Lim "Quid" Hyeon-seung — widely considered the best mid laner in North America — will play under Team Liquid’s banner next year, replacing Eain “APA” Stearns as part of a broader roster shake-up. 

For TL, the pickup is a significant change in form. For the first time in at least a half-decade (but perhaps longer), the TL mid laner won’t be a mage specialist that plays to scale: Quid is  innovative, aggressive, and mechanically unbelievable — and he’s spent the last two years building himself into one of the most talented hard-carry mid laners in the world.

With 100 Thieves (100T) departing League of Legends at the end of the 2025 season, just about every team in the League Championship Series (LCS) and League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) began working to acquire Quid. Once TL secured him — the team’s first pickup of the offseason — they instantly became title contenders in the eyes of analysts. Expectations are sky-high. So we figured it was time to sit down with Quid and hear how he’s feeling about the year ahead. 

How come you’re wearing 100T merch casually in your house?

My whole closet is pretty much 100T clothes, because they gave it to me and I don’t really buy clothes. [...] I never really went shopping after I joined 100 Thieves.

At what point did you know you wouldn’t be playing with any of those 100T players this season? TL got Spookz, but regardless.

I thought it would depend on where I went, but … Well, I knew I wouldn’t be able to play with River again because he needs to do his military service.

How can I say this? I'll say, in a way, I wasn't really thinking about it. I wasn't thinking at all that I wouldn't be able to play with my teammates again — but I was pretty surprised that no one can really find a team now.

Exactly — not only are you not playing with them, but it looks like none of them will have spots in the league next year.

Yeah, it feels really bad for me and it's pretty shocking, to be honest. I still think we had good results — I think they're all good players. I thought they'd be able to find a team.

APA said he texted you and recommended joining Team Liquid.

Yeah, I remember the text. I wasn't really expecting he'd say that, cause it's kind of like I'm taking his part, right?

I didn’t think he’d say good things to me … not about TL, but [in general]. Normally people don’t do that. I just thought he wouldn't say anything about TL, but when he texted me that, I realized he was thinking about me as a really good friend, [not competition]. I was really happy after he sent it.

Other reports said you wanted to play with CoreJJ — would you say CoreJJ and APA were the main influences to join TL over the plethora of options you had around the world?

Looking forward to next year, I wanted to improve my macro, and I wanted to stay in NA because I've been playing in NA for almost three years, and I still haven't won LCS.

It made me feel like I have to win LCS before I leave this region. That's why I stayed in NA for so long, and [...] when I had an interview with TL, they were planning to keep Core and Yeon. I thought that if I play with Core, then I can learn a lot of macro things from him. Get more experience, or something like that.

So those were the reasons I stayed in NA and joined TL.

A lot of players — at least, more than before — are leaving NA these days. Was the option to leave tempting? Would moving to another league be something you want eventually?

I think I'm open-minded about wherever I go. But I just took NA because I like playing in NA and I haven't won in LCS. I wasn't thinking in more detail about what I wanted to do after I won LCS. [...] I'm not sure about my future, but yeah, I just like playing in NA.

Speaking of winning LCS, people thought TL was an obvious favorite when the rumor was that they were going for you and Inspired. Now, with the alleged roster, many people are rating it quite poorly.

What do you think about where people are ranking TL vs what the team is capable of?

What? Are people saying that?

I guess … I guess it's fair for the community to think like that. But yeah, I do agree like LYON will be our strongest opponent next year, but I still think we are the favorites.

Lately, I’ve been talking with my teammates a lot, and I just have a lot of confidence to play together next year, cause everyone seems so nice and funny, and they have positive mentalities.

Speaking of Yeon, what did you think of TL’s roster explosion and Yeon’s performance? Many saw him as the sole strong performer on the team.

I think this year, for me, it just looks like they have lost trust in each other. When you lose trust in each other, I don't think you can play well as a team. I think that's why TL blew up this year. I also don't think Yeon looked that good this year. I would say he was playing okay, but as an ADC when your teammates are playing badly, you can't really change the situation. So yeah it's also quite hard to tell.

What do you think of the top mids for next year?

Zinie is joining, right? I'm not sure why young Korean mid laners keep coming to join the LCS. Like, they're just coming to take my spot. I still have confidence to perform well, but I think next year’s gonna be the hardest year.

I thought if I could prove [myself] this year, I’ll be okay, but it feels like I need to improve next year again. [...]

I’ll say, without me (I don’t like putting myself in lists), I’d say Saint first, Quad second, Zinie third, and … APA fourth with DARKWINGS fifth. I think APA and DARKWINGS are really interesting because I think DARKWINGS might have a higher ceiling, but—

Wow, you think DARKWINGS might have a higher ceiling than Eain?

Who’s Ian? APA? Yeah, I mean, it's quite hard to say. I see them, like, at the same level as players. I think DARKWINGS is pretty solid. He had a really good debut. [...] I would say APA vs DARKWINGS is gonna be pretty contested.

What do you think about NA mids in Tier 1 — Jojo, APA, Darkwings, Toasty, Palafox — compared to the level of the Korean mids coming over? Can NA mids compete?

Jojo… if Jojo were in NA, I'd put him as #1. I really think he's good. [...]

I guess the Korean mid laners are really good at the laning phase. Once they get a lead in lane, they’re really good at snowballing and pressuring the enemy — that’s the biggest gap between NA mids and Korean mids. But I don’t think they’re much better than NA mid laners, so, yeah, next year is gonna be the hardest year for me.

Final message to TL fans?

I will try my best to be in LCS and I hope you guys can enjoy my play. Let's have a good year together.

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