Boards›Esports

SKT emerges undefeated from the Group Stage

Riot·10/9/2015, 10:50:27 PM·3 votes·40,570 views

At a World Championship that's already seen an abundance of surprises, it's nice that at least one thing's going as expected.

Korea's SKTelecom T1 surprised no one by securing their ticket to London and their spot in the Quarterfinals. The fact that they succeeded in doing so undefeated, with a 6-0 win streak in the Group Stage, won't come as a shock to anyone.

Despite this exemplary performance, top laner Gyeong-hwan "Marin" Jang feels like there are still areas they can improve upon. "I am really satisfied with my performance against EDG, but with the other games, I underestimated my opponents and didn’t perform as well as I would like to," he told us. "As far as the results go, we’re satisfied. We expected three wins. But as far as team performance goes, there were some mistakes. Some miscommunication. That part didn’t go as expected and we want to work on it."

[[{"fid":"20140","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/sktmarinandbengi3.jpg%3Fitok%3DeKbh-OS8","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

SKT's jungler Seong-ung "bengi" Bae feels that they managed to exceed their own expectations, even with any mistakes they might have made. "Our prediction was that we would 2-0 the Bangkok Titans and H2K and go at least 1-1 against [Edward Gaming] and maybe face them again in the tie-breaker. But contrary to our expectations, we actually beat EDG pretty easily, so I think we were able to get out of Groups pretty securely."

The amount of surprises and upsets we've seen here at Worlds so far could easily be down to the current state of the meta. Marin believes that, "the current meta has a lot of variables. It is very unpredictable. It’s easy to have a snowball effect, so there can be a lot of upsets." This means that even if you pick an strong champion, you're not necessarily guaranteed a win.

In Week 1 we saw a lot of players first-picking Darius in the top lane, though the performances weren't too convincing. This week we've seen top laners play the champion with a much greater degree of success. "Darius is one of the most popular champions, even in scrims. A lot of teams are getting a chance to use Darius in very different situations. Through that they have gained some mastery over him," says Marin.

[[{"fid":"20138","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/sktmarinandbengi6.jpg%3Fitok%3DkdTJFn9r","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

On the other hand, champions that aren't seeing a lot of play are also being pulled out and taking teams unawares. We've seen some very convincing Tahm Kench plays this week, for example. Marin explains, "Tahm Kench is the most recent champion, so I feel like he hasn’t been studied enough yet. Players aren’t sure enough of him. That’s why he’s not picked as often, but he definitely has potential."

But make no mistake, we're unlikely to see Faker pull out his full AP Tahm Kench while he's at Worlds. "Unless Faker completely ignores what everybody tells him, you probably won’t be seeing Tahm Kench mid!" says Marin.

SKT played very aggressively in all of their games today. Both Marin and Faker made liberal use of Flash to jump into a fight and destroy their lane opponent, or whoever else was foolish enough to stand in the way. Bengi explains their onslaught by stating that the team "had good momentum in the games, so we decided to just keep our aggression up and try to take as much advantage as possible."

This aggression manifested in some bullying against Edward Gaming's top laner Waiho "AmazingJ" Shek, but this wasn't necessarily a strategy they planned going into the game. "It was never our intention to pick on AmazingJ. It was just that EDG’s jungler, Clearlove, showed himself a lot in the bot lane. This made it easier for us to dive the top lane and push it really fast," explains Marin.

[[{"fid":"20142","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/22063253341_7137e8ca16_k.jpg%3Fitok%3Dpi2XC-6x","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Bengi elaborates. "I had a strategy to counter-jungle their Red," he said. "But after that, I saw Clearlove in the bottom lane, and that's why I thought top was quite defenseless. Also, at the time, the waves were in our favor against their tower. So we decided to dive him and focus on AmazingJ. I wasn't planning to babysit the top."

The pair are agreed on their expectations for the remainder of the Group Stage. They both believe that KT Rolster, Origen, Fnatic, and Cloud9 will make it to Quarterfinals. Though as we've seen over the last week, anything could happen.

Of course, Marin believes SKTelecom T1 is strong and they will do well as they progress into the competition. But there's a seed of humility in there, too. An indication that their winstreak won't necessarily last until the Finals. "We are strong. Definitely a strong team, but only slightly stronger than the other teams. It’s a gap that is easily closed if we make mistakes or if the other team is in a good condition, so it’s not a significant gap."

