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: “I'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 “down” performance, but I think we can reach a high ceiling when we have confidence in our play.
“It’s hard to say if confidence will be enough to beat T1, but we have a lot more chances than people believe.”
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 split—we'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 December…
Josedeodo: God bless, don’t 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? It’s the best League of Legends you will ever play.
It’s just very exciting. Playing these games, even if they are high pressure, it’s just very fun. When you’re in your home region, matches and ceilings of teams are often not that high, but internationally, it’s a whole different world.
I’ve 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.
You’ve said you think there’s a chance to beat T1 — 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.
“Sometimes there are days when we’re genuinely pretty good, and others where I think to myself, ‘Damn, we’re completely boosted’ [laughs].”
We can beat anyone when we’re in good form on the day. Although, we’ve 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 6–0’d the LCK like it was nothing, you know? I don’t think it was a coincidence. Players like
will always be the ones to say we can beat the LCK and the LPL—that’s the attitude you need to have at this level. That’s how I think as well.
I won’t go into our match thinking,
“I’m versus , we’re doomed.” No, it’s not like that.
They are humans, they make mistakes. There will always be a chance—you just have to take it.Do you think G2’s 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 it’s both of these, right? When you are from the LCK, you represent the highest standard of League—you can’t lose to anyone. Still, I do think it’s 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 MSI—we have to be ready for anything. Preparation, stamina, sleeping well, good work ethic… that’s 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: It’s kind of funny. Most teams put pressure on themselves, but I do the complete opposite. I like to play to have fun—I just want to enjoy the games.
I’ve started playing League because it was fun, and I think it’s a good mentality to keep. At some point, I thought about that and just asked myself “When did I start pressuring myself to win at all cost, when the game should just be fun?”
After I realized that, I felt so much lighter on stage. I’m just here, playing a video game, and it makes everything so much easier. I’m not thinking, “what if he wins the 50/50?” or “what if I miss this smite?” I’m just thinking, “if he wins, I’ll have a chance next time.” Like, whatever, who cares?
“When I go into a game, I just think about the best way to have fun. I want to fight—it’s just way more fun. I don’t wanna have to wait for my Golems to respawn—that’s so boring.”
Josedeodo: Hopefully teams don’t find out that if they ban Lee Sin, we are cooked. [laughs]
But yeah, I think the Lee Sin nerfs were kind of whatever. I’m playing on the Korean server right now and every game there is a Lee Sin. It doesn’t matter what team you’re on, there is always a Lee Sin. So if you don’t ban him, it’s coming through in solo queue.
I don’t know about competitive yet. We’ve been playing it a bit, but we don’t have that much data on how bad the nerfs actually are. Nowadays, when they nerf a champion, it’s not like before where they would take 100 damage off every spell and the champion becomes really bad. Now it’s more like five damage, so you have to find out.
Funnily enough, , who was Team Liquid’s jungler back in the day, came up with that iconic quote, “God has abandoned us,” but you’re completely the opposite in your optimism…
Josedeodo: Yeah, I loved that meme. “God has abandoned us.” [laughs] That meme is a banger.
That’s sort of what you think when you’re joining these matches, but I’m completely the opposite. Maybe I’m delusional, but that’s how it works. That’s what everyone does. And I think that’s the mindset you need if you want to beat those teams.”
