Checking on the Korean experiment
Riot·1/20/2015, 10:18:33 PM·0 votes·11,166 views
All images from CGA.CN.
“What if” exercises dwell on alternative realities a little too much for our liking, but wonder for a moment—what if Star Horn Royal Club hadn’t made Worlds last year, or bombed out of Group Stage, or hadn’t even advanced to the 2014 Summer LPL Playoffs? Would Chinese teams still take a gamble on the Korean experiment? Because that’s still what it is: an experiment. In this experiment, there are eight LPL case studies with Korean imports, four control teams, and 11 weeks of LPL Spring regular season. Week One has ended, and it’s time to check performances.
It’s hard to gauge the success of the “Korean Experiment” in producing top Chinese teams based on two disparate cases. We can glean that if one team appears to have instant success, that doesn’t mean they have no communication issues, and it can only improve from there. Sometimes communication disconnect only raises its head with time, and it’s possible we’ll know more about how well these hybrid Chinese-Korean squads are doing as the splits progress. An initial success story could unravel later, or a rocky start could level out in the last few weeks of Spring.
As anticipated, the teams that look the best with their new imports are Edward Gaming and LGD Gaming. EDG separates the effectiveness of their early game snowballers in Tong “Koro1” Yang and Heo “PawN” Wonseok and late game carries in Kim “Deft” Hyukkyu and Ming “Clearlove” Kai. Koro1 and PawN are content to put out the pressure in early-to-mid game as solo laners while Deft and Clearlove contentedly farm and take advantage of being low on the attention-grabbing radar. It’s hard to notice Deft’s weaker laning phase when his top and mid laners are 70 cs above their opponents.
LGD Gaming is enjoying switching their top lane monsters between games. In both of their series, they used Choi “Acorn” Cheonju in Game 1 to time teleports and assist in the ramp up of Wei “We1less” Lian and Gu “imp” Seungbin. In Game 2, Lee “Flame” Hojong has gone off in his own right, collecting a near 100 cs lead on Star Horn Royal Club’s Jang “Cola” Na. The direction of Team Captain Chen “Pyl” Bo has led both of these teams through the crisp map movements that have long been the calling card of LGD Gaming.
Similar things can be said for Vici Gaming, though their solo laners have had some hit-or-miss performances. VG has found themselves at an early game deficit to EDG and OMG, but their team fighting shows they might perform much better against squads lower in the standings.
Master3 is a horse of a different color, as the team’s performances seem to be strictly based upon Bae “dade” Eojin’s whims. Against SHRC, dade counter-picked himself into Lei “corn” Wen’s Kassadin, and SHRC’s superior coordination let them run away with games early. Against King, dade showed up with both a monstrous Zed and Azir pick, and he and jungler Tengyang “Ruo” Tianxia crushed a path through the middle of the map. Jang “looper” Hyeongseok, however, has failed to truly show up so far.
With a few notable M3 exceptions, these high caliber Korean imports seem to be showing off. Rookie’s excellent Fizz performances have him sitting at the top of the MVP standing, a spot usually reserved for an OMG mid laner -- though Yu “cool” Jiajun certainly isn’t far behind. The problem comes in a difference in expectations.
In the case of LGD and EDG, the Chinese and Korean players all have clearly defined roles. The team is set up in such a way that each member pulls his weight. As a result, we say EDG and LGD look better than iG, and we expect them to shoot ahead in the coming weeks, while the rest of the bunch search for an identity. Their greatest test will be this weekend when they face each other in a BO2.
Regardless of whether a squad picked up big name Koreans in the offseason, it’s clear all the teams have growing pains. Very rough play will be worked through in the weeks to come, and with five teams tied for first place in Week 1, it’s still impossible to tell whether the “Korean Experiment” will pan out come the 2015 World Championship.
THE TRACK RECORD
2014 LPL Summer marked the first use of foreign players in the Chinese LoL Pro League. Three teams picked up Korean players: Star Horn Royal Club, Team WE, and Invictus Gaming (after several weeks, Team WE Academy would also acquire two Koreans). IG never had much success with Gwon “Yongsoo” Yongsu in the top lane, but it is unclear whether this was down to communication, the departure of Lui “PDD” Mou, or YongSoo’s skill level. Team WE had early success with Yeon “Sin” Hyeongmo and Noh “Ninja” Geonwoo. WE vied for first place for the first four weeks of LPL with Edward Gaming and OMG. When patches changed, WE took much longer to adjust than other squads, their team fighting suffered, and they ended up falling from the top four of LPL. Star Horn Royal Club had the opposite trajectory. Though they remained in the top four for LPL proper, they shot through the ranks in the last three weeks when the meta shifted to favor their natural inclinations, and Choin “inSec” Inseok worked out the kinks with his solo lane partners.
