In light of the LPL’s feedback, Phreak has teased a series of modifications and enhancements for the camp, aiming to elevate its significance particularly in higher rank of gameplay.

Originally introduced in Season 14, the Voidgrub camp served as a miniature objective, predominantly impacting the top lane dynamics. These camps spawned in groups of three, offering players not only gold but also the coveted Touch of the Void buff upon their death.

This buff, known for its ability to grant bonus true damage upon turrets for the entire team, initially positioned Voidgrubs as valuable assets during the early stages of the game.

However, recent observations from the LPL have underscored a perceived lack of efficacy in the Voidgrub’s influence, with many teams opting to bypass the camp entirely in favor of pursuing dragons. Acknowledging this trend, Phreak has acknowledged that the camp currently suffers from being under-tuned, which has contributed to its diminished relevance as an objective.

In response to these concerns, Phreak has revealed plans to buff the camp’s impact by augmenting the potency of the Touch of the Void buff, particularly in its interaction with turret damage. This strategic adjustment aims to imbue the camp with renewed significance, potentially entailing adjustments to Voidmite spawns or the criteria for triggering their appearance.

Additionally, Phreak has hinted at altering the respawn timer for Voidgrubs, thereby mitigating the need for players to prioritize between competing objectives.

These adjustments, slated to be integrated into Patch 14.8, signify an effort by Riot Games to revitalize the role of the Voidgrub camp within the League of Legends meta, fostering greater diversity and strategic depth in gameplay dynamics.

Faker reached 3000 kills and 600 wins

However, this week, the legendary player added two more to his cap, further solidifying his legendary status. The League of Legends community has been abuzz with excitement as Faker reached a monumental milestone: 3000 kills in the fiercely competitive LCK.

This extraordinary feat transpired during a riveting showdown against BRO Gideon, propelling Faker into a league of his own as the first LCK player to achieve this remarkable benchmark. It’s a testament to his enduring prowess and longevity in the league, spanning an impressive 11-year tenure.

Faker’s ascent to the pinnacle of LCK’s kill charts mirrors the achievements of his counterparts in the LPL. Prior to his milestone, players like Rookie and Xiaohu had already etched their names in the record books by surpassing the 3000-kill mark in the LPL.

However, his achievement signifies his indomitable presence and dominance within the LCK, where he has continually reigned supreme.

His consistent displays of excellence, coupled with his strategic acumen and relentless pursuit of victory, have endeared him to fans worldwide. With each kill, Faker cements his legacy as an icon of the game.

Moreover, his milestone extends beyond mere kill counts. His 600th overall victory, secured against DRX, exemplifies his unrivaled dominance in the league. Surpassing competitors like KT Rolster’s esteemed ADC and former world champion, Deft, by over 150 wins underscores Faker’s unparalleled longevity and success since his debut in 2013.

Remarkably, these victories only scratch the surface of his illustrious career, which boasts countless triumphs on the international stage. In the eyes of many, Faker stands as the undisputed pinnacle of League of Legends mastery.

This contract type is common in sports, particularly for veteran players, mitigating issues such as injuries or waning motivation that may arise during the contract period.

Faker talked about T1 and rumors about LPL contract

When Faker’s contract nears expiration, the LPL has historically shown great interest. His renown and influence could undoubtedly elevate the LPL, but the challenge lies in identifying a team capable of affording him.

This task is complicated given the T1 mid laner’s high salary and numerous advertising contracts. However, reports suggest that certain LPL teams have offered contracts surpassing those of many athletes in traditional sports.

Faker recently addressed these rumors on the You Quiz On The Block program, he admitted:

“My goal has always been continuous learning and titles, not money and fame. Not to mention that T1 treats me very well, I’m pretty good here so I don’t think there’s any reason to leave. As for that (it was reported that LPL offered Faker a contract of up to 24 billion won), the actual number is not like that, there will be a difference and it is just speculation.”

He acknowledges that his primary focus is on learning and achieving titles, not financial gain or fame. He emphasized T1’s excellent treatment and his satisfaction with the team, stating there’s no reason to leave. Regarding reported LPL contract offers, he clarified that the actual figures differ, and such claims are speculative.

Furthermore, Faker disclosed that T1’s prize money for winning the Worlds 2023 championship is approximately 1 billion won (around $770,000). This significant amount serves as a motivating factor, especially after a challenging year filled with ups and downs.

With the incentives provided by T1 and the opportunity to contend for titles alongside his young, promising teammates, it appears highly unlikely that Faker would consider moving to another team, let alone a different region. This underscores the increasing focus on Esports players, contributing to the development of aspiring young players in the industry.

The top 10 players selected include Uzi, Clearlove, Doinb, Scout, Rookie, Xiaohu, Ming, TheShy, JackeyLove, and Meiko. These are all legendary names in the LPL and the League of Legends community.

Notably, except for Uzi, Xiaohu, Clearlove, and Ming, all the other players on the list have previously won the League of Legends World Championship. Furthermore, Uzi, with his established reputation and influence in LPL, also received a Prestige skin. Of course, these skins are exclusively available on the LPL server.

