League Rundown - Episode 627: It was a good dream

[00:00:12] Speaker A: Gets hit Kimmy kids a little too far here. He's gonna have to try and get himself out. Living O Tillery and the rest of the shots of fire. Zion is just killing the next Zion can eat single handedly win the game by game by game by game by should be. Oh, my God. Stupid Marches 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 627 of the League Rundown. This is your 2026 Summer Split. LCS Playoffs, week seven. Why did I say week seven review. Week three review. We're gonna start that over, okay? Five, four, three. Hello and welcome to episode 627 of the League rundown. This is your 2026 Summer split LCS Playoffs, week three review preview. Also. Definitely my first time doing that intro. This episode is lovingly entitled It Was a Good Dream. I'm your host, Kangas, and I'm joined by two esteemed co hosts. Up first we got. [00:01:47] Speaker B: And the big Bickle Pickle. I thought this was week seven. What's happening? [00:01:51] Speaker A: No, no, that was in the other take that I messed up the episode. [00:01:55] Speaker B: One other take? There's no other take. This is the only take there was. [00:01:58] Speaker A: Exactly, Exactly. There we go. See, I'm happy we're on the same page, but also, it's only LCS this week. That's exciting because LEC already wrapped up, so we be much more focused on our NA coverage and also have a little wiggle room to talk about some other things happening. Also to help us talk about it, we got Mr. Mazzell, pl. [00:02:16] Speaker C: Hello. I'm excited to be back. [00:02:19] Speaker A: Happy to have you. And also happy to have LPL expertise ahead of some Demacia cup conversations because that's the other big tournament that's gonna be happening. We got LCS playoff finals this coming weekend and also the kickoff of Demacia cup, which. Mizell, what did we land on? What are we calling that? [00:02:37] Speaker C: B Worlds. [00:02:38] Speaker A: B Worlds. Yes. And the B stands for. [00:02:42] Speaker C: I don't remember. [00:02:43] Speaker A: Pickle. Do you remember? Was it Budget? Budget. [00:02:46] Speaker B: It was Budget. [00:02:47] Speaker A: It was Pickle World. [00:02:48] Speaker C: No, it's Pickle World. [00:02:51] Speaker B: It's my Worlds Alone. [00:02:52] Speaker A: Yes. No, the Budget world's happening. I've been calling it Losers Worlds, but that's too much of a mouthful. So I like B Worlds. [00:03:00] Speaker C: Messed up, man. [00:03:01] Speaker A: Well, I mean, it's pretty accurate. [00:03:03] Speaker C: It has a prize pool. [00:03:05] Speaker A: It does. It does. There'll be a winner of the losers worlds. But you only go to this. [00:03:10] Speaker C: Do you win it? Like. [00:03:13] Speaker A: Like yes. [00:03:14] Speaker C: Like what really as a team? Like you're like, can you be happy winning that? [00:03:20] Speaker A: I think you can. But also, you know what would be hilarious is if the bottom half of the teams participating get to qualify for another tournament. That happens later after Demacia is just [00:03:32] Speaker C: gonna mold top two teams get into the play ins of Worlds and we're just gonna have it. It's gonna be like the second opportunity to get to work. [00:03:41] Speaker B: This is just gonna become the Champions League. [00:03:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I. I don't know if I would hate that actually. You get all the international so. Well hear me out. Instead of LCK and LPL getting a fourth seed, that's what we do. Because their fourth seeds are gonna make [00:03:57] Speaker C: it four seeds for winning. I'm sorry, you don't know what winning is, but we get to do that because we win. [00:04:04] Speaker A: Yeah. But like think about it. [00:04:05] Speaker B: Just. [00:04:05] Speaker A: Just consider the possibility and let's not consider the fact that NA is 3 seeds when we are an 8 team region. Anyway, roster news. Let's talk about who's around the world. [00:04:16] Speaker C: B Worlds is a much better, you know, because you only have the two. [00:04:22] Speaker A: Oh my God, you're right. It is more accurate for region. That's. That's really funny. Okay. Anyway we'll talk a little bit more about that later on. But first let's talk about roster updates. Shake ups. Bickle. There's only really one that happened over in the lec. What's happening over there? [00:04:38] Speaker B: Just some minor news stand the support of shifters announced his retirement. He wasn't going to be on the team next year either way. So yeah it's. He was brought in part way to replace Trimby when shifters continued to try and change things up and nothing worked. So congrats on a career. He didn't have too much time in tier one but he at least got to spend some time there and wrap it up in a tier one region. [00:05:04] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's more than what most people to try and go pro can say. He did get stage time. He got to play a couple of splits and wishing him all the best going forward. Yeah, we'll keep our eyes on other roster news but that's all that we were able to notice from this past week. Other than just a lot of memes that I almost fell for. Man, there are so many joke accounts talking about Fnatic new general manager. Fnatic new coach, fanatic new player. And I'm Like I'm going to stop believing these because none of them say Sheep Esports or any credible account. But they all have like 2000 likes which makes it very confusing. Variety topics Two new teams qualify for Worlds which means only one spot is up for grabs in the CB lol. Mazel. What were the two teams that are now joining the group on the path to worlds? [00:05:58] Speaker C: Oh hello. C9 and Lion. [00:06:01] Speaker A: Yeah well C9 we actually had locked in already. [00:06:03] Speaker C: It's yeah, it was lying and then [00:06:05] Speaker A: CB Low got one of them. [00:06:08] Speaker C: Yeah, cuz Team Lick was already locked with it. [00:06:10] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:06:10] Speaker A: Team Liquid and C9 were locked in through the upper bracket but lion were able to actually get in through the lower bracket. I don't think that's anybody's surprise. It was a surprise that they were down there to begin with. But Bickle, the Low story is interesting because you were the first to talk about this before we started recording. Interesting position they're in. [00:06:28] Speaker B: So for most of our listeners who are not aware. Well are aware of format wise, the LCS and CB LOL are similar in that they have a guest spot. The LCS guest spot is currently held by Disguised. Disguised is not the best team. They miss playoffs. They're preparing for their promotion relegation tournament which begins October 5th. CB LOL is already in the midst of their promotion tournament. CB Law's guest team is losing. LOS has already qualified for Worlds. There is a world in which LOS loses their promotion relegation tournament and still has to go to Worlds despite not being in a Tier one region next year. [00:07:08] Speaker A: Which is the thing we joked about last year with