Every year during the LPL playoffs finals, a "celebrity exhibition match" is held to warm up for the main event. This year, four "surprise guests" have drawn massive attention and discussion from viewers: they are Crisp, Clarence Williams, ShowMaker, and Lin Weixiang. After seeing this guest lineup, many viewers joked that the LPL organizers really know how to attract traffic, especially since Crisp and Lin Weixiang have a special fanbase of CP followers. Many fans are looking forward to seeing Crisp and LWX play together on stage again.

And ShowMakerneeds no further introduction. A few days ago, he was reverse-swept by KT and missed out on MSI. Now, just after today, the LPL has announced that ShowMaker will participate in the LPL exhibition match—it seems ShowMaker really loves the LPL audience. Of course, many viewers also joked that such a star-studded lineup is thanks to "Brother Bin's contribution," since a few days ago some fans complained that the LPL playoff guest list was too "low-tier," but after Bin was fined 150,000 RMB, the guest lineup gradually improved.

Of course, some viewers also feel regret about this lineup. Not long ago, former IG top laner TheShy came to the LPL for a show, and many fans hoped he would return to play in the LPL, even if only as an exhibition match guest. However, to the disappointment of fans, TheShy only recorded some promotional videos and then left the LPL. (Ning revealed in a stream that TheShy no longer plays League of Legends and won't return to the LPL in the future. It seems TheShy may really be fading out of sight for LPL viewers.)

World champion team reportedly in talks with a new Korean import.

After EDG beat NIP on the LPL Knight's Path and qualified for the LPL playoffs, many viewers expected them to perform as a dark horse and prove the "legacy of a world championship club." However, as the LPL playoffs progressed, EDG set the most embarrassing record in LPL history: they played six matches in the playoffs and didn't win a single small game, getting crushed and dominated in every one of them.

Because EDG's playoff performance was so absurd, many LPL fans are looking forward to seeing them fail in the third split, even predicting that EDG might surpass WE to become the first team to go 0-14 in the regular season. Due to their poor playoff showing, EDG's management has directly signed multiple "Korean import" players during the transfer window. According to insider reports, EDG's original mid laner Angel has been released, and Korean import mid laner Bulldog (formerly of LNG) has joined.

Angel joined EDG in 2024, but during his tenure, EDG's results were consistently poor—they couldn't even make it past the second round of the playoffs. As a result, EDG decisively "benched Angel" this season, letting their second-team rookie mid laner start on the Knight's Path. Unexpectedly, EDG managed to pull off an upset and qualify. So it makes sense that EDG's management gave up on Angel. However, EDG apparently doesn't intend to continue developing rookies, so they bought LNG's mid laner Bulldog instead. (Word is that after LNG lost to WE, LNG's management was furious and fired all their Korean imports and coaching staff. It remains to be seen whether LNG's other Korean imports will stay in the LPL.)