However, Doinb, one of the top 10 players who got voted, had surprising comments about the commemorative skins by the LPL and Tencent. According to Doinb, he had no prior knowledge that he would receive a skin.

Doinb stated: “I had absolutely no idea about having a ‘Top 10 players of LPL’ commemorative skin until I woke up. They never asked us which champion we wanted. Are you even asking if we get a share of the profits from the skin?

Doinb’s statement caught the League of Legends community off guard. Prior to this, many opinions suggested that the skins looked no different from the multiple chromas of the World Championship skins.

Aside from a few players who didn’t have World Championship skins, quite a few fans believe that the LPL and Tencent simply took the World Championship skins, made some minor adjustments to color and design, and presented them as commemorative skins.

Among these players, Doinb seems to be the most frustrated. His FPX Malphite skin has consistently been considered one of the worst World Championship skins in the history of the tournament, and this skin itself is not very popular.

Moreover, Doinb’s said that players were not informed about the “Top 10 players of LPL” commemorative skins can also be interpreted as players might not receive any profit from the LPL or Tencent for these skins. If this is indeed the case, it’s clear that Tencent and the LPL are monetizing the players’ reputations without considering their opinions.

Yuumi has been a nightmare to balance ever since she was selected for the pro play meta. Fortunately, her midscope update arrived just in time for her to be disabled during MSI. Nonetheless, the mid-scope update maintained the key source of contention in the form of her ability to bond to teammates and become untargetable.

Furthermore, Yuumi’s E being transformed to a shield has only aided Zeri because her passive is dependent on getting shields. Now, the new duo are glued together just like the previous Lucian – Nami duo.

League of Legends Zeri – Yuumi bot lane duo

While the LPL is the only significant area that has begun pro play, they are a good signal of what other regions will do. Bot lane has dominated the meta for a very long time. It is quite usual for teams to prioritise their ADC and support duo in the first pick rotation.

Zeri/Yuumi, like Lucian/Nami before them, has established as a must-have pairing. To make matters worse, Aphelios/Lulu frequently acts as the secondary option, making the meta even more obvious.

The fact that Trinity Force has received some buffs also contributes to Zeri’s bruiser build regaining popularity. In the late game, Zeri’s potent kit of just going in and destroying your opponents with bruiser items isn’t satisfying, and her stat conversion needs to be changed.

Several comments on the Reddit thread advocated for Zeri nerfs or a changed ban mechanism that allows stale champions like her and Yuumi to be banned more frequently, bringing some variation to the meta.

When Yuumi’s revamp was first released, League of Legends players panned it. If her appearance in the LPL is any indication, her failure has spread to pro play now that everyone’s least favourite cat has returned.

While JDG did not win the match, with Weibo winning easily 2-0, it was far from dull, owing to top lane veteran TheShy pulling off one of the most mechanical plays with such a simple champion.

TheShy insane Malphite outplay

On June 1, 2023, TheShy picked up one of the strongest top lane champions in the game right now – Malphite – in the first game between Weibo Gaming and JDG.

We all know Malphite isn’t the most mobile or skillful champion, but seeing this play from TheShy will make you think differently.

In the game, TheShy strolled into JDG’s jungle, directly in front of the opposition team. He then drew them in and then right before JDG Kanavi tried to snare him with Maokai, TheShy uses his ultimate to flee, at the same time carrying Kanavi into the arms of the rest of Weibo for an easy kill.

After Kanavi is killed, 369 attempts to save the battle by using K’Sante’s ult to get into the Weibo backline, but he is also killed. After killing K’Sante, TheShy utilised Malphite’s TP to actually TP a few metres behind enemy lines, flashing over a wall to approach and kill Ruler as well.

All of this happened in a matter of seconds. To be honest, this is Malphite gaming like no other, and only players like TheShy can pull it off.

“He’s the best.”

“That’s the most mobile Malphite you’ve ever seen in your life. ”

Caedrel was co-streaming the game, and he pretty much summed it up best.

League of Legends LPL Pro Uses Emotes for vision controls

The LPL playoffs are nearly finished. JDG and BiliBili Gaming will square off on April 15, 2023 to determine which team will advance to the Bracket Stage and which will play in the Play-In Stage at the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational.

But before BiliBili Gaming and JDG, there was an amazing game between Top Esports and OMG in the second playoff round. OMG won the series 3-2, and one thing most fans noted during the match was jungler Aki’s constant use of emotes.

In the professional scene, information is everything. The outcome of a match can be determined by guessing where the opponent is and what they are doing. OMG jungler Aki is notorious for his aggressive playstyle and unexpected pathing, and his imaginative jungling playstyle was a big part of how OMG made it thus far into the playoffs.

He said that during OMG’s important playoff match versus Top Esports, he utilised emotes to ascertain whether rival top laner Huang ‘Wayward’ Ren-Xing knew he was in the bush.