[[{"fid":"20141","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/sktmarinandbengi2.jpg%3Fitok%3DHua5EhuB","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

But surely now they've at least redeemed themselves for their loss against EDG at MSI, right? "It's not sufficiently a redemption yet. For this to be a complete revenge, I think we will have to knock them out of the subsequent stages," says bengi.

Marin agrees. "At MSI I played against Koro1. I feel like I haven’t really redeemed myself against Koro1 yet. So, whether it’s at the Semifinals or the Finals, I would like to beat the 'real EDG'," Marin explains. With Koro1 potentially starting for EDG in the Quarterfinals and beyond, Marin may get his wish. Then, and only then, will Marin happily crown himself the best top laner in the world.

"I'm not the best yet, but once I get the Championship title, then I’ll be the best."

See who will join SKTelecom T1 in the Quarterfinals when Group D faces off tomorrow at 12:00 Central European Summer Time or 3:00 AM Pacific Time.

For more Worlds 2015 coverage, head over to Lolesports.com.

38 Comments

Legacy of Ra10/9/2015, 11:19:17 PM9 votes

This has been a very dominant performance from SKT, but also an unexpected one. It's incredibly refreshing to see the rest of SKT's rosters shining. While Faker is definitely a god amongst men, his impact hasn't been what we're used to seeing. Instead, it's been Marin with his incredible top lane performances and Bang and Wolf putting in amazing work in the bot lane (with the assistance of Bengi, obviously) that have been the real highlights of the Worlds' group stage.

I dare say that this is most lethal incarnation of SKT that we've ever seen, because it isn't just Faker anymore; their entire roster is filled with WMDs.

KaiKacer10/11/2015, 12:37:55 AM4 votes

#SKT Your 2015 World Champion

Sqkerg10/10/2015, 4:09:24 AM3 votes

kind of annoying how much e-sports has been fawning over SKT

AlphaChaser10/10/2015, 12:02:35 AM3 votes

It would be really great if Faker played his signature assassins again. I don't think I'd really want a Skt Ryze skin, a skt leblanc skin sounds much more appealing xD

EpicDragon710/10/2015, 5:14:42 AM2 votes

SKT T1 > EVERYBODY skt t1 win worlds. origen doing well? THEY DO WELL AGAINST NOOBS, THEY SUCK DICK AGAINST SKT T1

ShadowMagiq10/10/2015, 7:06:40 AM2 votes

It's almost like reading soloQ when Marin says when his team wins the championship he'll be the best. Last time I checked this is a team game. If you team wins a game means your team was better but doesnt mean much for a solo laner even if they carried.

cruiz10/10/2015, 1:04:56 AM2 votes

Kind of boring watching SKT T1 play.....the outcome is always the same...they almost ruin the tournaments.

Shattered Shade10/11/2015, 6:04:13 AM2 votes

SKT is hyped for a reason. Yes, the castors sometimes may sound biased, but how can you not, seeing how SKT performs? What people don't understand about SKT is that their entire team is a superstar comp. Marin's arguably the best top laner in the world right now, while Bengi is a tenacious jungler who capitalizes on every single mistake the enemy jungler makes. Wolf is a phenomenal support, and Bang's such an underrated ADC who stays in the backline and slays you without you even realizing it. Faker's Faker, and there isn't a more knowledgeable player in the game. You can't counter-pick him 90% of the time, and even if you go after Faker, there's 2 more carries in the team who'll run rampant over you. Beating SKT requires an equally super strong performance from every single laner in the opposing team. You leave even one of them to run free and they'll dominate you. That's why SKT is so infallible, cuz they're solid in every single lane.

Lugg10/10/2015, 1:27:28 AM1 votes

Not surprising since EDG didn't even really try against them. They knew they would get out of the group and didn't want to give anything away to SKT until it really matters.

SEA BEAST10/10/2015, 4:43:46 AM1 votes

korean shit

C9 Taph10/10/2015, 4:08:36 AM1 votes

"This means that even if you pick an strong champion, you're not necessarily guaranteed a win." I believe that "an" should be a instead, makes my mouth hurt trying to say it.