Disguised. They did not learn from the potential of the format in either region. It could have happened to Disguise too. This year obviously they were not good enough. Not even close. But LOS was able to make it in. Mizel, do you remember us talking about this? Because this was like a concern in years past. [00:07:29] Speaker C: The fact I remember. [00:07:31] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. The fact that a team that could get relegated could actually be relegated because [00:07:36] Speaker C: we always talked about that for disguise. But obviously there's relegation. The secondary league or the the CB Law as well. [00:07:42] Speaker B: I mean and LOS is under a decent bit of threat because they have to play up against Estral, who's kind of a loaded Tier two team. It's got Bwippo, it's got Audi, it's got Brandts. Some pretty big names [00:07:59] Speaker C: as their Jungle Whipple still playing. [00:08:00] Speaker B: Yeah, Branson tell us three really big names. [00:08:06] Speaker C: Suppose that he really wants to go back to Europe or something. Yep, he misses Europe so much. [00:08:11] Speaker A: I think this is would maybe be his last run on the the team. I don't know if he'd play for them if they actually qualify in. But yeah, it is a interesting position for LOS to find themselves in. They got guaranteed a world spot. We don't know where they're going to be, whether they make it to Swiss or whether they're in play ins. Because if they're just in play ins, then the whole like relegation thing doesn't matter as much. I don't see a possible world that they make it out of play ins when they're up against LCS and LEC third seeds. [00:08:39] Speaker B: I mean, they're playing in their promotion relegation tournament right now. They're still in CB Law playoffs. [00:08:46] Speaker A: That's such a weird schedule, man. [00:08:49] Speaker C: Like, what is that? [00:08:54] Speaker A: That's something for tournament organizers to take notes on, but funny. Regardless, one more team waiting to be locked in in CB Law. We'll see what happens with the rest of their playoffs. They're gonna be the last region to actually have those determined. [00:09:07] Speaker B: I believe that will go to the winner of. I want to say it's Loud versus Red Cannons. Wait, no. Red Cannons. Reddit Cannons is going to Demacia Cup, I think. [00:09:22] Speaker A: Are you looking at the wiki? [00:09:25] Speaker B: Loud vs Furia. Winner goes to. Okay, we have Winner goes to Worlds. Loser gets nothing. [00:09:32] Speaker A: Okay, well, we'll see if they're able to do it. Speaking of worlds, I am of the opinion and I actually want to get our community's thought on this one. So make sure to let us know in the community Discord your thoughts. In my opinion, the first of the world season music has dropped. We got a new Heart Steel song, Live My Life. It's got everybody talking about it. Everyone's opinionated. Most people hate it for a myriad of different reasons. But I. I want to rehash a conversation that we had had right before starting this. Does it count as a world song? I think it's in my mind similar to like last year or a couple years ago Heart Steel Rock Star, where it's like it's performed at Worlds. It's not the anthem, but it's a world song, right? Like it's released around the season and kind of builds it up and I'm sure that this will be performed as well. But Mizelle, it seems like you. You do not agree. You don't think it's a world song? And also, what are your thoughts on it in general? I guess. [00:10:29] Speaker C: Well, I don't. I don't think it's A world song. Just because I didn't really see any tie in, I guess, mentally, especially with the post for the. The Faker based music video. I think that's gonna be much more what they're aiming for. I also like. It's an okay song. I just feel like it's missing that original hard steel feeling from like Paranoia, where it's kind of edgy and a little bit more in your face, where this is like very chill, relaxed vibes. It feels much more like a valorant song than like a League of Legends song. [00:11:01] Speaker A: I heard that take with kind of [00:11:03] Speaker C: like that, like a little bit like vibey music, but as well as like some nice bridges and stuff. It definitely doesn't feel like original Heart Steel. Maybe that's their plan because they literally changed everybody on the team, made them all look completely different as well from the original Heartsteel. So I don't know if that's their plan or not, but it definitely doesn't feel like the original Heart Steel, which I. I really appreciate. I. Paranoia is one of my favorite songs. [00:11:31] Speaker A: Yeah, that one's awesome. I always forget it's called Paranoia and not Rockstar. I always call it Rockstar because that's like. [00:11:39] Speaker C: Like, oh, the energy with that song was so good. And this one's not bad. Like, it's not bad. I'm not hating on it. It's just. It is not what I expected. [00:11:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I. I'm of a similar mindset of, like, I think the song is good or I mean, maybe I don't remember if you framed it as fine, but I actually really like the song. I think the SO itself, it's catchy, it's generic pop music, whatever. But, man, when I, like, was in the studio this riot arena this last weekend, I was just in my head like, I just wanna live my life. Like, I was kind of like, feeling it. But then, man, the humorism around this song is so strong. And I don't want to take away from the validity of the points people are making because a lot of them that I've heard are like, they changed the com. They completely changed the sound of all of the characters. Like, they establish it with Parano and now everybody sounds different. The artists that they chose, they're not leaning on their strengths. Like Connor Price and Nick D. I love those guys. They make great rap songs and their lyricism is some of their best work. And why I listen to them, they didn't get to flex that. They didn't get a rap. They were just singing the whole time. [00:12:50] Speaker C: Didn't they just not replace one of the member. Is it yone that just doesn't have somebody that's attached to him? Or you're thinking, oh, it's a Phelios Aphelios. [00:12:59] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:13:00] Speaker C: But he obviously is silent. He doesn't have a voice. [00:13:02] Speaker B: But yeah, you're thinking [00:13:06] Speaker C: too, by the way. [00:13:07] Speaker B: True Damage. [00:13:08] Speaker A: Yep, yep. So. So we had some news that, like, other artists are replacing different. The original artists from other bands that are going to have music coming out. All of these are valid criticisms. I just think that those are then affecting people's enjoyment of the music itself. And there's all this negativity around the song when I'm like, I still think the song is good and I. I wish that people were able to separate those a little bit more because most of the conversations I've had, it's just like, oh, it's ass. And I'm like, is it. Or do you just have a couple of valid critiques