T1 regains its form, G2 makes a statement, FlyQuest becomes LCS dark horse: The fight for MSI is closer than ever

While teams’ power levels are usually clearer the closer we get to the mid-way point of the League of Legends season, this year things seem to be way harder to predict.

The LCK is no longer just about Gen.G dominating domestically, and four-way fights are popping up nearly across every region. With only two spots for each league at MSI, the race for a ticket to Daejeon, South Korea, is still wide open.

For T1, the win against Gen.G is more than just a W on the scoreboard. Throughout the past years, Gen.G has often prevailed over T1 in the LCK, making the current world champions look like the #2 team. 

This time, however, T1 showed up strong and made a comeback after dropping the first game of the best-of-three series. The main highlight of the series is none other than T1’s bot lane, which has struggled to find success in the past weeks. 

Their comeback can be mainly attributed to two reasons: the recent meta change that brought back the rise of the dragon-stacking strategy, as well as the glow-up from T1’s players, namely Peyz and Doran. 

The top laner has been able to withstand the pressure by going back to his comfortable weak side picks while also occasionally winning counter matchups when required. Peyz, on the other hand, seems to have found his footing as the main carry on the team, topping the damage per minute charts, according to data site Games of Legends.

“Peyz is not a passenger. Peyz is driving the bus. T1 once again showed insane resilience in an incredibly high-stakes match,” said LCK caster Wolf in a post on X. “One of the best comebacks I can remember. The Camille draft in Game 3 was risky, but the execution of the duo was crisp.”

For Gen.G, the concern is more direct. Their bot lane has looked somewhat off as of late, becoming the squad’s weak link. In a meta where the bot lane is a key element to how a team executes the early-mid game, Gen.G is looking way more vulnerable compared to previous seasons. 

Speaking of the top teams, KT Rolster’s recent win against the first-place team Hanwha Life Esports has made the fight for the top playoffs spot all the more closer. HLE is still first with a 12-2 record, but KT Rolster is one victory away, and both T1 and Gen.G are lurking behind them. And with Dplus Kia also in the picture, the fight is on.

On paper, however, HLE still look like the team with the highest ceiling. Whenever they are able to plan on their terms, this team looks the strongest. The issue is composure: they enjoy playing on the edge, a common pattern seen by teams led by jungler Kanavi.

KT recognized this and prepared accordingly.

“KT did very well to track Kanavi around the map,” said a user on Reddit. “The mistake a lot of teams have been making is letting Kanavi run rampant around the enemy jungle and getting ridiculous gank angles. If Kanavi is behind, a lot of HLE’s firepower disappears very quickly.”

While it’s only one series and HLE has shown its ability to adapt, the fight for the Road to MSI is set to be one to remember.

Among the top regions, the LPL is probably the one where the playing field looks a bit clearer, as Bilibili Gaming has quietly sent another warning to the rest of the world. 

The 2026 First Stand champions finished the regular season with a 12-2 record and an impressive 75% win rate, making them once again the clear split favorites and the best candidate to represent China at MSI.

The record is only one part of the story. BLG had some hiccups mid-way through the split but it was clear that the team was just doing some testing by giving themselves uncomfortable drafts. When you get to the point when you allow yourself to train on stage, you know there is a fair bit of confidence to succeed when it matters the most.

The main protagonist of BLG’s regular season run is mid laner Knight: he achieved an average of 7 kills per game, the highest in the LPL over the past 12 years and the third highest in LPL history.

The question now is shifting to who will be joining BLG at MSI? On paper, it looks like it will be a three-way fight between Top Esports, Anyone’s Legend, and JD Gaming, but don’t count on dark horses like Weibo Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas, who have shown the ability to take wins in the most unexpected fashion.

Even though the LEC took a week break after the road trip event in Madrid, the EU teams were still busy with the Esports World Cup qualifier.

In the end, it was G2 Esports and Karmine Corp who took the two slots. While the result itself isn’t particularly surprising, G2 took a clean 3-0 victory over KC, giving fans a first taste of what could happen in the LEC Spring Playoffs.

Once again, it looks like G2 has found that extra step in their gameplay, as happened in the LEC Versus playoffs, which led them to win the tournament and fly to Brazil for First Stand. For KC, the recent trend in performance seems to be a bit worrying: top laner Canna has not been able to create the same overwhelming lane differences as he used to, and KC’s teamfighting also looked more disjointed as of late.

A Reddit user said: “I’m saying since the beginning of the competitive year, KC are all hands no macro. They win solely on hands diffing in teamfight.” 

While KC is still one of the top EU teams, the recent struggles could severely harm the team’s chances of qualifying for MSI, especially considering how Team Vitality performed during the regular split. 

The LCS may not get as much attention as other leagues, but its playoffs got all the more interesting thanks to FlyQuest.

The team beat LYON in the last match of the regular season, finishing fourth with a 4-3 series record and showing steady improvement since the start of the year. FlyQuest has also started using unconventional picks, like Nasus in jungle, to disrupt the meta.

And even if FlyQuest doesn’t make it to MSI, there is still a major incentive to get into the top three since it would guarantee a funded bootcamp in South Korea, alongside all other MSI squads.

With no official matches and worries of potentially leaking strategies, FLY could become the perfect sparring partner for the top teams, further accelerating their development.