Quinn on TaiLung after his ban from PGL: “It’s pure nonsense; the guy’s just an idiot—there’s no excuse for it.”

Cap: Here’s another case. I can still understand the situation with DarkMago, given where he was in his career: he probably wouldn’t have risen much higher. Yes, he could have kept playing, winning some “Games of the Future” tournaments with PlayTime, but in five years he would have left the pro scene anyway. But the TaiLung story is just crazy. The guy had an incredibly promising career; he was supposed to go to TI. I was sure that this team was capable of securing a spot in the top 8 or even making it further, taking the South American region to a new level. Plus, Blitz wrote that Liquid was planning to sign TaiLung, which would have meant excellent financial terms. And he turned all of that down—for what?

Sheever: Did you see KJ’s post? He’s absolutely furious. Apparently, he’s the one who leaked this story. I hadn’t thought about it before, but it turns out there’s a whole community on Kick that idolizes the organizers of fixed matches. At 16 or 17, you’re easily swayed by outside influences—maybe it seemed like something daring and defiant to him. But it’s incredibly sad. We haven’t had such a talented young player in a long time.

Quinn: It’s disgusting and utterly stupid. The DarkMago case is a completely different story: there, the person realizes his career is coming to an end and is simply trying to squeeze out the last bit of money. But TaiLung’s actions make no sense even from a financial standpoint—he definitely didn’t earn more from match-fixing than he would have by continuing to compete at the professional level. It’s pure stupidity; the guy is just an idiot—there are no excuses. But the most despicable thing about match-fixing is the sociopathic attitude toward your teammates. You train together, travel to tournaments together, and yet you lie right to their faces, pretending to give your all to the game, when in reality you’re deliberately throwing it. At first, I even felt a little sorry for him because of his age, but the more I think about it, the more I realize: screw him. He not only ruined his own future, but he also let his teammates down.

Quinn: I play against Topson in public matches every day—he’s in great form right now and is constantly pulling off interesting plays.

Insania: I’m a man of my word, so in my predictions, LGD will stay at the bottom of the standings with a 1-4 record alongside Xtreme. And HULIGANI will perform better than Topson at this TI. But seriously, I genuinely believe this substitution has been a boon for the team.

Quinn: I agree—it’s definitely a step up.

Insania: TaiLung was an excellent mid laner, but Topson’s vast experience and his approach to the game can bring out the best in supports in a way that no other player in the world could. If I weren’t sticking to my original prediction, I’d have ranked LGD in the top 8. This roster truly has the potential to go very far if the players find their synergy. It’s an “all or nothing” situation here, but I’m fully open to the idea that they’ll pull it off.

Insania: Does Topson’s playstyle fit with LGD? Yes, because LGD has always been accustomed to allocating maximum resources and space to TaiLung. So they’ll simply let Topson do whatever he sees fit on the map. He’ll be an excellent link between the team and will make the game much easier for Wisper, allowing him to shine even more. Yuma loves to jump into fights, but now he’ll have a player right beside him who creates active plays, so Yuma won’t have to force the action on his own anymore. When one of your carries is aggressively pushing across the map while the other is farming, it creates a great balance—it was precisely this model that brought Team Liquid enormous success in 2024, just as it did during the seasons when zai played for us. If this system works and is executed by top-tier players, it will yield powerful results. South America has never had a mid laner of this caliber or style before.