TheShy has been revealed to be "suspended."

This year, the LPL has successfully implemented Riot's newest transfer rules, mandating that every player must take part in the LPL transfer auction. Players who skip the auction face suspension from the league. To avoid this penalty, many players have renewed their contracts early with their former teams. For example, WBG's top laner Huxi and jungler Xiaotian both renewed early to avoid entering the auction pool. These players who renew early typically give up starting in the first split and prepare to return in the second split by joining other teams.

Support player Meiko's contract renewal with IG falls into this category, as Meiko himself revealed during a livestream that he plans to rest during the first split. Many fans believe that Meiko is unlikely to compete for IG next year. When IG announced the renewals of mid laner Rookie and jungler Wei, they clearly stated the contract expiration dates. However, when announcing Meiko's renewal, no specific contract end date was mentioned. (Rookie renewed with IG until 2027, Wei until 2026)

Recently, insiders revealed that IG's top laner TheShy did not participate in the auction this transfer period, nor did he renew his contract with IG. This means TheShy will be directly suspended by the LPL for two splits in the new season. This situation has caused dissatisfaction among many IG fans, with some even calling on the LPL to revise the transfer rules to prevent TheShy's suspension. After all, TheShy currently draws most of the viewership for LPL matches, and if he is suspended, the new season could suffer a major decline in popularity.

Many viewers speculated that TheShy is unlikely to return to competition next year after hearing about his suspension. On a brighter note, IG recently received good news: Rookie's close friend, jungler Kakao, has successfully joined IG. Kakao previously helped BLG jungler Shadow and Beichuan improve significantly, and many fans hope Kakao can similarly help jungler Wei develop. (Do you think Kakao can boost IG’s performance as a coach?)

Little Lu Bu triumphs over T1 with a successful revenge.

Since HLE signed jungler Kanavi and AD carry Little Lu Bu, many League of Legends fans have been eager to see HLE’s performance. Recently, during the LCK’s K Cup matches, HLE defeated T1 2-1 to advance to the next round. This victory led many Little Lu Bu fans to celebrate, especially since T1’s management refused to renew his contract due to his high price. Now, Little Lu Bu has proven through his skill that being expensive has its advantages.

However, some LCK fans criticized HLE jungler Kanavi and T1’s AD carry P, claiming that their skills have declined significantly after spending time in the LPL. Kanavi brought the "super aggressive" style from LPL to HLE but often got overly aggressive and was quickly focused down in fights. Particularly in the second game, despite having a huge lead with Wukong, Kanavi’s teamfighting was ineffective. Many viewers believe that unless Kanavi changes, he will remain HLE’s biggest weakness.

Conclusion

T1 often makes mistakes during the regular season, but they always improve and become stronger in the World Championship. So, losing to HLE isn't a big deal, especially since T1 has won three consecutive world titles. However, T1 hasn’t won many domestic championships in recent years. Do you think HLE can become the dominant LCK team this year?