After six weeks of competition, the
League of Legends Championship Series (
LCS) 2026 Lock-In finished with
securing their first North American Championship over
after an
intense 3-1 victory. LYON became the first team in the history of LoL Esports to win a championship in two different leagues.
, the emergency substitute turned full-time solution, won the second title of his career and qualified for
First Stand. Following the conclusion to an amazing split, the top laner shared with
Sheep Esports how impressed he is with
, not wanting to face
, beating
, and how mentally taxing the start of the split was for him.
If we count LTA as a separate tournament, your LCS Finals stats are impressive: 100%-win rate and two championships. If I had a nickel for every time Dhokla has run the Losers’ Bracket to face Cloud9 in an LCS Finals and won a title with a final score of 3-1, I would have two nickels. Would you consider yourself C9’s kryptonite?
Niship “Dhokla” Doshi: “Definitely not, but it is funny the way we won. We lost the first game, then won three in a row, which also happened in 2023 against C9. Funny how it happened again in the same way, and it was a lower-bracket run!
You were outspoken about your mental struggles at the beginning of this split as you eased into LYON. What specific changes did you go through to improve your mental health?
Dhokla: I learned I go through really shit [sic] mental phases when I play badly. This time, it really got to me. Thankfully, I spoke with most of my friends, who were there to help me out. Shoutout to them for hearing me out and talking me through it. In the first few weeks, I played so badly that it was unbelievable to me. I even thought I shouldn’t be a pro with how badly I was playing. The turnaround is really nice. I’m so happy I was able to turn it around because it was such a bad start to the split. I’m glad I’m in this position to win and contribute. I couldn’t see this happening just a few weeks ago.
I’m taken aback hearing you say you shouldn’t be a pro, especially if we look at your career. You spent the first half bouncing from Tier 1 to Tier 3, and you even played in Oceania. The back half of your career is a complete turnaround. What do you attribute to this growth in your career?
Dhokla: I bounced between LCS to Tier 3 to Tier 2 back to LCS back to Tier 2 and back to LCS. I really like playing League and winning, that’s what drives me. It’s fun to compete, improve, and be the best version of yourself. It’s the only thing I have a big passion for right now. It’s easy for me to keep going even when the times are tough; that’s the biggest thing. Even when it is hard, I’m still grinding and trying to change my fortunes. Luckily, this time it paid off.
2025 was a huge success for you, but you started the 2026 season without a team. Was there a chip on your shoulder?
Dhokla: I did, but at the same time, I was in a tricky position because
is really good and deserved the spot. The situation is really shit [sic] for him, but I didn’t feel it was my spot to begin with, especially after the first weeks. I thought that if Zamudo were playing, they would be doing so much better. I want to praise him because I believe he is really talented. I just… What was the question?
Was there a chip on your shoulder?
Dhokla: Oh yeah! There was a chip on my shoulder because I was coming from Worlds, where I did fine, not super great. I was really surprised no teams would want me after I ran the gauntlet after almost every team. I hadn’t played competitive in 2025 before I joined 100 Thieves. I understood, given the circumstances, every team had its scenario figured out. It sucked to be in that position, but I am grateful for the opportunity. Beating Team Liquid was nice because they passed on me.
Team Liquid passed on you?
Dhokla: I didn’t really know if they wanted me, but they didn’t sign me. I’m assuming they didn’t want me. It feels nice to beat all the teams that overlooked me, especially TL, which was potentially the only legitimate team I could sign to. Last time I checked, TL has a history of importing top lane since 2018. If you want to count
as an import, it is since around 2018. If you want to disregard Impact as an import, disregard him. They don’t go for native top laners because they only import. In hindsight, it was never really an option. Every team had its situation figured out. Honestly, I forgot about the chip on my shoulder, but it feels very fulfilling to win and contribute to winning. That feels good.
Would you say there was some imposter syndrome when you were struggling with your gameplay, and you felt the spot wasn’t yours?
Dhokla: Absolutely, I’ll be the first to admit it. How am I down, however much farm I was in the Rumble versus K’Sante lane? I was getting blasted in every lane. I totally felt like an impostor. That was tough to go through because I just came from Worlds, and now I am playing like the worst top laner. It was tough to accept that.
But the conclusion had you lifting a championship.
Dhokla: Yeah, but it’s tough to go through, especially on a new team where you don’t really know everyone right away. I’m glad I stuck to it, and thanks to LYON for sticking with it.
Dhokla: Age in esports makes no sense to me. As long as the passion is there and you want to play, then what’s the difference between you and someone younger? In my head, there is no difference, so the age argument doesn’t really matter. Yes, you have different priorities in life once you grow older, but if the drive and passion are still there, you’re young at heart. It’s funny that I am getting up there in terms of age, but I am still playing. I don’t know how long I’ll do this for. I probably see myself playing if I can compete and have a chance to win. This has been my passion since I was a kid, and I’m living my dream, so I will try to compete as long as I can.
Sheep Esports spoke with your Head Coach, Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin, who shared that he wanted LYON to be known for its aggressiveness. LYON showed a methodical and calculated pace rather than an aggressive playstyle. Why was there a change in playstyle?
Dhokla: It’s just Inspired. He is just giving us good directions on how to play, when to fight, when not to fight, and what we’re going to fight over. He paints the perfect picture of how we’re going to play the game, and we follow along. I’ve played with a lot of junglers, and I’ve never seen anyone control the game to this degree. Obviously, he is the best player in the league, and I can see why.
How do you think this style compares to other teams attending First Stand?
Dhokla: I have no idea. I’ve seen
play, but Gen.G is just Gen.G; they’re just a different beast. I’m going to try my best, but I will feel like an imposter playing in international competitions, and the cycle will repeat. I’ll try my best and learn as much as I can. I’ll try to keep the energy I have now throughout the rest of the year. I don’t want to feel like the first couple of weeks of this split again.
You’re going to First Stand. Usually, there’s some discourse on the disparity in the games Eastern teams typically play compared to Western teams. Both LYON and Gen.G played 22 games, but BNK FearX played 33. Did playing through the losers’ bracket help Lyon polish their style to match international teams better?
Dhokla: Playing more games definitely helped us formulate a better way to play the game because we have more experience. International competition is harder, and the laners are very good. It’s going to be tougher to win, but we will do our best to live up to NA’s hopes. We had a good run at 100 Thieves last year, and we can try to get a little more than just one win.
Is there any top laner you’re eager to face?
Dhokla: I don’t want to face Kiin. That guy is going to make me look so bad. He is really good. He and
are probably the top 2 in the LCK, and there’s a big gap between them and everyone else. I’ll try to learn as much as I can because this is the first international I will attend that’s not Worlds. It’s only the first and second seeds from all the regions, so competition is even harder than Worlds. It’s really the cream of the crop, we’ll try to do our best, and put up a good performance.”
