Through the first two days of competition at the 2019 MSI main event, SK Telecom T1 are in a familiar spot, tied at 2-2. Wait, that doesn’t seem right. Doesn’t SKT usually dominate these events? So far, they’ve only beaten teams at the lower end of the ladder. They’ve gone 0-2 against Invictus Gaming and G2, the two teams they really have to contend with. What about this is familiar for the South Korean juggernauts? Amid all the accolades, the tournament victories, and the media praise heaped on Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and SKT, there have been several lean periods. They haven’t always been dominant. But they’ve always bounced back. That’s what both the team and its fans need to remember now. Yes, SKT just lost in one of the most lopsided games in League of Legends history. But it’s not time to panic, not even close. Ahead of schedule Photo via Riot Games When SKT somewhat unexpectedly beat Griffin 3-0 in the LCK final to punch their ticket to MSI, expectations around the team changed. We called SKT a “super team” before the start of the year, but we also thought that it would take them several months to jell with four new players around Faker in the mid lane. None of those players had ever played with each other before, either. The original thought was that they’d figure it out by Worlds. Until then, many expected Griffin to ascend to the top of the LCK for at least one split. That’s important to remember: SKT weren’t really supposed to be here. Everything they’ve done so far has been ahead of schedule. The other thing to remember about SKT’s sweep over Griffin is that, by mid-March, Griffin was a different team than the unstoppable beast we witnessed at the start of the year. A return to a more traditional meta hurt them, and Faker used late-game scaling against them in a way we hadn’t really seen all year. Yes, SKT’s victory over Griffin was impressive, and yes, it should have changed how we think about this team. But at the same time, it’s important to remember where they came from and just how far they have to go. The goal of this team was always singular: win Worlds. MSI is an important step in their build up to the season-ending championship, but it’s still just a step. Even if SKT don’t win, the tournament can still be a success if the team learns from it, just like they’ve done before. History lesson Photo via Riot Games Faker and SKT have two MSI championships, but some fans may forget that the only time the team was really dominant was in 2017, when they were smurfing on the competition. The other two times they went to the tournament, in 2015 and 2016, they struggled. In 2015, they fell 3-2 to EDG in a final where Faker’s unstoppable LeBlanc was finally beaten by EDG’s teamfighting comp. In 2016, the team went 6-4 in the group stage and went into the knockout round as the fourth seed. Let that sink in for a second. SKT were fourth, behind Royal Never Give Up, CLG, and Flash Wolves. A North American team was seeded higher than them, for goodness’ sake. What happened in those years? Well in 2015, they learned from their mistakes, Faker learned to play a more team-oriented role, and they romped through Worlds in the most dominant tournament showing ever. In 2016, they roared back in the knockouts, dismissing RNG and CLG with impunity to win the tournament. Oh, and they won Worlds that year, too. The world has changed Photo via Riot Games SKT’s history is the primary reason why fans should continue to have faith. Every single time they’ve been humbled, they’ve bounced back even stronger. They’ve never stayed down for long. At the same time, though, the world is different than it was during their championship seasons. China is better. Europe got over their mental hurdles and can really play. Faker isn’t the best mid laner in the world—that honor belongs to Song “Rookie” Eui-jin of IG. SKT will have to play better than they ever have to win tournaments this year. We know they have championship potential in them, but it’s going to take some time to get there. IG didn’t get there in one tournament—they lost twice in the LPL final before winning Worlds. This isn’t the time for SKT fans to panic. It’s time for them to believe.