On September 5, 2026, the inaugural League of Legends Haidou Tournament landed in Qiantan, Shanghai, with the offline finals about to kick off. After nearly two months of national selections across five tracks—public, university, platform, internet cafe, and partner—12 teams emerged from over a million participants to compete for the title of the first Haidou King and vie for a total prize pool of 1.5 million yuan.
After a tough Swiss-stage competition, Team CYLD from the Internet Cafe track successfully advanced to the top four. After the match, we joined other media friends in interviewing them.
Below are the details of the interview:
Q: How do you feel about advancing to the top four? As youDo you have any declarations as you continue your push toward the championship?
A: Advancing to the top four with a 2-0 victory felt great. For ordinary people like us, the Haidou Tournament is one of the few opportunities to experience the competitive arena. Since we participated, we are definitely aiming for the championship.
Q: In the Haidou Tournament, does victory depend more on skill or luck?
A: Luck with Hextech augments probably accounts for about 50-60%, but overall, player coordination is more important.
Q: What motivated you to sign up for the inaugural Haidou Tournament? Did you ever imagine making it to the top four?
A: We signed up for the Haidou Tournament to help the five of us get to know ourselves better. Although I think luck played a big part in our reaching the top four, our skill and the improvement in our team communication and coordination over this period were also crucial. I hope we can continue to progress together and face any difficulties as a team.
Q: As a team that advanced from the Internet Cafe track, what advantages do you have compared to teams from other tracks?
A: We were the earliest team to reach the offline meeting stage—which I consider our biggest advantage. This allowed us to get into the competitive atmosphere faster and start bonding with each other earlier.
Q: From advancing through the Internet Cafe track to standing on the national top-four stage, what has been the most memorable part of this journey for you?
A: The players train actively together on a daily basis and have done their best to perform well during the matches. We hope everyone will keep up the good work in the upcoming games.
Q: Do you still remember your mindset before participating? How did you all discuss the decision to join the tournament?
A: At the time, the five of us just met offline and discussed giving it a try and having some fun. We didn't expect to make it this far; we feel very lucky and happy.
Q: Was there any moment when you realized you had a chance to compete for the championship?
A: After winning today's match 2-0, I felt that luck was on our side in every aspect, and we successfully advanced to the top four. Reaching this stage makes me feel that we might have a chance to win the championship.
Q: Have there been moments when you drew champions and immediately thought, "This game is lost"? How did you handle those situations?
A: If we draw disadvantaged champions in the match, our first thought is usually whether we can compensate for the disadvantage through Hextech augments.
Q: What is your goal for this tournament? Please evaluate the Haidou Tournament in one word.
A: I would describe it as "interesting" because the tournament features some fun and novel strategies not seen in Summoner's Rift, and the competitive level is very high. As for our goal, it's definitely to win the championship.
Q: Having fought your way to this point, what do you feel is the biggest difference between the tournament matches and your daily Haidou games?
A: The difference lies in professionalism. Haidou matches are very different from regular public matches, whether it's the pace of the game or item builds for champions.