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Much has been written about the alleged decline of Korean League of Legends in 2018.
Kingzone’s defeat at the Mid-Season Invitational, followed by the region’s loss to China at Rift Rivals means Korean dominance is under real scrutiny for the first time in forever.
The decline of SK Telecom hasn’t helped either. The three-time world champion team, though better in the Summer Split, looked like a shadow of its former self so far in 2018.
It would take a miracle run for them to even qualify for Worlds, although the intricacies of the LCK system does mean SKT’s qualification is not impossible. All they have to do is beat three teams in the gauntlet. You know, just three of the best teams in the world, in best-of-five matches.
Said gauntlet includes Griffin, Kingzone Dragon X, Afreeca Freecs, KT Rolster and Generation G. In 10 best-of-three series against these teams, SKT has only won twice: once against Gen.G and once against KT.
Across the summer season, SKT is 0-4 against Griffin, 0-4 against Kingzone and 1-4 against Afreeca. Calling it a miracle run is underselling it when you look at those stats. Moses would have a hard time getting SKT to Worlds this year.
Faker is the closest thing to a miracle worker in League of Legends, but he isn’t even playing right now.
Will he spring into action when the gauntlet begins, rescuing his team from a grizzly fate? Well, honestly, I’m not sure. I really want to be decisive and say no – no chance, no way, no how. But it’s Faker.
It’s incredibly unlikely that he can turn things around for SKT, if he even plays, but you just can’t count the man out. What are we doing watching sport if there isn’t some tiny part of our soul that thinks Faker can Mighty Ducks this whole thing into another world title?
In this cruel reality we inhabit, though, SKT can probably start planning for another roster overhaul in 2019. And that’s fine. As a wise purple bug guy once said, change is good.
A Korean team still might win Worlds, it just won’t be SKT, and that’s fine. It’s good. Things get boring when the same team – or even the same region – wins everything all the time.
Korean Hearthstone player Kim ‘Surrender’ Jung-soo does his best to keep composed in a tough situation.(Photo: Helena Kristiansson / Blizzard Entertainment)
Not that it’s impossible for a Korean team to win Worlds, or even unlikely, according to the bookies. Odds makers have two Chinese teams as favourites (RNG and Invictus), but spots three through six on the list are all Korean teams (including, hilariously, SKT).
RNG and IG are both 7/2, while KT in third is only 9/2 – not exactly a huge gap. Some odds makers even have South Korea as the favourite region to win, despite having two Chinese teams as individual favourites. Weird.
It’s not all doom and gloom for Korean fans, then. SKT might be a spent force, but there is every chance that another Korean team could fill their shoes. The best part of it all is that, no matter who wins Worlds this year, it will make a great story.
RNG or IG winning are the most obvious: the first Chinese champion. What an incredible feat for the entire country, let alone the players themselves. Chinese fans are some of the most passionate in all of esports and they have come so close so often. The catharsis would be palpable after so many near misses.
KT Rolster would be my personal favourite story. So much time spent in the shadow of SKT, so many disappointments, so many years of not even qualifying. Given the history of their rivalry – one of the greatest in esports history – it would be fitting if KT finally qualified for Worlds in the year that SKT failed to do so, and if they then went on to win the whole thing.
They would also live up to their admittedly silly name en route, making things even more exciting. You just know a KT victory at Worlds would have to involve narrowly avoiding group-stage elimination and a reverse sweep or two in the knock-out stages.
StarCraft Remastered in Korea. (Image: Blizzard Entertainment)
Griffin would be another great story, but as much as I want the newest team in LCK to take Worlds by storm, I just can’t see it happening. International experience is crucial, and they have none. Talent-wise, they might be one of the best teams at the tournament, but that isn’t enough on the world stage.
Unless the individual matches are somehow all dull (unlikely), 2018 is poised to be the most exciting Worlds yet. Everywhere you look there is a great story just waiting to happen. With so many interweaving subplots and story arcs, I have never been this excited for an esports event that I’m not attending in person.