SKT repeats as MSI Champion after dominant run

Gods may bleed, but they don’t die. Korea’s SK Telecom T1 clinched their fourth straight international tournament with one resounding performance after another.

As the tournament progressed, it became increasingly clear that SKT was heads and shoulders above the competition. Even in games where they fell into early holes, it was just a matter of how and when they would come back, not if. SKT’s ability to locate the smallest holes in their opponent’s defensive lines was merciless. And beautiful. And it’s going to leave hopeful Worlds challengers scratching their heads.

In the group stage, SKT lost one game of consequence against the Flash Wolves and another against WE in a largely meaningless game. We saw Peanut secure 14 kills in under 15 minutes. We saw Faker live up to his God moniker. And we saw a relentless kind of play from SKT that may eclipse even their previous championship runs.

After demolishing the Flash Wolves in one-sided sweep, they entered the MSI Final in Rio de Janeiro’s Jeunesse Arena as the overwhelming favorite -- not just to win, but to sweep G2 Esports. It was the largest crowd yet and the Brazilian fans may be the loudest and most rambunctious in the world.

Game 1 showed that G2 had more bite than perhaps expected, though, as they immediately jumped out to a lead. Faker died not once, not twice, not even three times, but four times in the lane phase. Perkz clapped where no man had clapped before… or at least in a really long time! It was an embarrassing showing from Faker and was an opportunity for G2 put a stop to the SKT dynasty.

"I actually think this was one of the most difficult games for me," says Faker. "My performance wasn't good. And my condition wasn't that good either."

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However, a few slip-ups in the mid game cost G2 dearly. SKT fired at every single opportunity. As soon as one person backed, they would launch the Ashe arrow. The early gold advantage for G2 was nothing to SKT. They weren’t down 2k gold. They were up negative 2k gold. Their ability to dictate the tempo even from behind demonstrates complete mastery over their objective-control. And once SKT secured the Baron, the game was more or less over. This has been the narrative throughout MSI for SKT -- once they take Baron, you lose. It’s like a bad horror movie motif.

G2, though, would bounce back in Game 2 -- across the board their lanes generated solo kills. Faker, again, was trounced by Perkz, who at one point solo killed him and held a 55 to 28 CS advantage. They aren’t the kings of Europe for nothing. It’s easy to see how G2 has held such a stranglehold over the EU LCS for past year. And this was a redeeming performance from Perkz especially.

SKT held strong, but ultimately G2’s relentless allowed them to win a crucial skirmish that led to a Baron. From there, G2 pulled the trigger and won a team fight to secure the game. It was exactly what SKT had done to everyone else throughout the tournament.

That would be the last of G2’s smiles, though. A valiant attempt in Game 3 was undone by a phenomenal Zyra play from Wolf. All it took was a split second mistake. That’s it. A brilliant MSI run from G2 seemed to end there, as Game 4 was the kind of stomp that most people expected. Even in that game, though, G2 tried to make play after play -- it showed they weren’t willing to go down without taking their best shot.

Unfortunately, their best shot wasn’t enough. And it might be the best shot anyone in the world outside of Korea could have thrown at SKT. SKT is chasing only their own ghosts at this point. But there are challengers still at home, and the losers at MSI will get up -- they always have. That’s how they won their regions in the first place.

SKT coach kkOma says, "I think the teams [at MSI] deserve respect. The gap between the west and the east isn't as big as perceived. I actually expected G2 to make it to the Finals over WE." 

SKT, though, will continue to evolve. They will continue to elevate their game. And at least for now, they’re on a mountain all on their own.

Kien Lam is a writer for LoLesports. You can find really awful great jokes on his Twitter @meanmisterkien.