Basically, Aki knew that Top Esports top laner Huang “Wayward” Ren-Xing is someone who will ’emote back’ and be a bit goofy in the top lane. Aki took use of this information, emoting from the fog of war anytime he was about to gank. If Wayward also displayed an emote back, Aki knew he was being watched.

This was taken up by Reddit, and most fans believe that players in single queue should use this strategy as well. It’s almost an instant-reflect for most people to emote back at someone, so it’s an easy and amusing approach to share some information.

In a League of Legends ranked game that wasn’t going well, Li “Xiahu” Yuan-Hao, the current mid laner for Weibo Gaming in the Chinese LPL, chose to complain about the play of his teammates. He was unaware that one of those friends was Weibo Gaming’s AD carry Wang “Light” Guang-Yu.

LoL pro Xiaohu accidentally flamed his teammate

Xiaohu was struggling to win a ranked League of Legends match. His teammates, including himself, are nearly all gone and the opposing squad is far ahead. Xiaohu loses his composure after being run over and killed by the enemy Olaf.

According to the Twitter post, He bemoans his poor luck with uncooperative teammates and complains that he shouldn’t frequently have to put up with a mediocre team. The middle lane for his team is then criticized by him for not being in the proper position. Then, he accuses his team of sleepwalking, calls them scared dogs, and implores them to give up the game immediately.

In the team’s practice area, Light, who is seated a few feet away from Xiaohu, speaks up and admits that the Aphelios the player was talking about was actually him.

When they are put in the same lobby, Xiaohu instantly sees the humor in the circumstance and jokingly asks Light what he was thinking. He laughs about the fact that Light has been seated still while he loudly criticizes his teammate and his performance.

“This Aphelios was you? Why didn’t you say anything? I didn’t know it was you (laughs awkwardly) Why didn’t you say anything when you queued into me? Ah? What do you mean-”

In the end, neither of them appears to be especially mad. Even though the event is humorous, to both of them and the viewers it just seems like a funny tale.

Although it is still too early to determine the meta of League of Legends tournaments when entering the Spring 2023 period, the community can already guess somewhat from friendly tournaments. The most notable is the Demacia Cup 2022 when the LPL’s mid-range teams show great determination when the big teams have not had time to warm up.

This tournament still lacks many top League players, but it is clear that the quality of expertise is highly appreciated by experts. Ignoring the performances of each team, it can be seen that the number of champions used is still diverse and there have been quite a lot of changes compared to Worlds 2022.

According to Leaguepedia statistics, there have been 92 different champions selected in just 77 games, especially none of them being considered too strong.

The champion with the highest win rate was Syndra with a striking 67.5% pick and ban rate. Syndra has really made a strong comeback thanks to the arrival of new items or Riot’s “mid-patch” at the end of the season. This is the most preferred mid lane champion of the tournament, followed by the return of Ryze, and Akali.

The two champions behind Syndra are K’Sante and Fiora, who actually dominate the top lane when they can confront many champions. Fiora and K’Sante’s win rates are also extremely impressive (69.6% and 62.5%, respectively).

In the bot lane, Varus, Zeri, and Yuumi are also seeing some love from the players. Meanwhile, the duo Lucian and Nami still retained their position in the meta.

The Jungle is the position with the most changes in the League preseason 2023, but unlike solo queues, professional teams still make fairly safe and easy options at this position. Wukong, Sejuani, Vi, Kindred, Lee Sin… being heavily selected suggests teams want strong open positions.

Facing the above situation, the community hopes that the updates at the beginning of League 2023 season will help open the jungle position, creating conditions for new champions to have the opportunity to return as much as other lanes.

If T1 defeats JDG and GenG overcomes both DRX and T1, they will have won the whole thing playing essentially a LCK playoff

Having already eliminated 2021 runner-ups DAMWON Gaming in the quarters, Gen.G is up against LCK 4th seed DRX who eliminated 2021 champions EDward Gaming with the same 3-2 score.

Gen.G had proven to be the undisputed best Korean team this summer season after sweeping T1 3-0 in the LCK Summer playoffs Grand Finals. Now they just have to do it again! T1 is on great form avenging their MSI finals loss against RNG with a 3-0 sweep in the quarters and they could very well eliminate the last standing LPL team JD Gaming to set up an all-Korean Grand Finals.

People were skeptical when Faker gave an interview before Worlds 2022 claiming ‘There isn’t much gap between LPL and LCK this year’. Lots of fans held the opinion that the Chinese would dominate this season. Now we’re looking at 3 LCK teams and only 1 LPL candidate in the top 4.

The unlikely had happened before: EDG famously clinched 2021 title also up against 3 Korean teams. Anything goes on the big stage. Will Gen.G repeat their successful summer run? Will JDG alone triumphs against the might of LCK? Will Faker clinch the coveted 4th Worlds championship? Or will DRX finishes their miraculous run from the play-ins to champions?

Stay tuned as Worlds 2022 semis kick off this weekend October 30-31st!