about the execution and like, it just shouldn't have been a heart steel song. It should have been something else. So that's where I'm at. Pickle, where are you at on this, though? [00:13:47] Speaker B: I'm gonna be honest, I haven't listened to the song. [00:13:50] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Well, check it out. I think it's good. I think that it's just, like I said, generic but catchy and still fun. All right, okay, well, there we go. More music coming out though. Again, let us know if you consider it a world's song. Obviously, it's not the world song. It's not the world's anthem. That's gonna be the. The faker one that Miselle was hinting at was teased. But we also have expectations for new true Damage coming out. There was, I didn't think a while [00:14:20] Speaker C: ago from any other KDA world's music video at this point. Like, I swear to God, every single music video of the past five years has just been about faker. [00:14:29] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, I guess they just give [00:14:32] Speaker C: me this one officially. All the other ones were unofficially about Faker. This one's officially about Faker. [00:14:37] Speaker A: Yes. Well, in all the other ones, I think that it was him and other characters like other pros. But it seems like this one, they already told us the video is going to be about fakers last. [00:14:48] Speaker C: They're getting ready for his retirement, man, everything out that they can, man. [00:14:55] Speaker A: They really are milking it while they can. So look out for that dropping as well as potential more music from the Riot Games group. I'm just hoping that they don't forget about Pentakill and that at some point we get a Pentacle song because God damn, I love Pentakill. Okay, what else? What else? There's a lot of international events. There's actually three different tournaments that we can talk about here in a row. Two are international, one is not. But let's start off with the World Star or. Sorry. World Star Invitational Finals. N A we're able to make top eight. Mizel, were you following the storylines from that? [00:15:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:30] Speaker A: Sad that they weren't able to make the push. They matched up against T1 Academy in the top eight. Right. [00:15:35] Speaker C: Stopped. Yep. They won one game, which was nice. [00:15:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:42] Speaker C: And it. They came back from like a 10, 000 gold deficit in that game. But yeah, T1 just too good, man. They have a couple really good players, as expected for a. A secondary team. I think Haiti Haytel also had like a crazy, crazy series. Him and Painter, the top lane in the jungle. But yeah, it's gonna be. It's gonna be Sly and T1 in the finals. [00:16:07] Speaker A: Who is Solari? Where are they from? [00:16:09] Speaker B: Solaris. [00:16:10] Speaker C: They're Masters. Yeah. [00:16:12] Speaker A: You okay? [00:16:12] Speaker B: Ah, they won Emea Masters in winter. They've dropped one game this entire tournament so far, and it was two. Europe has been like, running this tournament, aside from the fact that Galleons dropped to T1 Academy. [00:16:35] Speaker A: Okay, cool. Well, T1 Academy versus Solari finals is happening. Does anybody have a date, a time and a date for that one? Yep. In case people wanted to. [00:16:43] Speaker B: I think it's Friday. [00:16:46] Speaker C: Yeah. So it's gonna be Friday at 5am Eastern. So it'll be 2am Pacific. [00:16:51] Speaker A: Okay. There we go. My God, 2am so Thursday night. [00:16:54] Speaker C: Yep. [00:16:54] Speaker A: I will not be watching that, but at least not live. But if you have time, either set your calendar, set your timer, or just remember to watch it sometime over the weekend. There'll be a lot to watch over the weekend because the next thing is also starting October 3rd. That is Damasia cup, the B Worlds. Now, Bickle and Mazel have both looked at the. The bracket and such. Mazel, you unofficial LPL is going to be cover that, right? [00:17:23] Speaker C: We are. Yeah. Perfect. All new people. It's going to be great. [00:17:28] Speaker A: Oh, all new people. Like all new casters coming in. [00:17:31] Speaker C: Yeah. So typically we use regular Demacia Cub to try out people for next year, but because this one is happening, they are not doing regular Demacia cup anymore, which really sucks. So we're gonna have to use it to try out our new people. [00:17:46] Speaker A: Hey, not bad, though. It's a great opportunity [00:17:50] Speaker C: like Domasica was such a good tournament to see how players are gonna be looking like in year and like see the first time we get to see the teams together now that just doesn't exist because they took the name I guess. I don't know which is cringe because it usually happens in December so it's like not even. It's like months away and it's not going to happen. [00:18:10] Speaker A: That is odd how much they've changed while keeping is it the same tournament organizers do you know like is it [00:18:15] Speaker C: still Chinese squad that okay weird or TJ Sports? I guess technically. [00:18:20] Speaker A: Well they wanted more internationals and they will find ways to get it. Either way the draw occur thriving. Bickle, what are the matchups to be excited about and what are your general like favorites in the tournament? [00:18:34] Speaker B: Sure thing. So round one, this starts off very similar to Worlds. We have six best of one in Swiss. The draw occurred from top to bottom. We have Red Kneads, the CB Law fourth seed taking on Na', vi, the European fourth seed. We have lgd, the LPL fifth seed or sixth seed. Thing was sixth now that I'm thinking seventh. Seventh seed taking on Fly Quest, the LCS fifth seed. We have Shopify Rebellion, the LCS fourth seed taking on. Who'd I argue are the tournament favorites in kt. Rolster the LCK fifth seed Bias. We have Vitality, which is the European fifth seed taking on bfx, the Korean sixth seed. We have Gammy Sports, the LCP fourth seed taking on we, the LPL sixth seed. And finally we have Bro, the LCK seventh seed taking on jdg, the fifth seed of the lpl. [00:19:41] Speaker A: Did I not hear Shopify Rebellion or [00:19:43] Speaker B: did I just miss Shopify Rebellion is playing KT in round one one. [00:19:46] Speaker C: We get. [00:19:48] Speaker B: We get the most exciting matchup. That would have been an absolute banger last year of BDD versus Zinni and now it is the definition of hydrogen bomb versus coughing baby. [00:20:00] Speaker A: Well, it does give us two opportunities. If you think I forgot, I did not. It has been like 3000 days since we have beaten LCK in a best of five. [00:20:10] Speaker B: This is the best of one opportunity. [00:20:12] Speaker C: Best of one, baby. Anybody can win. [00:20:16] Speaker A: Damn it. Okay, best of one. When do best of fives happen? [00:20:19] Speaker B: The bracket. [00:20:21] Speaker A: Okay, well we'll get through the Swiss and then maybe we'll end the losing streak. [00:20:28] Speaker C: Although it doesn't so fast though by the way. It literally like we decide into quarters after. What is it? