syndereN about the plot of “Dark Carnival”: “For me personally, it’s better than in “The Fallen Crown””

Casters Shannon 'SUNSfan' Scotten and Troels 'syndereN' Nielsen commented on the L1GA TEAM's passage to The International 2026 as part of the We Say Things podcast, and also shared their opinion about the “Dark Carnival”.

syndereN: I said that it would be great if they qualified because none of them had competed at The International before. But two of them were at TI - sayuw and RESPECT. And the remaining three players will be entering the tournament for the first time. So this is obviously very cool. I think this is one of the best stories at TI - the rookie years.

SUNSfan: Yes, but we won't see Fly, which makes me sad.

syndereN: Yes, we lost a few old guys, mostly him. But you can’t get both at the same time—it doesn’t happen that way. By the way, Virtus.pro has several fan favorites. Many people like SabeRLighT-, his antics, his energy. Abed and Timado have also been playing for a long time, especially Abed. There will probably be old Evil Geniuses fans who would like to see him at the tournament. But seeing new guys is also cool.

The third chapter of “Dark Carnival” has been released. I didn't have a large supply of tickets to go through right away, so I'm still a work in progress. If you have already gone through everything, then I cannot express my opinion about everything at once, because I have not gone through everything yet. But I can talk about the first and second chapters. In my opinion, the plot in them is very good. For me personally, it's better than The Fallen Crown. I really like the way Valve writes scripts. They focus more on humor and less on epicness. Whereas the old comics were more, shall we say, serious. Everything they write now looks ironic, and I really like it. The story itself is interesting and exciting, but the characters are quirky and make stupid comments or funny jokes. I think it's very cool. I think the characters are interesting. I like how new characters are integrated into the game's lore.

The event includes mini-games. They are, of course, different from those in The Fallen Crown, but they adhere to the same system, where one or two mini-games are added with each act or, as in this case, with each section of the train. I'd say their entertainment value varies. But the new mini-games are fun.

I don't know which one is the best, but I can say that the least interesting for fans from what I've heard is... What is this genre called when you have a board at the bottom and a ball bounces off of it, breaking blocks? Brick Breaker, or something like that. I think this is one of my least favorite minigames. Including because it is very long. The game you are showing now is a cart where boxes are placed. You move along the line, move it back and forth, dodging bombs. This is a fun game.

Overall, I'd say they're comparable or maybe a little better on average than the Fallen Crown minigames. Yes, it's a matter of personal preference. But in terms of overall implementation, sound effects, graphics, voice acting, and so on, they are pretty good. For mini games.

Earlier, Shannon 'SUNSfan' Scotten and Troels 'syndereN' Nielsen assessed the Esports World Cup 2026, and also spoke about the format without a lower bracket and the feasibility of holding a match for third place.