With only a few hours to go before the start of the
2026 Mid-Season Invitational, teams are making their final preparations for what promises to be an explosive Play-In Stage. With just one qualification spot up for grabs,
will have to battle through three of the world's best teams in hopes of proving North America's strength on the international stage. Still, it's hard not to see their opening match against
as a classic David versus Goliath story.
Ahead of the team's debut in Daejeon, TLAW jungler
sat down with
Sheep Esports to discuss his mentality heading into the tournament, his love for the game, and the areas in which the squad still needs to improve.
Many people are obviously hyping up T1, while pointing towards KC as a potential dark horse. Team Liquid, on the other hand, seems to be flying under the radar. Why should fans believe in TL, and what can they expect from you at MSI?
Brandon Joel "Josedeodo" Villegas: âI've been pretty open about how I feel. Maybe I'm crazy for thinking this, but we can beat T1. I know most European fans haven't watched the LCS that much, but I think our team has really high ups, even if we also have a lot of downs.
During finals, we definitely had a really âdownâ performance, but I think we can reach a high ceiling when we have confidence in our play.
âItâs hard to say if confidence will be enough to beat T1, but we have a lot more chances than people believe.â
Even if we lose this best-of-five against them, we still have another chance if we make it through the lower bracket. So yeah, a lot of people think we're bad, but I think we're pretty good when we want to be. It's about having confidence and not being scared to make mistakes. When you're at an international event, all you have to do is learn and get better.
We've improved a lot compared to our finals against
. We let ourselves down there and didn't play the way we usually do. But that also happened during the splitâwe've had those down moments before. It's something we have to work on and improve if we want to stop being such an up-and-down team and become a more solid one.
For you, I can imagine that this event is especially important as this is your first international since 2024, not counting KeSPA Cup earlier in DecemberâŠ
Josedeodo: God bless, donât count that one.
What does it mean for you to return to the international stage and compete again against the best junglers in the world while representing your region?
Josedeodo: I love playing internationals. This is the highest ceiling you will ever reach in esports, and it's just super fun to play against these players. Some players here are really good mechanically, and they will push you to your very limits. What more is there than here? Itâs the best League of Legends you will ever play.
Itâs just very exciting. Playing these games, even if they are high pressure, itâs just very fun. When youâre in your home region, matches and ceilings of teams are often not that high, but internationally, itâs a whole different world.
Iâve been lucky to have already faced T1 twice before. With Estral, I knew there was absolutely no chance to win, but with Team Liquid, I realized that we had one.
Youâve said you think thereâs a chance to beat T1 â but how would you actually quantify that? If you had to put it into a percentage, what would the odds be?
Josedeodo: I don't have a percentage in my mind. I like to just go on stage and get a feel as to how the vibes are.
âSometimes there are days when weâre genuinely pretty good, and others where I think to myself, âDamn, weâre completely boostedâ [laughs].â
We can beat anyone when weâre in good form on the day. Although, weâve never faced teams this good even in our best moments. It all comes down to how much we can push our ceiling up and adapt to the best teams.
What do you think is the most underrated factor for a strong run at an international event?
Josedeodo: Most of it is about confidence. I will give you an example: G2 during First Stand. They 6â0âd the LCK like it was nothing, you know? I donât think it was a coincidence. Players like
will always be the ones to say we can beat the LCK and the LPLâthatâs the attitude you need to have at this level. Thatâs how I think as well.
I wonât go into our match thinking,
âIâm versus , weâre doomed.â No, itâs not like that.
They are humans, they make mistakes. There will always be a chanceâyou just have to take it.Do you think G2âs First Stand run will influence MSI at all? Can Western teams take inspiration from it, or will LCK teams just be more prepared?
Josedeodo: I do think itâs both of these, right? When you are from the LCK, you represent the highest standard of Leagueâyou canât lose to anyone. Still, I do think itâs also good for Western teams to see that these regions can bleed too.
When you see G2 beating
, you begin thinking about how to reach the same level, and you realize that with proper work, that could be you as well. At the end of the day, it comes down to mentality. Having bad days and getting completely smashed happens. You just need to be resilient, so that maybe on another day you could even beat T1, for example. The ups and downs are everywhere.
The biggest factor is just being in good form. We play so many back to back best-of-fives during tournaments like MSIâwe have to be ready for anything. Preparation, stamina, sleeping well, good work ethic⊠thatâs what makes you win. If you do your homework, you will do well.
How do you personally handle pressure at international events nowadays? Do you have any routines or mindset shifts to stay focused and perform?
Josedeodo: Itâs kind of funny. Most teams put pressure on themselves, but I do the complete opposite. I like to play to have funâI just want to enjoy the games.
Iâve started playing League because it was fun, and I think itâs a good mentality to keep. At some point, I thought about that and just asked myself âWhen did I start pressuring myself to win at all cost, when the game should just be fun?â
After I realized that, I felt so much lighter on stage. Iâm just here, playing a video game, and it makes everything so much easier. Iâm not thinking, âwhat if he wins the 50/50?â or âwhat if I miss this smite?â Iâm just thinking, âif he wins, Iâll have a chance next time.â Like, whatever, who cares?
âWhen I go into a game, I just think about the best way to have fun. I want to fightâitâs just way more fun. I donât wanna have to wait for my Golems to respawnâthatâs so boring.â
Josedeodo: Hopefully teams donât find out that if they ban Lee Sin, we are cooked. [laughs]
But yeah, I think the Lee Sin nerfs were kind of whatever. Iâm playing on the Korean server right now and every game there is a Lee Sin. It doesnât matter what team youâre on, there is always a Lee Sin. So if you donât ban him, itâs coming through in solo queue.
I donât know about competitive yet. Weâve been playing it a bit, but we donât have that much data on how bad the nerfs actually are. Nowadays, when they nerf a champion, itâs not like before where they would take 100 damage off every spell and the champion becomes really bad. Now itâs more like five damage, so you have to find out.
Funnily enough, , who was Team Liquidâs jungler back in the day, came up with that iconic quote, âGod has abandoned us,â but youâre completely the opposite in your optimismâŠ
Josedeodo: Yeah, I loved that meme. âGod has abandoned us.â [laughs] That meme is a banger.
Thatâs sort of what you think when youâre joining these matches, but Iâm completely the opposite. Maybe Iâm delusional, but thatâs how it works. Thatâs what everyone does. And I think thatâs the mindset you need if you want to beat those teams.â