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 days. So it's six days of non stop games, three best of threes every single day after the first day. And then we have a two day break and then three days for quarterfinals and finals. [00:20:55] Speaker B: Wow. [00:20:56] Speaker A: Yeah. And again, it's all starting October 3rd, the same day that LCS finals weekend starts. So there's gonna be a lot that's only a couple days away. That's literally this Saturday. But is that like overnight? Like is it going to be Friday into Saturday or is it Saturday into Sunday night? [00:21:14] Speaker C: Because it's going to be Friday into Saturday. [00:21:17] Speaker A: Okay. Oh, wow. Interesting. [00:21:19] Speaker C: So 2:00am Saturday morning. [00:21:23] Speaker A: I'm actually sad I won't be able to catch like any of it. [00:21:26] Speaker C: Yeah, it's worse because I think the Shopify Rebellion is the third series. [00:21:30] Speaker B: So it's like 5am Shopify Rebellion is the third series. So that. [00:21:35] Speaker C: Yeah, so it's like 5am 3am Pacific. Yeah. [00:21:39] Speaker A: Oh, it's 6am Eastern then. Okay. Well I mean of course it depends [00:21:43] Speaker C: on how fast starts at 2am so if it's three games then yeah, it'll probably be around five. Yeah. [00:21:48] Speaker A: Okay, cool. Well, we'll see. I will probably not be up for it, but maybe I'll catch it watching while I'm eating breakfast or something. Okay. The final tournaments to talk about. This is a lot of league happening, everybody. LCS and CB LOL promotion tournament Spickle already mentioned they are ongoing for CB. LOL. LCS begins October 5th. Mazel. I'd love to give you a platform here. How likely is it that a team takes DSG spot? And if you think it's likely, which team do you give the highest chances to? [00:22:20] Speaker C: Well, first of all, I hope that the NACL boys get to be on the show. That'd be great. [00:22:26] Speaker A: Oh, has that not been confirmed yet? [00:22:28] Speaker C: Has not been. I was told by Zach that we were going to be contacted this week, but nobody has been contacted yet. Would be nice to know for doing it since it literally starts in three, four. Yeah, three days. [00:22:40] Speaker A: That would be nice. [00:22:41] Speaker C: Anyways, who needs. That being said, I still think DSG is very strong. I. It's gonna be tough. I mean Cupid just came off some really hard losses in World Star. I feel like they did learn a decent amount, but I feel like being able to beat out DSG is going to be difficult and especially because there's kind of the double life there as well. I give DSG like a 65 chance of Re promoting. [00:23:13] Speaker B: Fair enough. [00:23:13] Speaker A: Pretty high. Yeah. Yeah, it's hard. It's hard to like actually take the spot from the team that just had the entire year. We saw it last against Tier one players. [00:23:24] Speaker C: Yeah, and they were looking pretty decent at the end too. [00:23:27] Speaker A: Last year. The the difference is they shelled out and just paid for Rahel to come and play on dsg. They don't have that same type of budget where it's like the the Rahel build of DSG to just say, hey, give him resources. Carry us. I think that this is going to be a more involved process from everybody on the team, but I still think that DSG are going to be good enough to do it. So keep your eyes peeled for that. It'll start October 5th. And there we go. That's all of the updates. Who we got through it. Everybody. Demacia Cup, LCS and C below Promotion Tournament Worlds are invitational. I feel like there's one other thing that I was missing there, but all kinds of tournaments are happening over the next couple of weeks. It is going to be League of Legends bonanza for everybody who likes to follow every single league. But one league that we're gonna talk about for the rest of the episode is the lcs. So we're a reminder that if we miss anything else that you wish you had heard our thoughts on, let us know in the discord. A link to join is in the description wherever you are listening. Also shout out to anybody who supports a bot, either through the Patreon or through the Merch Shop. Links to those are also in the description. LCS Playoffs continues. We finished our last weekend in Los Angeles and now this coming weekend is going to be the finale of the LCS 2026 season. Let's kick things off. Mazel. I'm going to throw it right on over to you. We had three series this past weekend. Who beat who and how they look doing it. [00:24:56] Speaker C: Well, you know, being able to see some thrilling League of Legends this weekend was obviously incredible. It was a little bit sad for you specifically. [00:25:08] Speaker A: Why do you gotta start there? [00:25:12] Speaker C: Okay, I'll talk about it more. [00:25:14] Speaker A: I'm torn. I'm not sad. [00:25:17] Speaker C: So Friday we had a wonderful match between Fly Quest and Shopify Rebellion. Shopify Rebellion came came back to win a three, two series. It was a little bit sad. I was kind of voting for Flyquest there, but Shopify were able to squeak it out with some clutch performances and contracts feeling very confident. But then and then and only then they ran into lion and unfortunately did not get to go to five games. I know it was a very emotional moment for contracts and all that, but lion were able to Step up. There were some really shaky moments from lion during that series, which may be coming back to bite them a little bit in the future. But we'll see if that actually comes to fruition. And then Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday we did have Team Liquid versus C9. It also was a 3:1 Team Liquid who actually looked pretty good, especially with some of the comps they were willing to run. So that was the weekend. [00:26:10] Speaker A: That's the weekend of games. The Shopify journey was kind of what inspired the title of this episode. It was a good dream. They made a deep run in the lower bracket. 5 games versus Sentinels being a reverse sweep. 