MSI 2026 Match Review – LYON Versus Team Secret Whales: The Whales Incredible Journey Comes to an End

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By:Devin Morris
The MSI 2026 Logo

Team Secret Whales secured the first significant upset of MSI, beating Top Esports. That gave fans confidence in them heading into the matchup with LYON. However, that never transferred to the rift. LYON shut them down at almost every turn. They never allowed Pun the space to take over the rift. LYON will now face G2 Esports in the Lower Bracket Semi-Final.

MSI 2026: Game One Review

LYON knocking TSW out of MSI
Image of LYON beating TSW 3-0 at MSI, courtesy of LoL Esports

Draft

LYON – Blue Side

  • Renekton
  • Trundle
  • Taliyah
  • Ezreal
  • Alistar

Team Secret Whales – Second Pick

  • Volibear
  • Lee Sin
  • Sylas
  • Kai’Sa
  • Nautilus

A 2v2 Kill For LYON’s Bot Lane

LYON’s bot lane trades better in the early game. Isles lands the engagement on both members, and Eddie dies to Berserker for the first blood. Right after, Hizto ganks Saint for their first kill of the series. Dhokla challenges Pun, but loses out. Fortunately, Inspired and Saint arrive to trade back. Dhokla dies two more times in the early game. Pun suffers as well, as he gets dived. LYON’s dive also results in them taking the top tower.

LYON Jumps to a Lead

LYON have better map movements in the mid-game to secure objective gold. They also pull the trigger on a mid fight and earn three kills. Minutes later, TSW responds with a teamfight win to negate some of the gold lead and the Infernal Soul point. TSW forces the Baron, but Hizto mistimes the Smite.

Losing Flash is Catastrophic

Hizto loses his Flash while trying to take his Wolves. Losing his Flash comes back to bite as he LYON targets him. TSW tries to fight back, but they lose everyone but Dire. He tries to defend, but LYON has enough firepower to end.

Player Ratings

LYON

  • Dhokla – 4
  • Inspired – 7
  • Saint – 7
  • Berserker – 7
  • Isles – 6

Team Secret Whales

  • Pun – 5
  • Hizto – 4
  • Dire – 4
  • Eddie – 6
  • Bie – 5

Player of the Game – Saint

MSI 2026: Game Two Review

Draft

LYON – Blue Side

  • Gnar
  • Jarvan IV
  • Viktor
  • Varus
  • Camille

Team Secret Whales – Second Pick

  • Jax
  • Xin Zhao
  • Orianna
  • Sivir
  • Bard

Another LYON First Blood

Inspired wraps around to gank the TSW bot lane at level 3. Isles lands on Eddie, and Inspired is not even needed for a Berserker first blood kill. Hizto saves the early game with kills on Saint, Berserker, and Isles for his team. Saint dies again mid. Isles roams top to help Dhokla, and TSW responds by diving Berserker.

The Action Continues

LYON challenges TSW on the Grubs and takes two of them thanks to Dhokla stealing one. Saint gets the shutdown gold on Dire. TSW looks for a top lane play, but LYON responds with five players and earns a gold lead again. With the early gold, Dhokla takes over the mid game, killing Pun and winning plays for LYON.

A Baron to End the Game

After an extended play that resulted in Dire’s death, LYON takes the Baron away. They catch three TSW members as they push the bot lane. They kill them, which gives them the confidence to end the game.

Player Ratings

LYON

  • Dhokla – 9
  • Inspired – 8
  • Saint – 3
  • Berserker – 7
  • Isles – 7

Team Secret Whales

  • Pun – 3
  • Hizto – 4
  • Dire – 3
  • Eddie – 4
  • Bie – 3

Player of the Game – Dhokla

MSI 2026: Game Three Review

Draft

LYON – Blue Side

  • Jayce
  • Nocturne
  • Ahri
  • Ziggs
  • Rell

Team Secret Whales – Second Pick

  • Sion
  • Naafiri
  • Vex
  • Caitlyn
  • Elise

The Second Gank Works

Inspired goes for the first gank in the bot lane. However, he does not get the kill. Hizto shows up a minute later and gets the first blood thanks to Bie. Hitzo repeat ganks, but Inspired matches the play. Isles has the perfect interrupt on Hizto to keep Berserker alive.

