historic MSI 2026 run came to an end on Saturday, 11th July, as the LCS first seed fell 3-2 to
in the lower bracket final in Daejeon. Fresh off a stunning 3-0 sweep of
, LYON pushed the LCK's best team to a fifth game and leave Korea as the last Western team standing, while HLE advance to face
in the grand final.
In an interview with
Sheep Esports, LYON strategic coach Han “
Rigby” Earl discussed what went wrong in the series, why he believes Kim "
" Min-cheol has everything it takes to be the best in the world, the LCK's "cocky" mentality, and his unlikely path from translating for Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and Han "Peanut" Wang-ho to coaching on the MSI stage.
You just came out of a very close series against Hanwha Life. You took them to five games. How do you feel after watching these five games?
Han "Rigby" Earl: "There's still Worlds left, and this is really valuable experience, I feel. As for the good things and bad things, it's been a long tournament. We weren't sure we were going to make it this long, so we'll just need some time to reprocess what's been going on.
But that game was really winnable. We wanted to win so bad. And just seeing Hanwha being so happy after winning against the LCS, no one will ignore the LCS anymore. We'll make something happen at Worlds if we get there.
HLE is a very different team from G2, which you beat pretty easily. What kind of preparation did you have coming into this match today?
Rigby: I personally think that, just generally, a lot of top teams aren't really strong because they're really obsessed, and the trend is kind of “outplaying”. But if it's good teams versus good teams, there's a limited chance of actually doing the outplay. I think the Eastern regions are actually going from aggressiveness into trying to overperform.
That's why I think we are on the opposite end. If we're ahead, we're so good at closing out the game. That's why we were so strong at this tournament. They're looking for a high ceiling, and we're looking to win the game our way or lose the game our way. It's just going to be ongoing into Worlds, and Split 3 as well. We'll keep doing what we can do, we'll adapt what we can from those teams, and we'll see what happens at Worlds.
You mentioned you're really good at closing games when you win the early game. In Game 1, I feel like it was your game to take. It didn't go your way, obviously. What do you feel went wrong in that game?
Rigby: Honestly speaking, this is Fearless, and you can't always play champions that you're good at. And it was Game 1. I think today's general focus was that the team who thinks about what the enemy team will do, what the enemy team has to do, and reacts to that, was winning the game. Since it was Game 1, we were kind of short on that. But Game 3 was really tough, we were just on point about what they were going to do and won the game.
I think it's just a Game 1 thing. We were versing a really strong team. But after Game 1 being so close, we were actually thinking that we could win, and that's what made us go to Game 5. That's where things stand for now.
We heard Berserker say in an interview that he thought he was just as good as Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong. As a coach, in your position, after watching these games, do you think that's true? What is your opinion on this statement?
“He has all the traits that I could think of for being one of the greatest players in the world.”
Rigby: All he needs, I personally feel, is luck. If he proves his year and gets a chance to play on a top LCK or LPL team, then everyone will know how good he is. That's his goal.
And I just personally like him very much, because it's kind of my first year with him. I like him as a human being, I like him as a player. So that's my goal too, him actually being the greatest.
Niship "Dhokla" Doshi mentionned earlier that you had scrimmed T1, and they were very chaotic scrims with lots of crazy picks. Against G2, we saw a very traditional T1. Do you think there's a reason behind this difference between scrims and matches for them?
Rigby: I'm honestly not sure. But if I'm guessing, you go for the crazy pick if you think you need that to win the game. You have to be creative, you have to make them unexpected. If your team's level is gapped a bit, then you have to do those things to win.
But even us, we were actually sticking to very traditional picks, because even until today, we didn't feel like we had to be creative. We could match any team with just our skills and our individual performance. I think that's why G2 was being creative, because they thought they were the weaker team compared to T1. I personally think T1 is stronger than G2. They were just too focused on outperforming, on over aggression. And we don't feel like we have to do anything creative either, other than maybe BLG Game 1. I think it depends on that.
Do you feel like T1, or LCK as a whole, is kind of underperforming at this tournament? Or is the gap actually closing?
Rigby: I don't feel like it's actually a regional thing anymore. Good teams from every region have a reason for being here, and the playstyle is different per region. But I've been in the LCK. I know the LCK doesn't give a sh*t about the LEC or the LCS. They just watch their own league and think about what they're good at.
“I think they've been cocky, honestly, and they're getting punished for that.”
But generally speaking, good teams are good teams, you know?
BLG is really good, because even from draft they make me really uncomfortable, and if they pick something, it all makes sense. Other than that, I think every other team is the same. But it's a long year. Eventually you have to prove it at Worlds, and that over-aggression, trying to outperform, looking for the higher ceiling, can pay off at Worlds. So I don't think something's bad or something's good. Every team is trying to reach that level, and I'm just excited to see it.
I saw you've praised yourself on Twitter for your preparation going into the G2 match. What were you satisfied about that preparation?
Rigby: Pocket picks are pocket picks if you play them for the first time. We know that if you pick Gnar, they're going to pick Yasuo. But honestly, they're dumb enough, because we picked Leona and Lee Sin just in case they get baited into picking Yasuo, and then it's going to be a free win. But this is Fearless, and it's not best of ones, so you have to flip it, you have to be aggressive.
I think my strength is actually that: trying to make the enemy team pick champions that are uncomfortable. That's why it felt easy against G2, because in Game 1 and 2, they were picking champions that they're not comfortable on or not good at. And then in Game 3 they were in a pressure situation where they had to first pick Jayce when they had never played it. I think my prep is good, and it worked out, so I'll just keep trying.
Is there any learnings from scrimming the Asian teams? That's obviously something you don't get to do all year.
Rigby: This MSI was really fun, because nothing was decided. Every team was trying to interpret the meta, because it's a new patch and most teams didn't have much practice. But I learned a lot from BLG about how, rather than picking good champions, the draft making sense and everyone knowing their win condition is so important.
“I was always insecure about whether I was competitive enough to compete at the top level, but I proved it this time.”
I hope people recognize it, and I'll just keep doing what I'm doing.
I was researching about you, and I saw on Twitter that you started your League of Legends interest by being a Peanut translator. Could you tell us a little bit about that story, and how you got interested in becoming a coach?
Rigby: I wanted to be a coach, so I just joined a company that had a League team. And I'm good at English, so I became Peanut and Faker's translator. I worked my ass off, and then they gave me a coaching chance. So that's how it happened."