5 games versus Fly Quest and then they go down 02 win a game versus can't close it out. The wake up call rang true. Lion continue and earn that last spot at Worlds. But let's start with Shopify and their story here. Bickle, do you feel like in a way that they've redeemed the narrative because they man they struggle. They did not win a game in lock in tournament and now they finished top four in summer. [00:26:48] Speaker B: I think their growth gives them something to be happy about. And like you fell to Lyon at the end, you finished fourth place. It's nothing to be ashamed of. I think they can. Obviously coming into the season they had higher expectations, but coming into summer if you told them they'd finish fourth, like yeah, we'll take it. [00:27:14] Speaker A: Yeah, I think so. It is two years in a row though where Shopify Rebellion were one best of five win away from going to World Fields. They got beat out by 100 Thieves last summer when we only had two seeds from the the north region and then one seed from the south region. They would have. If we had had the full three, they would have gone. They would have been the top three. So now they're we're sending three. But they only got fourth. So crazy that happened to Contracts and Fudge twice [00:27:44] Speaker B: said he could get him to fifth. He did even better and got him to fourth. He didn't. [00:27:48] Speaker A: Did even better. Hey, that's a support following his word. And yeah I a great fashion to get to top four as well. That last game against FlyQuest. Game five locks in a moomoo support. Such an electric moment because like I'm a big skeptic when it comes to the coast streams for the longevity of our esport. Just because it doesn't bring in the proper viewership metric. It's diluting the viewership pool all kinds of reasons but. But it does allow for moments like Ludwig and Cage Roll in live watching together like seeing the amumu locked in and just geeking out. And then Zelda great performance on it. [00:28:26] Speaker C: So to see Cadre getting to hate watch a team and bury them, isn't it right? [00:28:32] Speaker A: Yes. The Hate Watch was real. Let's start talking about that now. Fly Quest were the villains going into this lower bracket. [00:28:40] Speaker C: You're telling me people didn't appreciate Papa's apology ahead of the series? [00:28:44] Speaker A: No, I. I don't think it convinced many people. Yeah, just like six months too late. Five months. [00:28:51] Speaker C: Honestly, I think it added fuel to the fire. Let's be real. [00:28:54] Speaker B: I. [00:28:55] Speaker A: Well for sure if they had said nothing I think it would have been like a much chiller Hate Watch. But they would have been Haywatch either way. But this just gave them something to meme on and Cadre was definitely memeing on them and was so clearly your cheering on Shopify. Fly Quest almost were able to do it. They were up to one at one point. But. But I think that the inexperience really showed. This was a team and a roster that had so much promise in spring and got worse in summer. I think in large part because of the meta shakeup for support. Specifically Cryogen rookie support. One rookie of the year Shadow Cryogen. I think that's still deserved. But there was one big, big blotch on his year record which was otherwise pretty good. And that was when the roaming top meta was, you know, all the rage for that month and a half period and just did not adapt well. Then they didn't adapt. Fantastic. Back to the current form of the meta and they choked. I'm just going to call what it is. I think. I think fl choked in the games 4 and 5. You could tell that they were playing a little more nervous and Griffin in particular on the Shyvana game five flies in Shyvana ulting a Nafiri that has w up and doesn't hit anybody else with it and then dies. And that was kind of like the. The game breaking moment for. For Shopify to win so or at least to get the lead. [00:30:15] Speaker B: I do not think this Flagquest roster will maintain its five man squad going into next year, but I think they're going to benefit from going to Demacia cup just having that extra added experience. [00:30:27] Speaker A: This is a team I'm very excited to see at Demacia Cup. I hope that they do well. I'm interesting you say that. Why do you not think that's gonna be the same roster? [00:30:37] Speaker B: I think even though you are a young squad when you, let's call it what it is. Have such a collapse of a summer. Something's going to change. [00:30:52] Speaker A: Interesting. You think they don't commit to it being a young roster and that they can get better together? You think that it is like, no, we need to fix this. [00:31:02] Speaker B: I think there's something that they need to change. I don't know what piece that is, but I think. Think one or two pieces is going to change. [00:31:09] Speaker C: I think it's 100 top lane. I think toppling was such a really rough time this year and I think having a veteran in top lane where you can focus on everybody else and not give a. I think is amazing. And that's exactly what they want to have. That's what they had with Bwipo. [00:31:25] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm just thinking like the veteran top laners that they could grab. If lion doesn't keep Dokla another year, maybe you grab Dokla. [00:31:36] Speaker C: Castle making the comeback. [00:31:38] Speaker B: Old man. I mean. [00:31:39] Speaker A: Yeah, actually it could be Castle, old man. Impact. Oh, no. Please. [00:31:43] Speaker C: No, no, no, no. This is it. This is it. This is it. Bipo leaves Astral because they don't make it. [00:31:49] Speaker A: Oh, no. [00:31:50] Speaker C: And it's been long enough. And Flying Quest is already in the. That they resign Bipo because they don't care about their. [00:31:57] Speaker B: They just say bring on the negative pr. [00:32:00] Speaker C: They say. They say where everybody already hates us. Let's lead into it. [00:32:05] Speaker A: And then they reveal it was Bwipo that wrote the fanfics about. [00:32:12] Speaker B: They revealed that Bipo was the executive producer of that video. [00:32:16] Speaker C: Yeah. The point I would really like to make is, like, if Masu was clearly the best piece and they were able to like, play around that, I think it's a much different story. But we saw breakdowns at every single position this year. Less from Jungle, but from every single position. And so I think that makes it more likely that there's a change. I think if there was some real promise at like, okay, this star is making this team. Let's. Let's continue to work around how we play around that. I think that's beautiful. But Masu has a pretty bad year. Like, not catastrophic. Right. But, like, he did not have the. The star power that we expected from him to be on this team. [00:33:05] Speaker A: We didn't get 20, 25. [00:33:07] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Because that was the expectation. You sign all these new guys and you have Masu to build around it. [00:33:11] Speaker A: Right. [00:33:13] Speaker C: So I think if that was the case, it would be much different going next year. But I think at this point there will be changes. [00:33:18] Speaker A: I disagree. I think you run it back. Top lane's the only one that I could be convinced of should change. I think you brought in essentially a rookie jungle. I know he had like one split in cb, lol, but essentially a rookie. They got a rookie support. And Quad and Masu are not in game leaders. They were the veterans on the team, but they need other stronger voices around them. Get those stronger voices, more experience. I think it's going to be Griffin and Cryogen and as those two mature in their careers, they're going to be really, really solid players. That's my prediction. I think that this is a two year build. I think the hype of them making worlds would have been sick. But I think the, the narrative that this is the youngest roster in the world in tier one got a little lost in the hype that oh they could push for worlds, oh they could make it, oh they could qualify. And then suddenly everyone's like, oh, they're