It’s hard to gauge the success of the “Korean Experiment” in producing top Chinese teams based on two disparate cases. We can glean that if one team appears to have instant success, that doesn’t mean they have no communication issues, and it can only improve from there. Sometimes communication disconnect only raises its head with time, and it’s possible we’ll know more about how well these hybrid Chinese-Korean squads are doing as the splits progress. An initial success story could unravel later, or a rocky start could level out in the last few weeks of Spring.
WEEK ONE CHECK IN
A glance at the standings features six teams featuring Koreans that have yet to drop a game, two that have gone 2-2, and two that have yet to win a single match. As for the all-Chinese squads, OMG has won all of their games, but Gamtee, King, and Energy Pacemaker sit at the bottom with zero wins. That should suggest that teams with Korean imports, overall, are performing better. There are some adjustments to consider in assessing the schedule and realizing the relative experience of some of the all-Chinese squads. King and Gamtee have never played in LPL, and Energy Pacemaker didn’t have the most success before they were relegated last Spring. Even so, King were considered favorites for top four, and they were dismantled by not only Edward Gaming, but the notably shaky Master3. While everyone is finding their feet, big name Champions Korea performers are climbing the standings.STAND OUT SQUADS
As anticipated, the teams that look the best with their new imports are Edward Gaming and LGD Gaming. EDG separates the effectiveness of their early game snowballers in Tong “Koro1” Yang and Heo “PawN” Wonseok and late game carries in Kim “Deft” Hyukkyu and Ming “Clearlove” Kai. Koro1 and PawN are content to put out the pressure in early-to-mid game as solo laners while Deft and Clearlove contentedly farm and take advantage of being low on the attention-grabbing radar. It’s hard to notice Deft’s weaker laning phase when his top and mid laners are 70 cs above their opponents.
LGD Gaming is enjoying switching their top lane monsters between games. In both of their series, they used Choi “Acorn” Cheonju in Game 1 to time teleports and assist in the ramp up of Wei “We1less” Lian and Gu “imp” Seungbin. In Game 2, Lee “Flame” Hojong has gone off in his own right, collecting a near 100 cs lead on Star Horn Royal Club’s Jang “Cola” Na. The direction of Team Captain Chen “Pyl” Bo has led both of these teams through the crisp map movements that have long been the calling card of LGD Gaming.
THE DIFFERENCE
Other teams like Invictus Gaming, WE, Vici Gaming, and M3 have obvious flaws. In the case of iG and WE, the strengths of the Chinese players on the team do not mesh with the strengths of their Korean compatriots. IG sits at the top of the standings with LGD and EDG, but these are mostly through brute force efforts of Song “Rookie” Eujin and Lee “KaKAO” Byungkwon. WE’s engagements show severe disconnect between Lee “Spirit” Dayoon and the rest of the squad.
Similar things can be said for Vici Gaming, though their solo laners have had some hit-or-miss performances. VG has found themselves at an early game deficit to EDG and OMG, but their team fighting shows they might perform much better against squads lower in the standings.
Master3 is a horse of a different color, as the team’s performances seem to be strictly based upon Bae “dade” Eojin’s whims. Against SHRC, dade counter-picked himself into Lei “corn” Wen’s Kassadin, and SHRC’s superior coordination let them run away with games early. Against King, dade showed up with both a monstrous Zed and Azir pick, and he and jungler Tengyang “Ruo” Tianxia crushed a path through the middle of the map. Jang “looper” Hyeongseok, however, has failed to truly show up so far.
With a few notable M3 exceptions, these high caliber Korean imports seem to be showing off. Rookie’s excellent Fizz performances have him sitting at the top of the MVP standing, a spot usually reserved for an OMG mid laner -- though Yu “cool” Jiajun certainly isn’t far behind. The problem comes in a difference in expectations.
In the case of LGD and EDG, the Chinese and Korean players all have clearly defined roles. The team is set up in such a way that each member pulls his weight. As a result, we say EDG and LGD look better than iG, and we expect them to shoot ahead in the coming weeks, while the rest of the bunch search for an identity. Their greatest test will be this weekend when they face each other in a BO2.
Regardless of whether a squad picked up big name Koreans in the offseason, it’s clear all the teams have growing pains. Very rough play will be worked through in the weeks to come, and with five teams tied for first place in Week 1, it’s still impossible to tell whether the “Korean Experiment” will pan out come the 2015 World Championship.
