Korea's Kings rise while China's Dragons fall

Riot·May 13, 2016·4 votes·17,842 views

Korea’s SKTelecom T1 is the first team heading into the Finals here at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational in Shanghai, after beating China's Royal Never Give Up in front of a home crowd. In doing so, they also crushed China’s hopes of claiming a second MSI trophy.

Coming into the series it was SKT who surprisingly was the underdog. Their Round Robin performance last week left many people wondering what the hell had happened to the World Champions. Many didn't expect them to drop a game here at the tournament -- so imagine the surprise when they dropped four consecutive games. It was something the world hadn’t seen out of SKT in over 650 days and it was easy to pin China's in-form RNG as favorites here in front of a passionate Chinese audience.

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Though, at the end of the day, SKT is still SKT. The only team to win two World Championships is now the only team to compete in two Finals of the Mid-Season Invitational. Now they have another chance to claim the only trophy that's missing from their cabinet.

"All the teams that participated at MSI were truly the champions of their regions. They were all so good," said SKT's Coach Kkoma following the match.

Today, we saw first hand what makes SKT just that much better than the best teams in the world. But they didn't come out of the gate swinging. In fact, it was RNG who got the upper hand in the first game of the series.

It was a story of RNG's Looper and the top lane matchup that started in champion select. RNG forced SKT to pick Poppy and heavily countered it with Looper's Trundle pick. After a solo First Blood and baiting out Faker’s Teleport, Looper snowballed his advantage into two kills and a 40 CS lead over Duke. So it was only fitting that the final push to take down SKT’s Nexus saw every member of RNG fall, including Looper -- who, after being revived by his Guardian Angel, clubbed his way to a Game 1 win for China.

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“All of our players are veterans. They know how to take care of their own mentality. I just focus on telling them, since we lost this one, let's try a different way," explains Coach Kkoma. "Let's do different picks and bans, a different game style, and that's how we prepared for Game 2.”

SKT prepared and came back with a vengeance -- Game 2 was the third fastest game we’ve seen at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational. Faker was an absolute monster on Azir, a champion which he was called out for last week during their four game losing streak. Today, there was none of that -- he solo killed Xiahou, who was on LeBlanc, and proceeded to take control of the game. His coordination with Wolf and the Azir ult into Soraka silence was beautiful to watch. Not to mention it helped SKT tie the series up 1-1.

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“I enjoyed playing Azir the most,” Faker told us with a grin. “I was able to repeatedly beat the crap out of my opponents. I think I played better than last week, but there's still some areas for improvement.”

Game 3 saw the first Leona of the tournament locked in and brought a wild cheer from the Chinese crowd. Everyone was wondering what the genius Mata could do on this champion rarely seen in pro play, and while there were glimmers of brilliance, it failed to shine as brightly as it could have. Instead, it was Faker again who stole the show, this time on Fizz. He roamed like crazy and enabled his team to gain huge advantages across the map. Between Faker and Duke’s Ekko, they had a ton of Mejai’s stacks between them, which proved too much for RNG to handle.

SKT had one game to close it out while RNG were going to have to dig themselves out of a hole if they wanted to make it to the Finals. Yet RNG didn’t do anything to help their chances in champion select.

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“As they were the blue side, since they don't have enough ban cards to ban all of the good, overpowered champions, they tried to open up a lot and divide up the champions," says Kkoma. "But once we got Ryze and Maokai, I was sure at that point that we were going to win that match.”

If you’re going to hand over Ryze and Maokai to two of the best Ryze and Maokai players in the world, you’re going to have a bad day. This is what RNG found out first hand in Game 4 as SKT closed out the series 3-1 with a 9-0 game.

Tomorrow, North America’s Counter Logic Gaming will take on the LMS' Flash Wolves in the second MSI Semifinal, a game which SKT will be watching closely.

“Both teams have their own strengths and weaknesses that are completely different, so it's hard to say which is more difficult," says Kkoma.

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He continued, "Whichever team advances to the Final, I'm confident we can beat them. Though I’m personally rooting for NA because I follow NA as a region."

It will take one hell of a team to beat SKT with how well they performed today. Though if we’ve learned anything from this tournament, it’s that anything can happen. Whatever the results, the only one winner we know for sure is regional competition. Something we can’t wait to see more of in the future and something that Kkoma's already very excited about.