really bad. And like again, this is also my V there of just saying I think they choked in games four and five, but I don't hold that against them. I think that that's something that you can learn and grow from and I expect them to be a much better, a bigger threat next year. [00:34:28] Speaker C: So I just, I hope, I think you have to get more veterans in the top lane to be able to work on the other two because you literally have two of your most important communication roles being bogged down by rookies or newer players. Right. You need to have some kind of stability. I think going with Geckos was like the biggest what if with the team this year and I just don't think it worked out. [00:34:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, and let's be real, [00:34:54] Speaker C: I'm gonna be a little salty. I would rather see one of our top laners have had that opportunity than some random TCL or Greek or is it. Was it tcl? Was it. [00:35:03] Speaker B: He's Turkish. I think. [00:35:05] Speaker C: Yeah. It was from tcl. Like I would rather have them have had this year of experience than some random. Sure. [00:35:11] Speaker A: So if, if you go for young talent, at least pick young na talent is kind of your. Your thought process. [00:35:16] Speaker C: Yeah. And since it didn't work, I think you have to move away from that. At least in that position. I'm not saying the other positions. [00:35:22] Speaker A: Well, we'll keep our eyes on what moves FlyQuest makes, if any in the off season. At least they will have Damasi Cup. So we, we do get to see some more of them. [00:35:32] Speaker B: Finally get his visa. [00:35:34] Speaker A: Oh my God. That would actually be amazing. Zamuto Fly Quest would be so fun but I doesn't fix the issues though. [00:35:43] Speaker B: It doesn't solve area but it does give you that extra potential there. [00:35:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. Moving on though, because those are two team Shopify quest, we've kind of wrapped up the story of we will not see them at Worlds. So let's talk about the teams that we will as well as the teams that we'll see this coming weekend. Lion looked good in their wins. There was the one moment that Saint dove underneath the Tier 2 top turret to chase the support. [00:36:13] Speaker B: I think he was going to give Inspired a heart attack. [00:36:16] Speaker A: I think so. That was a very funny moment. If you caught the interview with Inspired after the game, you'll know what we're talking about. If you didn't go check that out, just watch Inspired get rage baited by Jat to flame his own mid lane of like what was he doing? Like on Raw or no, on Twisted Fate he just runs down a Leona under a turret and dies after the [00:36:40] Speaker B: Leona under tower too. [00:36:42] Speaker A: Yep. And if he had just turned back with the team, they probably take Baron. They weren't able to get to Baron in that moment. They still got it later. But it was a funny thing. The one loss that they had though I would say it was just kind of uncharacteristic mispositioning from Dokla. From what we've seen over the last couple series, it was kind of back to back Nautilus dredge lines that caught him one in the bot lane where he's like dropping the. He played Anivia in in top lane and was crushing lane. He did great laning phases. All games in the but the game that they lost, it's just like he gets Nautilus hooked twice in a row. Once bot lane, once in mid lane. That loses them to Dragon and that loses them to Baron. And then Shopify was able to just keep the snowball going from there. But there was early game, the gold lead was still there for Lions. So it's like I think that this team is going to be fine. Going on like that one loss was just. Yep, that that's tough. Dokla was out of position two times in a row and then that cost some major objectives in the game. Game overall, I'm not sweating online. I still think that they look very good. Are you guys in agreement or do you think there are causes for concern? Bickel, let's start with you. [00:37:46] Speaker B: They're fine. Like I, I don't think there's any real reason for concern. It Just shows you that the way to punish lion is to try and focus Dokla because that is seen to be the most consistent way to beat this team. Obviously earlier in the split it was pick on the substitute jungler, but now that he's gone and you have to on an actual member of the team, it seems like people are focusing on. [00:38:13] Speaker A: It's like bullies where it's like you can't bully somebody bigger than you, so [00:38:16] Speaker B: you got to bully. [00:38:17] Speaker A: Like, if you're getting bullied, you got to bully somebody else. You can't just bully our mayo anymore. So now Dokla is the next smallest bully of the bullies on Lion. Okay, Mizel, same question for you. Do you think that there's causes for concern from lion or do you think that they're gonna be fine? [00:38:32] Speaker C: Nah, they'll be all right. Until finals. [00:38:35] Speaker A: Oh, until finals. Oh, a little. Little preview. Little sneaky there. On predictions, I will say shout out to contracts for trying. That game one ending was as a shopify believer, pretty heartbreaking. Do you guys remember that he's like on Kiana, he is invading the enemy bot jungle while lion is pushing in and taking tier 2 turrets, cracking the inhibitor turrets line. Go for the reset. He stays bought Jungle in the tri brush. Saints on Annie walks all the way up to the pixel brush and you could tell like observers were highlighting. We were talking about Cassie's like, oh my God. Like, Sam, I just get one shot here. Contracts one shots him. In the ensuing fight, Berserker loses his mind and like flashes forward on Yannara and then has to kite back afterwards. So he's down. Flash Inspired goes into GA because they're able to get onto him. But then contracts just goes too deep. He just flies into the back line to try and chase down this flashlist. Yara dies for it. And then they aren't able to actually make a comeback. But that was at Elder. Like, if they had gotten that, if they had gotten inspired's GA and maybe killed him afterwards or just pushed him away, then they start up elder with a 5V4 and can probably actually have a chance. But contracts, he giveth and he taketh away. [00:39:47] Speaker B: You really got to see both sides of the contracts coined within a one minute period. It's like, oh my God, Contracts might have just bought them away back into this game. And oh my God, contracts just reveal a chance they have. [00:40:00] Speaker A: Yep, exactly. Is is the funniest. Like, oh, what a beautiful man. Oh, God, what are you doing? But yeah, lion continue on. I think we're on agreement, they look good. I was talking about the other two teams, Team Liquid and C9 matched up in the upper bracket. And the talk of the town is this should have been a five game series. Game 4, Cloud 9 are at the Nexus turrets. Tactical has a Caitlin trap down that and Bessa walks on top of. And instead of head shotting and probably just one shotting that, Embessa flashes forward