On November 6 KST, Dplus KIA was eliminated from the 2026 LoL World Championship after losing to BLG in the quarterfinals at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas. Although they swept the Swiss Stage early with a 3-0 record, the long break seemed to take its toll, bringing an end to their season with a disappointing performance.
Speaking with Inven after the match, Dplus KIA top laner 'Siwoo' Jeon Si-woo reflected on the conclusion of his Worlds journey: "I wanted to go as high as possible, so it's very disappointing that it ended so abruptly and differently from what I envisioned. Still, my pro career isn't over, so I plan to use this as motivation to work even harder moving forward."
Having built up high expectations with their previous strong performances, the 3-0 loss felt all the more painful. When asked what he felt made the difference, Siwoo replied, "I think our strategic direction during practice was good. However, in terms of raw power, we were lacking compared to our opponents. Also, since they have much more experience, they were able to play with the mindset of the stronger team."
Despite the sweep, Siwoo made an impression once again by putting up a solid laning phase against the veteran 'Bin'. Reflecting on his performance objectively, however, he remarked, "Laning is something I've always been good at, so it doesn't hold any special meaning to me. If anything, I felt that I need to continuously work on my macro play going forward."
When asked if the long break resulting from their 3-0 Swiss record negatively impacted the team's match readiness, Siwoo disagreed with the premise. "When there's a long gap between matches, you end up repeating the same daily routine, so mindset becomes crucial in those situations," he explained, dismissing the idea. "As long as you keep your mindset right, I don't think it's a major issue."
He pointed to the early game of Match 3 as the most regrettable moment of the series. "During the top tower dive, if we had just traded 1-for-1 against Jax, the top laning phase would have been completely over in our favor. But things went wrong when he got a double kill before dying. Also, Viktor getting caught right at Level 1 stands out as another disappointing moment," Siwoo shared.
Although their Worlds run came to an end in the quarterfinals, this year remained a deeply meaningful season for Siwoo and Dplus KIA. Despite starting the year with modest expectations, they won the international Esports World Cup (EWC) and reached the Worlds stage after fierce competition. At Worlds, they also defeated strong contenders such as G2 and T1.
"It was an eventful year," Siwoo said in closing. "It would have been great to go further, but I feel I gained an immense amount of experience. It will be a huge help for my future career. I also received a lot of positive influence from Head Coach Kim Dae-ho. In particular, I learned so much about how to process feedback. I don't know if we'll be working together next year, but even if I'm on my own, I'm confident I can apply what I've learned and keep improving."
