Introduction: The S15 season has officially kicked off, and most players have been paying close attention to the recent clashes. The World Championship has been fiercely competitive, and now that the top eight teams are set, the draw for groups has captured the entire community’s focus. Zzitai, as the final guest for the draw, was introduced by the organizers as a legendary player, a title that many fans strongly disagreed with. After the draw concluded, he truly became a legend, with "baba C" now officially recognized by the organizers. The scene of the entire G2 team laughing backstage reminded everyone of the old RNG team; such genuine backstage reactions are rare to see. Upon seeing the draw results, LCK commentators reacted with screams of disbelief.

G2 team laughing hysterically backstage

The majority of players are highly invested in this World Championship. After the Swiss stage ended, the eight quarterfinal teams have been finalized: AL, KT, GEN, HLE, G2, T1, TES, and CFO. Among them, LPL has two teams, LCK has four, Europe one, and the Pacific region one. The final eight differ somewhat from prior expectations. It is widely accepted that all four LCK teams advanced, but the elimination of the LPL’s first and fourth seeds was difficult for many fans to accept.

The last guest for the draw was the well-known Zzitai. Although his professional career was not particularly outstanding, after retiring and becoming a streamer, his popularity soared, even becoming a signature figure in the LPL. Regardless of the event, he always appears. When host Yusang introduced him as an LPL legendary pro player, many fans disagreed, as Zzitai’s results were average despite playing for IG and RNG. However, after the draw ended, everyone was calling him "God Zzitai," and "baba C" was definitely justified.

Looking at the quarterfinal matchups, the upper bracket features AL vs T1 and G2 vs TES. During the draw, the camera showed G2’s team room, where all the players were laughing heartily, indicating their satisfaction with the draw. This scene reminded many players of the S8 World Championship when RNG laughed after drawing G2, only to be ruthlessly crushed by G2 in the knockout stage. For G2 players, it seems any draw without an LCK team is considered favorable.

The lower bracket has GEN vs HLE and CFO vs KT. This could be considered the best possible quarterfinal draw. The LPL teams face the 4th seed from LCK, while the other team faces a relatively weaker European or American team. Both teams are in the same half, meaning if they win the first round, LPL has likely secured a finals spot early. Meanwhile, the LCK’s 1st and 2nd seeds face off directly in the opening round, ensuring one strong team will be eliminated immediately. Judging by the Swiss stage form, GEN is far ahead and will probably advance to the finals from the bottom half without much trouble.

Goodbye, Yiren

It was unexpected that G2 also recreated the RNG backstage laughter scene. This quarterfinal is quite daunting for the LPL side, especially since the upper bracket includes T1, not KT. If it were KT, LPL might have had a chance to reach the finals after two rounds, but T1 possesses World Championship magic. Their mid laner Faker always manages to turn the tide, especially in knockout stages. Now it’s up to AL to see if they can become Korean slayers.

What do all of you viewers think about this situation?