to try and get the kill onto Yawn, who's very low but further underneath the Nexus turrets. Then he's in melee range of investment. He dies. Team Liquid make the comeback when they were in a losing position in that game. We'll never have the answer of like, what if we had a game 5? Like, could C9 have made made a comeback in the series? The reality is Team Liquid, we're able to close it out there because if you give them an inch, they'll take a mile. So let's talk about kind of the. The form that we think of for both of these teams, because Bickle, you had mentioned something earlier. Other people have said this too. Feels like these are the best three teams we've ever sent to Worlds. What's making you feel that way? [00:41:14] Speaker B: This is like, from the longest time, everyone said these are the three teams, teams. It's just a matter of will one of them choke and miss Worlds? Because that's what always happens. It's okay, someone trips at the last second in a third seed gets in that we're like, about, or, okay, there's one really, really good team and the rest of the league's just there. But for the first time in a long time, it really feels like all three of these teams are solid. Like, there were some question marks about Cloud9, but people are kind of saying, okay, how they showed up against lion, how they've looked, this playoff so far shows, oh, you can actually make something happen and be a bit more competitive. Like, these are our three best teams. These are the three teams that should be going to Worlds. [00:42:10] Speaker A: Yes, I think definitively it would have been an upset if one of them had not made it. I would have been worried if it was C9 in a lower bracket. The fact that they were able to upset lion gave me so much more faith in them. But then also they had that relief of, okay, we don't have to worry about defending our spot and like, sneaking into Worlds and being cursed. But Mizel, similar setup for you. Do you think that these are the best three teams we've ever sent to Worlds? [00:42:34] Speaker C: Because that's a. That's A big statement, hard decision. Yeah. I don't know for if it's ever, but I do feel like it's got to be one of them just because [00:42:43] Speaker A: the only other one that comes to mind for me. Oh, yeah, continue. Go for it. [00:42:46] Speaker C: No, no, you can go. [00:42:48] Speaker A: I was just going to say 2016 TSM CLG. C9 comes to mind because CLG was coming off of the finals appearance at MSI. TSM crushed that split and C9 had like always done well at World. So like that. That's the one that comes to mind when I think of other ones. But that was a decade ago, so even still, it would be like the first time in 10 years that we've had this strong of three representatives. [00:43:10] Speaker C: Yeah, I, I think it is one of the strongest representatives that we have in terms of total teams. I think as well they all present kind of like a different strategy in some ways in terms of how they win or what they want to draft for. So I'm excited for it. I think there is some real opportunities between both Western 3 Western regions a little bit less so for CV LOL to actually do some damage. [00:43:35] Speaker A: Damage you don't believe in Los. Come on, man. Sorry, brother. Well, I think it's an interesting conversation because I've heard a lot of people talk about it and one of the reasons I think it's also there's more validity behind the conversation is how close it's been this playoffs between these teams. C931 against lion and then C913 against Team Liquid. It all the games have been pretty high quality. It hasn't been like insane blowouts that you're like, oh God, like, how did this team get into this position? It feels tactile or not. That's not the right word. Tactical. There we go. Like tactical League of Legends happening. No pun intended for C9's AD carry. So, yeah, I mean, I, I guess there's not much more to talk about other than just the, the predictions. Unless. Are there more moments from the C9TL series that we want to break down? I know a lot of people have just chalked it up and myself included to. But there were other games that happened as well. So, Bickle, does anything come to mind of like big key moments from C9TL that jump out to you from this past weekend? [00:44:42] Speaker B: Honestly, not too much because games one through three weren't really that close. That all three of them were kind of like, okay, one team takes the lead and keeps the lead and that's that. [00:45:01] Speaker A: I feel like the. The draft was also a conversation. Both coaches actually gave each other a lot of props on, like, the draft pivots and things that were happening in the series. There's been a lot of really cool content. We're not lacking for any content right now in the League of Legends ecosystem. Kadril has started doing his, like, podcast series leading into Worlds and he got to talk with, I believe it was Spawn and then he's gonna have like, Dom on his plans to have like representatives from all the NA teams and EU teams games just kind of like talk about the west heading into Worlds, which I think is really, really cool. So look out for all that content as well. Also, I one final thing. I think Morgan insane series completely gapped Thanatos. I know Thanatos had the one Olaf game where, like, he almost was able to clutch it up and he looked good there. But overall, I felt that Morgan was doing a fantastic job shutting Thanatos down. And those two are definitively the best two top laners in the region. I think Dokla is going to be playing perma weak side against both of those guys. I think lion are going to make it to finals and we can talk about predictions here next, but Thanatos and Morgan are scary top laners to play against right now in the current form they're in. So with that said, playoffs preview for finals, this is going to be in Atlanta, Georgia. We're taking to the road. If you're going to be there live at the venue, come say hi. Would love to get a photo, just, you know, give a high five, give a little side hug, whatever. Just let me know that you're coming from the podcast. I love it when I'm at a road show and people are like, I I listen to the league rundown. It's so cool. Like, when that happens, like, it kind of blindsides me sometimes because most people I just assume know me from casting. But for those that actually do listen to podcasts, it means the world when you come up and say hi and that you do pay attention to what we talk about, no matter how wrong we are on a lot of our opinions. So predictions for this coming weekend, we got lion versus C9 to kick things off and it's a Lion sweep. On the, on the predictions here. I got three zero. Badger and Bickle both have three one. Mazel's got three two. So Mizell, I'm gonna to you. How do you find C9 getting two wins? Like, is it playing through a specific lane? Is it playing like to a Specific strategy. Like, where do you think their two wins come from to push it to five games? [00:47:15] Speaker C: I think Blibber has a really good series. That's what I at least want to believe. [00:47:19] Speaker