A Bloodbath In the River

The two teams battle for the Grubs. To kick off the fight, Dire and Inspired die. The team twos stand off until LYON reengage, and they win the fight. The next two Paranoias from Inspired land LYON three more kills and the first blood tower. Even with Eddie earning a shutdown kill on Dhokla, the gold is out of TSW’s favor.

Pun’s Flank Helps TSW Recover

After LYON pushed with Rift Herald down the mid lane, PUN teleported behind. He had the perfect angle to flank Inspired. The LYON Jungler dies, with Berserker following shortly. LYON denied TSW’s Drake stacking thanks to Inspired’s Paranoia zoning TSW. After Inspired and Dire die in the mid lane, Saint finds the Charm Flash angle on Eddie to earn a kill lead. LYON pushes down mid and ends the series.

Player Ratings

LYON

  • Dhokla – 7
  • Inspired – 8
  • Saint – 7
  • Berserker – 7
  • Isles – 7

Team Secret Whales

  • PUN – 6
  • Hizto – 4
  • Dire – 3
  • Eddie – 4
  • Bie – 4

Player of the Game – Inspired

MSI 2026: Series Ratings

Team Secret Whales eliminated from MSI
Image of TSW after MSI elimination, courtesy of LoL Esports

LYON

Dhokla – 6.7

Far and away Dhokla’s best performance of MSI. He started shaky, giving away unnecessary kills in game one. However, his Gnar was impressive. After getting a gold lead, he took over the map and helped LYON to victory.

Inspired – 7.7 (Total Apex Player of the Series)

Inspired’s performance in this series is what you expect from him. He was allowed to play his style and took control of the series. He bailed Dhokla out in game two and was always present in game three.

Saint – 5.7

Saint was the weak point of LYON in this series. He was often a free kill for TSW, with many labelling him as Hizto’s 7th jungle camp. He needs to limit his deaths in the early game if they want to have a chance in the rest of MSI.

Berserker – 7.0

A stable series from Berserker throughout. He was always in a position to carry the game alongside Inspired. The Mega Inferno Bombs were clutch to secure kills in game three.

Isles – 6.7

Isles picked Camille again. He looked better on the champion than he did in their first series of MSI. Overall, he had a good series, playing on engage-centric champions.

Team Secret Whales

Pun – 4.7

Pun got to play his signature Volibear. He had an outplay in Game One, earning a kill in what turned out to be a 1v3. The Jax game was a disappointment, with him losing out in lane to Dhokla. He recovered on Sion, but he could only do so much from behind.

Hizto – 4.0

Hizto started the first game well, but then collapsed towards the end. After missing smite, he had his Flash burned in a later play that led to the game ending. He could not match Inspired for the rest of the series.

Dire – 3.3

Dire ends MSI with yet another disappointing international performance. Whenever he has a good play, he follows it up with a bad one. There is no consistency in his performance at the moment.

Eddie – 4.7

Eddie was a big part of TSW’s lead in the first game. He showed off his Kai’Sa mechanics. He could do little to impact the rest of the series as the map collapsed around him.

Bie – 4.0

Bie’s Dredge Line on Dhokla was incredible. It looked like he was in form to help TSW over the line. However, the rest of the series was not as good for him. The Bard performance was weak, and he fell behind early on Elise.

More MSI Content

Below is all the previous MSI content on Total Apex. You can expect more MSI articles in the following weeks.

Devin Morris is a Gaming Writer and Esports Editor for Total Apex Media. Devin is a gaming fanatic from little old South Africa. Devin has had a passion for gaming and writing from a young age. Devin's early favorites were Age of Empires, FIFA and Need for Speed games. As Devin grew older he moved into more competitive gaming, focusing on Overwatch, League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. Devin also sinks way too many hours into Destiny 2!

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