that that series is going to light a fund a fire under Cloud 9's ass. I really do. They are great players and you don't just lose there and then not come back and respond the next week. Right. Number two, I still have questions. The usual factor is going to come in huge here because now this is a playoff game against a really good team. You looked great against Shopify Rebellion. Great. You got to do it again and you got to do it against a better team and a better jungler on the other side. And I mean, I think he'll have his moments for sure. This is why I think it'll be a 3:2. But ultimately, perhaps the inexperience on the LCS stage could shine or the LTA stage. I'm sorry, could. Could shine through and be a big problem here. [00:47:45] Speaker C: You see, Yanni. But he has experience. He's been on that stage. [00:47:49] Speaker D: He has been on that stage. [00:47:50] Speaker C: On that stage. No, no. But the reality is, it's so funny because I've been doing work at Team Liquid training facility, and I've gotten to listen in at the lunch conversations, but also talk to, like, Spawn and stuff. And even before this last series, they were already talking about Yuji's matchup into Blabber and how confident they are in it. So I don't know what they're cooking, but they definitely feel confident with Yuji going into Blabber. I don't know if that's who will end up seeing, but that was at least something that might be the focus going into that series. [00:48:26] Speaker A: Could be. Could very well be. I think that that's also the big reason that I have them taking this one. I think it's me close because there will be. My prediction is that both Junglers will play in this series. I think it's going to be Yuji until they get like, viego and like J4 and Xin Zhao and some of these more aggressive ones, and then they'll swap out to empty it for the second half of the series and actually play an older through. Yeah, that's. That's the positive of it. That's the. The power. But either way, I'm expecting that one to be a very close series. Very excited for it. That's our predictions for na. I'm deciding here because we had our first team All Pro that we kind of threw in, but then we also got to close out with ls. Let's just do the first em All Pro fast. We all agree it's Bwipo inspired for the top lane and Jungle Mid lane. I went Loki. The two of you went Quid a Badger and Mizell. This is just all of, like, who we put as our front runners. And then I still couldn't decide between Sven and Yawn, so I put Zveon for 80 carry. [00:49:26] Speaker D: The perfect 80 carry specimen. [00:49:29] Speaker A: Yep. Yep. Badger puts Van Mazel put Masu, though. [00:49:32] Speaker B: Which is kind of cool, I think. Honestly, Masu, I think I'm closer to giving Masu a vote than I would be giving yada boat. Yeah, that's fair. [00:49:42] Speaker A: Then Busio for all of us for support. So a lot of Fly Quest. And I will tell you, there was a lot of Cloud 9 on my front runners going into the weekend, but then watching Fly Quest do that too. [00:49:52] Speaker B: And then the weekend happened. [00:49:54] Speaker A: And then the weekend happened. And that's why we don't vote until the regular season is all done, because that final weekend can be the final closing arguments for these teams. So let us know in the discord, who you think should be front runners for all. [00:50:07] Speaker C: What series are you casting? [00:50:08] Speaker A: And I am actually not casting a series this weekend. Unfortunately, it's best of fives for playoffs, so I'm gonna be on the desk for both of them and doing my best to hop in that. What's the Dragon Ball Z thing? The. The time chamber. [00:50:23] Speaker D: The hyperbolic time chamber. [00:50:24] Speaker A: Hyperbolic time chamber. There we go. Practice up and then hopefully get one of the lower bracket. And my dream. My dream and the goal I'm working towards is to get the finals weekend Saturday cast, so hopefully I can do that. [00:50:37] Speaker C: I believe. [00:50:37] Speaker D: I believe. [00:50:39] Speaker A: It's been tough. It's been tough. Flowers is really good. He's really good. So you can enjoy him casting the next two best of fives, but we can also enjoy some best of fives over in Lec. Let's hop across the pond and talk about Europe because LEC is back, baby. We had one weekend off. All the teams got to take a break after the road show as well as the shenanigans that happened with the that and get ready for playoffs themselves. There's two best of fives there. We got Fanatic versus G2 to start the weekend. Oh, we were all real good this Christmas. We were good boys and girls across the board, and we are being blessed with an amazing start to playoffs because this is el classico, baby. That being said, I. You know what? I don't even know if this is surprising. I was gonna say it's surprising to see all fnatic across the board, but everyone predicts G2 the second time that they match up because that's my. [00:51:34] Speaker B: That was the thought process for me behind. It was this early. You always pick fnatic. Once you get towards, like, round three and finals, that's when you kind of be like, well, G2's there still, so. [00:51:46] Speaker A: Yep. G2 needs the lower bracket run for the narrative so that they can take another split. Yes, that. That's my argument for them. But, Yeah, I got Fnatic 3. [00:51:55] Speaker D: 1. [00:51:55] Speaker A: Badger agrees. 3 1, RMCN. Yanni both have Fnatic 3, 2. And Mizel has not thrown his votes in. Mizel, do you. Do you agree Fnatic? Do you think G2 could take it? We might have lost Mizel as well. [00:52:09] Speaker C: Oh, I was muted. Sorry. I think back. I do lean on Fnatic. I think there's some hesitancy, but I still think in the end, I do go with fanatic. [00:52:18] Speaker A: All right. Hey. At this point, I'm pretty sure I don't know exactly, but I think if you just predict the same as me for every series, you will just win. LSE predictions by default, so that's not a bad game. Yeah. Then we also have set Saturday's game on Sunday. We have KC versus Koi, Another very exciting matchup. But again. Oh. [00:52:38] Speaker C: Oh. [00:52:39] Speaker A: I was gonna say no. [00:52:40] Speaker C: I'd say. [00:52:41] Speaker A: Wait, wait. Oh, okay. So while Mizelle figures it out, it's Casey for myself, Badger, rmc, and Yanni. We all think the French team can do it. And Mizelle is that final. [00:52:51] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:52:53] Speaker A: So the French betrayal from Mizel as instead, he will back our boy Jojo. Pun. [00:53:00] Speaker C: America won in the end anyways. Let's go. [00:53:03] Speaker A: Who liberated France? You're goddamn right. Let's go. Jojo the Canadian. But either way, three and two is Mizzell's prediction right there. So very excited for Lec to be back. Not a lot of insight to give for that one. It's mostly vibes for myself. Casey, I think just looked the best for Lec over the regular season, so I expect them to do very well in playoffs as well. Well, and again, LEC will have two representatives at msi, remember? So two of probably one of these teams will be repping them. The lower bracket is GX and team Heretics. I do not have faith in either those teams to make a deep lower bracket run. So that's it. That was quick. That was fast. That was swift as the kids sound like. [00:53:50] Speaker C: Still not making it to dinner? [00:53:53] Speaker A: No, I'm gonna make it to dinner. It's. It's 8:25. I got time. I got time. Do you want to keep talking? I mean, we could just keep going. [00:53:59] Speaker D: Bro's gonna make it to dessert. [00:54:00] Speaker A: Maybe. Well, that was my plan. Honestly. I was like, y' all get food, and then I'll show up whenever I show up. And if that's just like dessert or just hanging out for vibes, that's fine. That being said, I am very hungry. So let's wrap this up, everybody. Thank you so much for listening, everybody. That is it for our five stars playoffs preview. Five stars feeder on it all. Boom. Five stars. Make sure to support us if you want to on the Patreon or through the merch store. Join the community, Discord. All the fun things, but the most important fun thing is remember that we love you and we'll see you next time. [00:54:37] Speaker C: Bye. Bye. [00:54:37] Speaker D: See you. See? [00:54:39] Speaker A: That was fast. Oh, yes, Daddy.