A: He had a great series in the upper bracket. That was like, a key difference in their win versus line last time around. So not a bad hit. Bright lights. Merchant. Merchant. Although that's usually Dokla. That's kind of his nickname. In fact, Blabber's known to be a bit of a joker, so I don't know even though why I said that. It just sounds good. It's just fun to say those words. T1's waiting in the finals versus whoever manages to win in the lower bracket. [00:47:45] Speaker B: He's prepping for worlds. [00:47:47] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. TL Team Liquid. I got Lion 3 2, defending and sweeping the region. The first time any team would have ever done it since moving to three splits in North America. I know it's only two years we've had it and technically not even three splits, but three titles you can win. This would be the first time. I think they're good for it. Badger agrees with a 3 1. Bickle agrees with the 32 as well. But mazel. The 1. [00:48:14] Speaker B: Hold on. [00:48:14] Speaker A: I love it, baby. You have TL3 2. Bickle, I'm gonna give it to you first. Here to give the lion side and the Mazel. I'll let you have the TL side. So, Bickle, why does Lion Lyon take the LCS Championship for summer split? [00:48:28] Speaker B: Lion has been the team to beat all year, and I think in summer, they're still catching their groove. And I'm just of the feeling that, okay, it's finals weekend. It's now or never. Like, all the bells and whistles are kind of click and come together and show the team that everyone has seen be dominant across the entire season, Inspired is going to show why he is the best player in this region right now. [00:49:00] Speaker A: Agreed. When the bright lights are on, this team just steps up. I. I'm so impressed with how consistent Saint has been. Even on the bad version of Lion. Last year, he was the bright light of the squad. And yes, he has fun moments. We just saw one last week, but it was when they were already crushing a series. He was like 6, 000 gold up over Zinni, who. He had a great series, by the way. I think that Zinnia actually, maybe not great series, but great, like, last couple of series, if you look at the average. But Saint was so far ahead that, like, it didn't matter that he ended like, when it matters. I don't see Saint Intein inspired. We know what he's capable of. Berserk. We know what you're capable of. And Isles and Dokla really leveled up. So, like, this team, in my opinion, opinion is the team. [00:49:45] Speaker B: And it's. It's a minor thing. 14. Liquid quid has never been good in the bright lights. Oh, he's always had his roughest showings on the biggest stages. Like looking back at World's play ins when he had possibly his worst professional series and led to them getting eliminated by R7. Yeah, by R7. I think that was a 07 Vex game or something like that. [00:50:17] Speaker A: Don't remind me. Yep. Sometimes he does not step up to the plate. But I will say, after what I saw from Morgan versus Thanatos, that's a big reason why I have it going five games. I think that top lane is going to be fantastic for Team Liquid. Jose, out of every jungler in NA is has the best read of inspired. And you just can't doubt core JJ when it comes to best of fives on stage. So I think it's full five games. Mizel, you have it. Full five games with Team Liquid taking it. I love first of all, that we have some disagreement on that because it just makes it more exciting. But why do you favor TL in the matchup? [00:50:54] Speaker C: I just think Spawn's got this team working really well together right now, and I think that it's going to be enough to get them over the hump. Yeah, I think Morgan's gonna have a really good series against Dogle, even though I don't really believe in Morgan that much. [00:51:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I think you were a big Morgan doubter. Have you changed your opinion or do you just think our top laners aren't as good? [00:51:14] Speaker C: Yeah, like, I'm still. I still wish it was somebody else. But hey, he's been in. He has a lot of experience. He's been playing the game for a long time. So if he wasn't doing good, I think that'd be even worse. [00:51:27] Speaker A: Right, Right. [00:51:29] Speaker C: But I think that Spawn just has a way of building up to these moments. So I'm going to agree. [00:51:37] Speaker A: Okay. Well, there you have it, everybody. That is our opinions of the LCS finals weekend. Let us know if you agree, if you disagree, which side you are rooting for. Because no matter who takes it, even C9 making it to finals, and even if C9 take it, I'm still confident in any one of these three teams. Teams to make it out of plans. I. I actually legitimately am. Like any of them in third place will at least give Casey a lot of competition, if not just be able to beat them out. Right. We saw what Team liquid did to KC just at MSI. [00:52:09] Speaker B: Lion, I think are the favorites versus Casey C9 Casey. It's interesting. [00:52:14] Speaker A: I'd say that that is the one that I'm a little shaky on. [00:52:18] Speaker B: I think I go Casey there personally. [00:52:22] Speaker A: Okay. But it. It will at least be competitive, right? Or do you think that? [00:52:26] Speaker B: Oh, no, I think it's competitive. [00:52:28] Speaker A: There we go. As long as it's competitive, I'm happy. I would love to keep the winning streak against Europe alive, but at the very least, give us good games in the play ins. Okay. And with that said, that's it for this week's episode. There's nothing to be done but the games. Again, I will be there in Atlanta, Georgia. I am casting on Saturday, so I get the lower bracket finals. [00:52:52] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:52:53] Speaker A: Thank you. Very, very happy. It's been a crazy year for. I. I don't know, I don't think I really talked about the podcast, if you don't follow my socials. Had a tough loss in the family earlier this year. Had a lot of motivation going towards casting up until that and then kind of derailed me for a few months. But I like to think I was kind of able to get it back on tracks and at least get this finals weekend. I'm gonna get everything I have and then Sunday is going to be me on the death desk and you'll get the classic flowers in the finals cast. So again, say hi if you're there. Cheer on if you're not from home. And most importantly, actually, wait, no, before that, we got to do the five star thing. Damn it, Pickle. Save. Save this for me. [00:53:41] Speaker B: Something, something. Jaden Daniels, five stars. [00:53:44] Speaker A: Yeah, if you could leave us a five star review again. I don't know this reference. This is like the fifth time that this reference has been made. I got to learn what this thing is. Anyway, if you could leave a review, it does help us get noticed more and grow the podcast. But again, if there's one thing you can take away from this episode, it's that we love you and we'll see you next time. Bye bye, everybody. [00:54:04] Speaker C: Peace. [00:54:06] Speaker A: Oh, yes, Daddy.