With only three days until the 2026 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational, prominent European broadcaster Caedrel has shared his tier list for MSI teams. In his view, the only serious championship favorites are HLE, BLG, and T1. HLE’s power level is a bit higher than BLG's right now because Viper is still adjusting and comes across as a "passenger" who hasn't completely blended into the team.

Caedrel reckons G2 and TES are unlikely to win MSI but stand above the rest of the field. He placed TES behind G2 because he remains skeptical about TES. Certain player IDs make him question their international performance. Even a foreign streamer adopts a "doubt first, then trust" attitude toward TES, proving that the team never fails to disappoint when it comes to disappointing.

Wayward Summoned for an Official League Talk

Former TES top laner Wayward was recently summoned and warned by the League's official authorities. The reason: during a live stream a few days ago, after watching a CSGO match, he commented that the Major is the world's number one tournament, essentially saying the LOL World Championship is only second best. Many viewers saw this as biting the hand that feeds him. As the controversy grew, the LPL stepped in, forcing Wayward to stop streaming and undergo education.

It's truly unusual for an LOL streamer to praise another game and belittle his own "rice bowl." Maybe because his streaming career has seen some success in the last two years, Wayward has gotten a bit cocky. His emotional intelligence seems even lower than Qingtian's. If he makes similar remarks again, he will definitely lose his co-streaming privileges. Without event traffic, he would become just a nobody streamer. Ironically, someone like Bin actually deserves a fine more than Wayward.

NIP Top Laner Hoya Transfers to EDG

Player transfers during the LPL's second split window are still ongoing. Beichuan's agent recently posted that there is a 90% chance Hoya will join EDG. Earlier, Lianlian Hongcha also reported that a team which dropped from the Summit tier to the Nirvana tier was being poached hard and would be forced to go into "tanking mode" in the third split. Back then, we speculated that NIP players would be targeted. With Hoya leaving, NIP will likely have multiple positions wide open.

If Hoya joins EDG, ZDZ is in trouble. He worked hard to lead the team into the Summit group, only to be kicked out right after. Looking at his playoff performance, Zhu Dezheng did slow the team down a bit. But EDG is also pretty unlucky. After losing to AL and dropping to the loser's bracket, they ran into a BLG team that needed to vent. EDG lost both Bo5 series without winning a single game and was eliminated. If they had faced any other team, they might have put up more of a fight.

ShowMaker: "I'm So Happy When Old K'Sante Gets Nerfed"

LPL official caster Guan Zeyuan recently shared a clip of ShowMaker chatting with Flandre during his visit to the LPL. The three talked about many things, but the most interesting part was ShowMaker's two iconic speeches. When discussing K'Sante, ShowMaker emphasized again: "I personally hate this champion so much. Every time he gets nerfed, I feel really happy. The current K'Sante is mediocre—I'm very satisfied."

ShowMaker himself thinks his influence on K'Sante's nerfs is as little as 1%, but personally I think he's underestimating his impact. That said, when K'Sante first launched, he was absurdly powerful. In teamfights, he just charged straight at the carries. Even an ADC like Xayah with a self-peel ultimate couldn't survive. His tankiness surpassed conventional tanks, and his damage output exceeded that of most bruisers. The game was unplayable without nerfs.

Conclusion:

When it comes to MSI team strength, HLE really seems to be in a league of their own. Gumayusi hadn't fully gelled with the team before, but he has regained his form in the second split. As for BLG, Viper hasn't fully adapted yet and is in a bit of a slump. The bot lane might be a potential weakness. If Viper continues to perform like he did in the playoffs, it will be tough for BLG to win the championship.

So, what do you think—what's the win ratio between BLG and HLE?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!