<doc-sep>G2 Esports were unable to mount a comeback against Phong Vũ Buffalo as the VCS representatives fired on all cylinders in the early game to snatch their first win of the tournament away from the second-placed LEC team. Similar to how Invictus Gaming struggled to match the Flash Wolves’ aggression, G2 fell prey to Phong Vũ Buffalo stampeding across the map to find kill after kill and eventually the game. PVB had struggled in the tournament so far, putting up respectable performances against some teams like IG, but faltering against squads like Team Liquid. Heading into their final game of the first round robin of the tournament, they desperately needed a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive since they sat winless in dead last. G2, on the other hand, were contending for first place after only losing to Invictus Gaming so far. They were poised to keep themselves in second with a win over their seemingly-easy opponents. Jungler Hoàng “Meliodas” Tiến Nhật returned to PVB after recovering from illness and was intent on making his presence felt on Rek’Sai. Luka “Perkz” Perković fell early before he could get there, though, as Đặng “BigKoro” Ngọc Tài’s Kai’Sa flashed in at level one to claim the kill and the early lead courtesy of Nguyễn “Palette” Hải Trung’s Shen. Rasmus “Caps” Winther, Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, and Mikael “Mikyx” Mehle were next to die as PVB established an early gold lead. Meliodas was everywhere as he frequently waylaid the gold-starved G2 to put even more gold into his carries’ pockets. The snowball developed and they were up 4,000 gold only 10 minutes into the game. Phong Vũ Buffalo secures their first win of the #MSI2019 Groups Stage with a decisive victory over @G2esports! #PVBWIN pic.twitter.com/608Qs87Dyr — LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 12, 2019 G2 lost all jungle pressure as Meliodas relentlessly took away Jankos’ camps and shut out the LEC champs from any objective, securing the Rift Herald before claiming the first turret of the game at the 16-minute mark. As the game slowly grew more and more out of G2’s control, PVB supplemented their gold lead with two drakes and used their Cloud Drake to beat G2 to every punch, starving them even further. Phong Vũ Buffalo used the narrow twists and turns of the jungle to take the fight to G2 and press their advantage. The LEC champions looked helpless against the consistent damage pouring from the Vietnamese roster. Using a Baron claimed at the 23-minute mark, PVB found the fights they needed to break open the G2 base and eventually won in the crucial teamfight after a second Baron to take their first game of the tournament in emphatic fashion. With the loss, G2 remain in second place thanks to their head-to-head record against SKT, who they destroyed in their first matchup of the tournament. They now have a rematch against SKT later in the day and that game could prove vital to who comes in as second fiddle to Invictus Gaming. PVB, on the other hand, keep their faint playoff dreams alive. It only took a gold lead of over 20,000 and 31 kills to seven, but with the win in their pocket and a potential Flash Wolves victory over Team Liquid next, they could be one game behind both the NA and LMS representatives.<doc-sep>Brought to you by IKON, challenging you to share your greatest game moments and win amazing prizes. G2 Esports won an epic five-game series against SK Telecom T1 today to secure a spot in the MSI 2019 finals. Both teams fought tooth and nail for every inch, but G2 proved that the world doesn’t need to hold to the Korean meta and that creativity and innovation can overcome the controlled style that Korea is famous for. If you had to find a metaphor for this game, look at it like it was the battle of the Precision and Inspiration rune trees. SKT exemplified Precision as every decision was made with poise and elegance. But G2’s controlled chaos, the creativity to pull out picks like Pyke for Martin “Wunder” Hansen, eventually triumphed. G2 picked Sona/Taric for the bot lane in game one and they were resoundingly punished as Kim “Clid” Tae-min’s Jarvan IV dominated the jungle and freely ganked all lanes. G2 couldn’t hold on against the sudden aggression and yielded the first game in the series after failing to surprise SKT with niche champion picks. But they bounced back in the second game off the back of Rasmus “Caps” Winther unleashing on Akali, closing out the game with a Pentakill. He wasn’t alone, as Wunder’s Neeko and Luka “Perkz” Perkovic’s Draven were effective in shredding the SKT lineup. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok stood tall on Sylas as he stole Pop Blossoms and Perfect Executions to draw out the match, but he and Kim “Khan” Dong-ha fell to the European champions’ relentless aggression to tie up the series. Game three was all Clid as he locked down three kills early and turned that into a barnstorming 10/1/8 performance as he led the Korean champions to a dominant victory. But on the blue side for the second time this series in game four, G2 turned SKT’s momentum back in their face as Caps popped off on Ryze to set up Perkz and the rest of the team for play after play. Faker was the only man in their way as he played Sylas to almost perfection, stealing Wunder’s Gnar ultimate to completely turn a teamfight as well as hitting clutch Skarner Impales stolen from Jankos. He couldn’t withstand the onslaught, however, and a lapse in