TES Homme shares his opinion on what the LPL could be missing to win Worlds

It was tough end for Top Esports to their Worlds 2025 run. Following the end of the match agasinst T1, we spoke to the head coach Homme to hear his thoughts on what was the approach to the series and what he thinks the LPL lacks to lift the Summoner’s Cup it has been chasing for four years now.

Davide: I’m sorry that your journey at Worlds has come to an end. I kind of wanted to ask you as the head coach of the team,

What did you tell the guys after the series?

Homme: Yeah, it’s a bummer to me that we got 0-3’d. But I believe they’re more bummed than I am, the players. They can do better than this performance today.

I guess like some of the other factors, like for example, pressure or would have factored into their performance. I believed and I believe that they will do better next time. Although we got this outcome that we don’t really want, I know you guys worked so hard and we made it to the semifinals. I know that you guys are such a great player, so don’t feel small. And I want to say you have worked so well this year.

Davide: I wanted to talk a little bit about the series. We saw a rather unexpected Nami support pick in game 2.

Can you kind of walk us through what the draft idea was in that game?

Homme: So when we were practicing, I realized we’re a team that they kind of fall apart so powerlessly when they lose laning phase, so I really wanted to prioritize laning phase.

We ended up with those kind of picks, like, you know, game 1 as well and then Corki-Nami. They had great burst damage and laning phase is really strong and they have very strong 2v2 so it was a broader perspective; we narrowed down to the laning phase, but we were not able to kind of accomplish the outcome that we wanted, so we were not able to get the win in the end.

Davide: You previously mentioned that you want to be someone that your players can always rely on. Can I kind of ask you what inspired that approach?

Was there a particular moment that made you think so?

Homme: In the end esports is also [a] sport. So the players, they always work so hard, they perform great in game and we all know they’re such a great players, but sometimes there are other point of view outside of us.

So I think it’s coaching staff’s responsibility to pinpoint where they should focus and I give them more information and help them. Help them by being a person that they can rely on. You know, after a loss it’s always really tough to go through it, so not having a person that they can rely on will be way harder for them. Without that, they’re going to struggle so much going on to the next game, so I wanted to become a person that the players can rely on after a defeat.

Davide: We often talk about the players and the pressure obviously that they go throughout Worlds. But I also wanted to put the spotlight on you as the head coach and obviously the leader of the team.

How do you usually handle the pressure at such an important tournament?

Homme: I do feel the pressure coming from outside and all, but if I get overwhelmed by that pressure, I will for sure impact the players as well, you know. So I always do my best to just go through it really well and try not to express that I’m going through the pressure.

So looking back at the series today, it’s a bummer that we lost 0-3, especially game number 1 because early part went as we planned. We got the Akali Wukong so I think we should have just locked in picks like Ambessa or other support picks that can dive together.

But because we were kind of overwhelmed by the fact that T1 their bot lane goes really strong in the laning phase. So we decided to take the those lane phase focus picks for support especially [since] Top Esports also had great success with those kind of a duo on the bottom lane. We decided to prioritize those laning phase specialists for the bot lane and then we should have won that game in order to gain the huge confidence boost. But too bad it didn’t really work and it leaves a lot of regret. But yeah, I always just try to not hand them over the pressure on my end.

Davide: The last question is about the LPL. The league has been chasing the world championship for four years now with several teams. There has been a lot of teams that were able to fight extremely closely with the best Korean teams.

What do you think is the missing piece or missing element that will allow eventually the LPL to lift the trophy once again?

Homme: Disclaimer. You know, this is my opinion, you know, [it] might not be correct for everyone. But for me, first off, I think LPL teams always travel a lot, so it kind of takes away a lot of time of practice. That’s a bit of a frustration there.

Also, because LPL has so many teams, some of the best players are so split apart; they’re all on different teams. So if they were all in one or two teams, maybe that could have been a really good for LPL’s probability to win it all.

The LPL is really good at teamfighting and skirmishes, but they lack in sophistication when it comes to knowing your tempo and knowing when to back off as well. So I think if they get more sophisticated when it comes to the gameplay and macro, and I always keep that in mind that you should not overchase. The moment we got that kind of an LPL team, I think it will be strong enough for us to do better up against T1 or other LCK teams to win it all. I wish we can get an LPL team like that and I think we have to have a team like that.

Davide: We’re running off the interview and do you have any last message you want to tell the fans or anyone you want in particular?

Homme: Yeah. The outcome today was really, really frustrating and I understand that, you know, it’s a big bummer for everyone. So I’m very, very sorry as a head coach. But I also want to say the players worked so hard so instead of criticism, I really wish the fans can give them a lot of support. And I want to say to the players that you guys work really hard. So please, please keep sending them love and support.

Davide: Thank you very much, Homme.