“Since this tournament was so competitive and each team matched one another's level at such a high point, I would like domestic fans to cheer and support [their region] rather than point criticism at them," says Kkoma. "Even for the next tournament, like at Worlds, I couldn't say who would win because all the regions are so good at this point.”

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Tune in tomorrow to Lolesports for the second Semifinal and remember to hit us up on Twitter with #MSI2016 to share your favorite moments from the games.

28 Comments

2Boo4BerryMay 13, 20167 votes

Man what great commentary from Kkoma. The community as a whole should read what he has to say about regional and international competition and follow his example.

TrollFan01May 13, 20164 votes

SKT last night: "Okay guys no more sand bagging."

SecondComingMay 14, 20163 votes

I never stopped believing in Faker senpai <33

CuII The MeekMay 13, 20162 votes

The first time I actually prayed in years and it worked out! I was super worried because of that lose streak so I went to church and prayed the whole time for them to win it. So psyched that they won it and started playing like they did in the LCK finals, super hyped for the finals against whoever. I hope they play the Flash Wolves so they can make up for their two losses against them but since I am NA i gotta cheer for CLG, Go SKT

FR0GMANMay 13, 20162 votes

I know a lot of people have been criticizing SKT, however before they made that ridiculous run at worlds they were much like this team was at the current stage. and yes I know Marin was still Marin. But this team is still mean , when they play smart ........and holy shit Faker looked better than he has in over a year IMO .

SecondComingMay 14, 20161 votes

Actually, they won LCK that year dropping only one series (vs KT Rolster iirc).

JangbolsalMay 14, 20161 votes

I think frog is talking about LCK Spring. SKT wasn't performing very well during the early fixtures, although they eventually won in the playoffs

AzmoranMay 13, 20162 votes

STOP PUTTING SPOILERS ON YOUR ESPORTS PAGES FFS!

EDIT: And btw you freaking VODs for the games aren't even up, but you can sure post spoilers fast.

JangbolsalMay 13, 20162 votes

If you consider this as "sports", you shouldn't think of it as a spoiler. You see other match results such as soccer, basketball and etc on the news. Think of it as that

PandourMay 13, 20161 votes

It is a spoiler. I usually go to lolesports and don't run into a spoiler. And if traditional sports websites put spoilers on the front page, it doesn't mean that the modern "esports" websites should do the same.

JangbolsalMay 13, 20163 votes

Lol it's not a movie, you should have watched it live if you didn't want to know the records. People analyze the matches, write articles about it and upload youtube videos etc. If you access to ESPN Esports section, you will see the records right away. That's why I am saying think of it similar to traditional sports

I Am MagicianMay 13, 20165 votes

I dont watch them live but i have no problem not receiving spoilers. Just dont go looking up esports news when ur not up to date, pretty simple. Direct links to vods are easy to access....

I Am MagicianMay 13, 20162 votes

Why wouldnt there be spoilers here... Dont visit esports pages until you are caught up ffs. I dont go to espn and wonder why there are match results on the front page... Thats how it works. You even know thats how it work but you visit anyways lol.

TSM Brother SvenMay 14, 20162 votes

bookmark the right page (VOD) and stop going to the main page. you criticize them for doing what they've always done, as if you didn't know already

Tal0rMay 16, 20161 votes

Just go to the LoL Event Vods subreddit. It gets VODs up quickly and has no spoilers. www.reddit.com/r/loleventvods

Hardstuck G4May 13, 20161 votes

Huh, I predicted right. Now let's see if I get CLG vs FW right. Good luck to every team though!

The DeckownerMay 13, 20161 votes

If CLG beats SKT I am out, because it will be 100% about CLG abusing broken champions.

2Boo4BerryMay 13, 20164 votes

If this guy comments again I am out, because it will be 100% about fill-in-the-blank irrelevant excuses.

one coochie plsMay 13, 20161 votes

LOL okay because that's obviously how they won against RNG and SKT "broken champions" Go ahead, review the comps and come back to me about "broken." summoner 14

LMXMay 14, 20161 votes

Everyone, congratulate this man, for he is in bronze.