judgment allowed Wunder and Caps to take down the Nexus in a brilliant backdoor after previous G2 sieges opened up SKT’s base. After “Silver Scrapes” played, a roar erupted around the arena as Perkz locked in Syndra in the bot lane and Wunder chose Pyke. They won the early game and withstood Faker and the rest of SKT’s best efforts to steal the game from under their noses until they fully came online. The monstrous pick potential gave them kill after kill, and after a dramatic Baron throw from SKT, their base was wide open for G2 to win the game and the series. After getting demolished in Game 1, @G2Wunder stayed strong and brought it back in Game 5 to take @G2esports to finals against @TeamLiquidLoL! #MSI2019 pic.twitter.com/PF3eL4XM8e — LoLEsports Stats (@LoLEsportsStats) May 18, 2019 With this victory over Korea’s best, we’ll see North America take on Europe for the first time in an international final after Liquid shocked the world yesterday by defeating reigning world champions Invictus Gaming. A new region will win the Mid-Season Invitational in less than 24 hours.<doc-sep>
G2’s unconventional style of play was too much for the Korean squad to adapt to.﻿ Brought to you by IKON, challenging you to share your greatest game moments and win amazing prizes. In one of the biggest surprises in esports history, two Western teams will meet in the final of the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational tomorrow. The script wasn’t written this way, but the gap has finally closed and the cracks in the Korean and Chinese style of play are starting to show. SK Telecom T1 and Invictus Gaming were destined to make the final, but mistakes along the way saw the kings of the East fall short of their destiny. In SKT’s case, major drafting mishaps at MSI cost them crucial games and exposed a weakness not yet seen in the Korean super team. Their three losses against G2 Esports and Invictus Gaming in the group stage could be chalked up to major drafting errors. Park “Teddy” Jin-seong is arguably the best marksman player in the world right now, but SKT found themselves falling into the trap of drafting Sona-Taric against Invictus Gaming, not allowing Teddy into the skill matchup against Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-bo. .@invgaming absolutely DOMINATES @T1LoL, breaking the world record for the fastest game ever in Riot International Competition (16 minutes and 1 second)! 🤯 🤯 🤯#IGWIN #MSI2019 pic.twitter.com/P6ImbZZAyN — LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 11, 2019 SKT managed to adapt by the end of the group stage, eventually ending Invictus Gaming’s unbeaten run at MSI on the final day of the group stage. But there was one team that SKT couldn’t crack—G2 Esports. Holding a 2-5 record against the European team at MSI 2019, they weren’t able to crack the code to beat their innovative picks. In their first matchup, they gave Ryze over to Rasmus “Caps” Winther, as well as Elise to Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, who ran rampant. In the rematch, Martin “Wunder” Hansen’s Pyke top demolished Kim “Khan” Dong-ha’s signature Jayce with a bit of help from Jankos’ Jarvan IV. On top of this, they put Teddy onto Miss Fortune, a champion he’s played very little of recently, while Vayne or Lucian were up. Gameplay aside, SKT were set up for failure in this best-of-five. There were too many holes to plug in the SKT ship and their drafts were compromised as a result. While Wunder’s Jayce is a threat, opting in to banning it in game five took away Khan’s best chance at carrying from the top lane. Khan didn’t really have an impact locked away on Kennen, allowing Wunder to run rampant on picks like Pyke and Neeko. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok was triple-banned in three of the five games, locking away his Akali, Sylas, and signature Ryze for the most part. The one game Ryze was let through by G2, though, SKT left it open for the taking, and Caps dominated with a masterclass performance in game four. Teddy pulled out the best-of-five of his life to try and get SKT over the line, but he was never given the resources to succeed. With a 25/9/29 scoreline across the five games, he gave SKT hope against G2. But a lack of attention to the bot side meant G2 were left unpunished in their weakest lane. Mediocre drafting let SKT down at MSI over anything else. In what was their best chance yet to relish a big return to the international stage by claiming another title, they’ve squandered the opportunity to do so. SKT will have another split to iron out their drafting woes in the LCK against traditional and unconventional team comps alike. By the time Worlds comes around in October, all eyes will be on the Korean squad to see whether they’ve shored up their weaknesses on the international stage or if they’ll be exposed once again.