Introduction: The S15 season has completely wrapped up, and it's believed that the majority of players have been paying attention to the recent offseason period. The LPL region's overall popularity and excitement have declined rapidly. The official All-Star award event attracted minimal player interest, yet once the yearly lineup was revealed, it triggered intense debate among fans online. Especially notable was the inclusion of mid laner Knight, since their team only reached the top 16 in the World Championship. In terms of achievements, Knight represents the LPL's third split champion, while TES's Xiaocaibao and AL's Chasy also won championships, with better Worlds results than LeftHand.

LPL's Best Mid Laner Award Sparks Controversy

Most players still pay close attention to the LPL region. As a formerly top-tier global league, LPL's performance has declined sharply in recent years. This season, they didn't even reach the finals; TES was eliminated after making the semifinals, recreating an LCK final scenario. Many expected LPL teams to reduce spending during the transfer window, but top teams still acquired many star players, forming "super teams." Currently, WBG and BLG are the hottest teams—one boasting a star-studded lineup, the other a top-tier all-Chinese roster. These two squads are likely to battle for the LPL championship.

As the transfer window nears its end, the LPL All-Star event has become a hot topic among players, though its attention level isn't very high this season, partly because some star players didn't participate. The awards ceremony went smoothly overall, with fans approving of individual and coaching awards. However, the announcement of the LPL annual roster stirred massive debate online. The best five included top laner Saint, jungler Tarzan, mid laner Knight, AD carry AShu, and support Kael. The most controversial pick was Knight, whose voting and Worlds performance were not particularly outstanding.

The only justification seems to be that BLG won the third split championship, and Knight ranked very high in that split. But if that’s the case, AL and TES also have LPL titles from the first and second splits. Notably, AL reached the finals in all three splits. Hence, many fans feel the best mid laner award should have gone to Chasy. After all, on the Worlds stage, he pushed Faker to a fifth game before losing. The reason LeftHand was chosen likely comes down to the heavy weighting of third split results.

Currently, many LPL fans harbor resentment toward BLG, possibly due to their aggressive marketing and lack of strong results over several years. The closest they came to a Worlds title was last season, but this time they fell at the top 16 stage, despite a perfect Swiss group draw, losing repeatedly to European and North American teams. For S16, BLG has assembled a super star-studded lineup, arguably a new all-star team. Each player’s price seems very high. With Xun’s return, will their synergy improve?

Farewell Thoughts

It seems acceptable for the Best Mid Laner award to go to either Chasy or Knight. Perhaps fans are frustrated with LeftHand’s results; every time he reaches Worlds, he underperforms. Once or twice is understandable, but repeated failures are hard to accept. This is similar to LCK’s top mid laner Chovy, who dominates domestically but struggles internationally, with his best Worlds finish being the semifinals.

What do you all think about this matter?