The DeckownerMay 14, 20161 votes

The fact that you are in bronze makes your word kinda invalid

TranserXMay 13, 20161 votes

do u know kinchi?

GostreiverMay 14, 20161 votes

To the league community that is so Fickle.. People always ready to cheer on SKT when they are stomping, then make fun when they lose a game. If the BEST in the world manage to lost to some other teams, that must mean the other regions aren't so weak right? SKT only loses games when they are scouting. Ever since worlds 2015 they have come in to every competition Scouting first, willing to lose a game or two to Learn what they can exploit in their opponents when it really counts. They lose a bit in the spring split, completely figure out KT Rolster and ROX Tigers both, who looked absolutely unbeatable. Completely stomp them. Look at their few losses at MSI, about one to each different team prospected to be in the finals. They gather the information from seeing their opponent play from ahead, when it doesn't matter so much. Then when it matters they completely stomp everyone. GG SKT is the best team the sport has ever seen. They can make it look like they are struggling just so people doubt them, then show up playing like a COMPLETELY different team in Finals. This is something they have done for years. Since after Judgement Day. Learn about the team and quit acting like just because Xiaohou or Febiven or some other clown gets a Cheese solo kill on Faker with Leblanc + summoner 14 . That SKT shows any sign of weakness. When Faker knows he needs to play seriously, and decides to wreck kids. He will destroy your heroes or anyone you root for.

woodvsmurphMay 15, 20161 votes

Depending on your age, I bet you were the guy who rooted for the yankees every year... because they could buy the world championship. Or the Patriots... Yeah SOME fans are fickle and have no clue -- that's why there are more people in bronze and silver than in master and challenger... not that everyone in bronze, silver, gold, etc. can't have a good understanding of pro play. I called SKT winning their first world championship when they were still in group stages. Yes SKT appear to be the team who would win any league tournament 8 out of 10 times. Yes SKT "troll" sometimes to learn about their competitors. This tournament though, they were legitimately asleep for about 3 days at start. Then they woke up, used their losses to their advantage, and made playoff stage. That doesn't mean they intentionally threw their early games -- SKT lost at least some of them despite trying to win. They are a team who will say one thing and then do another or say one thing after they really tried to do another to mindgame opponents (as you claim); however, this is done to both make you underestimate them (as you say) and overestimate them (which you don't seem to recognize). And your claim that faker never loses when he really tries is completely false. We saw it in finals of msi last season, we saw it when samsung blue and white were in Korea, we saw it when AHQ and Flashwolves have pulled off wins. Faker has improved from his first year at worlds, but there have been plenty of games where he was getting manhandled 1v1 and needed Bengi to camp him in order to overcome a deficit and snowball. It made him look way better than he was. Because of better vision control and constant ganks in Faker's favor, he could punish any small mistake -- or just brute force one on the enemy mid. Not because he was better. And the opponent could not reply in kind due to their jungler focusing side lanes and from having less vision around mid. Did most underestimate SKT going into semi-finals? Yes. I on other hand said SKT would win semi's no sweat. But SKT has shown themselves to be a more reactive team this tournament. Playing somewhat like a better version of CLG EU when they were kings of Europe. That kind of play works when you can exploit an enemy's weaknesses enough to make up for being behind in map pressure and objectives. If you can't, the other team builds incremental advantages until you are forced to: make a last ditch offensive play, or bleed out slowly. So instead of just following the hype and whatever Monte or some other caster/analyst says, why don't you take the time to think for yourself as you watch the finals this MSI. Pay attention to who is getting better vision and more ganks/rotations to help out each lane for both sides. Finally, every empire falls. Some are spectacular and short like Alexander's (samsung), others are longer like Rome's (SKT). Regardless, all of them come to ruin. So enjoy while you can talk of your supposedly unbeatable Faker (when he tries). I look forward to the day when I can type KCl -- thats (potassium chloride) Korean salt for those who don't know chemistry.

JangbolsalMay 14, 20161 votes

Looks like SKT didn't want China in the finals, so they trolled in group stage and beat RNG in semifinals.

Rogue BlitzwolfMay 14, 20161 votes

I am rooting for CLG, but Korea you earned the right to be here. You started off slow now you are in the finals good luck.[slayer-jinx-wink]