MSI 2026 LCP Spotlight — TSW & DCG: One Untouched, One Unleashed
For MSI 2026, the LCP is sending two of the most exciting teams in the world: Team Secret Whales (TSW), a team we briefly saw at First Stand, and Relove Deep Cross Gaming (DCG), a team known for unrelenting aggression that will be making their international debut.
TSW are looking to follow in the footsteps of , who dominated domestically and shocked the international scene with repetitive upsets and incredible heights. Most notably, the peaks were at , where they achieved and to secure a Quarter Final appearance. It was the first for the region since 's and 's in 2015, ending a ten-year drought for APAC.
TSW will arrive at MSI in good form, having dominated the region with an impressive undefeated split and a perfect record (10-0 in series). While games and series could be competitive, they were often playing around with their food. They ranked first regionally for Gold Difference @15 with +1066. They also recorded the highest kills per team at 19.2, a significant gap to the second highest. Their core gameplay revolves around stacking dragons and forcing teams into fights within the river, so it is no shock they also rank first with 2.8 dragons per game.
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Note: TSW had already qualified prior to the playoffs due to the LCP using a unique championship points system.
DCG, on the other hand, had to fight for a few grueling weeks to make it to MSI. On paper, they placed second in Splits 1 and 2, which might suggest they are consistently the second best, but this is not true. In the Split 2 regular season, DCG started with a record of 1-4 and only scraped into the playoffs in the final weeks at 3-4. Expectations were low for DCG in the playoffs. However, they picked up the pace and found their footing for a successful run to the Grand Finals with a huge upset over SHG in a 3-0, before taking down GAM twice. Despite falling two times to TSW, they indubitably proved themselves as the LCP's second best team.
Team Secret Whales — Young Kings
The first seed from the LCP are made up of the same faces we saw at First Stand. They have no discernible weak spots in domestic play. They even completed the fabled five-player All-Pro selection while winning the split, an incredible achievement while also overcoming one of the strongest curses in LoLEsports.
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At First Stand, the hero was Nguyễn "Pun" Đăng Kho, who showed great skill against G2 and BFX, announcing himself on the international stage as a player who can pick carries and dominate his lane. Returning to the LCP, Pun took it upon himself to continue innovating, constantly pushing to pick new champions and expand his pool. For a "fearless" BO5 (best-of-five), this man is the ultimate wildcard and a huge problem for the opposition to solve.
The true carry of TSW is Lê "Hizto" Văn Hoàng Hải, the unanimous regular season MVP, Finals MVP, and the clear best player in the region. Going into MSI 2026, he will be the youngest starter amongst the youngest team, but do not let age deceive you, he is a leader of this team. He is an aggressive jungler who sticks mostly to meta champions and is a skirmish-heavy player who dominated regionally, ranking first in almost every stat.
His incredible synergy with Trần "Dire" Duy Đức makes them an impressive duo that always look to start fights together. Watch out for their flanks in the jungle; this is a team that utilizes vision and darkness very well to find the perfect angle to pull the trigger.
The rise of Hizto has been remarkable, and in hindsight the world may have missed out on the most obvious torch handover of all time. Last year, Hizto and TSW couldn't succeed in the playoffs, always choking, until in Split 3 they pulled off a huge surprise, 3-0'ing GAM to secure their spot at the World Championship. This series ultimately was the final series that legendary Vietnamese jungler Levi would play. It was also the day that Hizto finally made an international event and could place his steps on building a legacy. It will take a lot of titles and years for Hizto to even be comparable to Levi, but it's undeniable that he does look the spitting image of that young, exciting Levi we saw shock the world in 2017 on his Nocturne against Fnatic.
Photo Credit: Riot Games
The supporting cast of Dire, Hoàng "Eddie" Công Nghĩa, and Trần "Bie" Đức Hiếu are no slouches either. Eddie had an incredible Spring Split, recording an impressive 65.0 RFT 1.0 score, the highest in the LCP. He also led the league among all players with 859 DPM. It's noteworthy he placed second in the MVP race even with Hizto on his team. A large reason for his improvement from Split 1 was the meta shifting to ranged supports, which allowed TSW to play much stronger lanes and flex their 2v2 skills. (Game 3 vs CFO)
Bie is another innovator on the team. He is a player who loves to play on the boundaries of the meta, comparable to players like ON or Keria in this facet, always looking to find the next spicy pick. It could be Skarner, LeBlanc, or Camille, but you can trust Bie to play it.
Team Secret Whales are a very aggressive team who can run away with games against anyone, but could also throw away unassailable leads against anyone too. Because of this lack of a killer instinct to see games off cleanly, I find it difficult to see them defeating any top teams in a BO5. That said, CFO last year would always rise to the occasion, and maybe TSW can do exactly that this MSI.
Deep Cross Gaming The Chaos Engine
DCGstep onto the international scene for the first time, yet for many fans, this feels like an overdue moment. Back in 2024, during the PCS Summer Split, DCG were the most exciting team and looked like real challengers to the regional kings, PSG. Dramatically, the team collapsed in the playoffs, missing out on Worlds, and even worse, they were excluded from the LCP merger for 2025.
This left them fighting through Tier 2 in 2025 and having to claim their LCP spot in the Promotion-Relegation event, where they defeated the Chiefs (o7 OCE). The journey to get here has been long and hard. The two players who have been there for all of it are Wu "Pop9" Yi-Han and Chen "Feng" Chun-Feng, the duo remaining from the 2024 roster, while the newer members of Lo "Flauren" Chak Kin, Guo "HongSuo" Bei-Yi, and Liu "ShiauC" Chia-Hao all joined in 2025 for the Tier 2 run.
Putting the "DEEP" in Deep Cross Gaming
DCG stand as one of the most aggressive teams at MSI. They constantly seek out skirmishes and fights, which are often enabled by drafting tools combined with Pop9's unwavering desire for blood. Proof of this can be seen with them having the fastest average game time (30:54) within the LCP and one of the fastest globally. Win or lose, DCG will push the pace! Combined with Riot's efforts to restore melee supports to the meta, we will likely see players like ShiauC and Delight return to their best form and serve as the real difference makers in their games.
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The solo laners for DCG, Flauren and HongSuo, are Tier 1 rookies who do not play like beginners. They are very well rounded and provide the team with two strong pillars to play around. Notably, Flauren, who is dubbed Hong Kong Zeus by fans, really stepped up in the playoffs and will be hungry to fight the other Play-In toplaners. He is almost a unicorn because he is a toplaner who can play carries, tanks, or even the recent meta-breaking ranged champions.
Despite the variation in champions, he still ranked second in DPM, showing his aggression, but also third in kill participation, proving that he's always there to contribute to his team's plays. He is remarkable, and it is very possible that he could be the best toplaner within the LCP for Split 3.
Photo Credit: Riot Games
While DCG are primarily a hands-first team that relies less on macro, watch out for them overloading whatever side lane Flauren is on and utilizing a strong core of mid, jungle, and support to make picks in the early to mid game. I do not expect much from this team and feel they will not stack up well individually against T1 and KC, but their early game chaos and aggression could definitely take a game off the slower paced teams like KC and TL.
