Korea's SKTelecom T1 win just in time

Riot·May 7, 2016·0 votes·22,270 views

It’s taken them two days, but Korea's SKTelecom T1 have finally shown signs of life again in their victory over North America’s Counter Logic Gaming at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational. With their recent run of form, it’s probably the best birthday present that Faker could have asked for.

So, happy birthday, champ!

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There was a big question mark hanging over Day 4, and this match in particular. SKT’s unprecedented losing streak caused many to question if the World Champions had tilted to beyond the point of no return, or if there was still a beating heart buried somewhere deep down. CLG was living up to their counter logic namesake, losing to Turkey's SuperMassive and then beating SKT in the previous days.

So if you had asked us who the favorite was going into this match -- we would have struggled to give you a conclusive answer.

“For the past three days we’ve played worse than we have ever since our debut,” Faker said. “Even though I had confidence, we didn’t play good enough.”

It was CLG who exerted the early pressure in the match. Some slick Bard moves from Aphromoo and a great ultimate on Aurelion Sol from Huhi secured the First Blood. Kills were traded back and forth and the game could have easily swung in either direction. Duke edged out an advantage over Darshan, while Stixxay averaged a good 20-30 CS up on Bang.

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Though, in the end, it was the birthday boy himself that proved the difference. Faker’s Zilean put in some serious work. It was the first time the Chrono Keeper's been picked at MSI, and Faker used him to zone CLG’s aggression and keep both himself and his teammates alive with some clutch ultimates.

The turning point came when a Baron play from CLG went awry. They secured Baron, but lost three kills and a mid inhibitor turret in the process. Then, instead of consolidating their loss, they went aggressive, pushing bot lane and grabbing another tower. A poorly played team fight from CLG gave SKT all the advantage they needed to quickly run down mid lane and close out the game.

“It was important that we broke our losing streak because if we didn’t, it would jeopardize our chance of getting to the next stage of MSI," Faker said. "We had a lot of support from our team.”

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As we get closer to the end of the Round Robin stage, things are getting tight. The only thing that’s certain is that China's Royal Never Give Up will be in the Semifinals, and that they've secured a top four seed for Worlds 2016.

As SKT and CLG now inch closer and closer to the same amount of wins, it sets up an interesting tiebreaker scenario. Depending on how Europe performs for the rest of the Round Robin, it could be a tiebreaker that decides the fate of their regions.

Things are heating up here at MSI so stay up to date at Lolesports and hit us up on Twitter with #MSI2016 and show your regional pride.

21 Comments

ElphrihaimMay 7, 20164 votes

SPOILERS. SERIOUSLY.

THIS IS WHY ESPORTS IS TERRIBLE. TRY MY HARDEST TO EVADE THEM, AND THEN THIS CROPS UP WHEN I CHECK BOARDS.

HOW CAN I STAY UNSPOILED WHEN THIS KEEPS HAPPENING? >:(

Xayah for DinnerMay 7, 20162 votes

{quoted}

SPOILERS. SERIOUSLY.

THIS IS WHY ESPORTS IS TERRIBLE. TRY MY HARDEST TO EVADE THEM, AND THEN THIS CROPS UP WHEN I CHECK BOARDS.

HOW CAN I STAY UNSPOILED WHEN THIS KEEPS HAPPENING? >:(

watch the games live

ElphrihaimMay 7, 20165 votes

[{quoted}](name=UFC Lincoln,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=lgzR7OAd,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2016-05-07T12:49:15.911+0000)

watch the games live

but i don't have the time most of the time to do that.

and watching game 10 live when I haven't watched even game 5 spoils many as well.

VardaMay 7, 20166 votes

If you want League to become more like traditional sports, then stop treating like a movie or a tv show and start treating it like a sport. Who yells about spoilers after the superbowl, or a world cup match?

ElphrihaimMay 7, 20162 votes

{quoted}

If you want League to become more like traditional sports,

Well; I'd actually rather it be less like sports... But most of my issues with traditional sports are avoided with League due to how it is played and viewed.

then stop treating like a movie or a tv show and start treating it like a sport.

I.. what? This doesn't follow.

Of course it's a sport and it's got obvious parallels and also obvious dissimilarities.

But, uh, none of your clauses make sense to come after one another to me. Never said I wanted it to be more like traditional sports, never said I was treating it like a movie or TV show, and--

Who yells about spoilers after the superbowl, or a world cup match?

Me, when I get spoiled on them. Because I don't watch most of those when they happen either, and yet somehow I have never gotten spoiled on them. But, repeatedly, I get spoiled on the match results for league.

So overall I just don't get what you were trying to say here. I was just complaining that unlike actual sports I get esports spoilers when I check here for some other reason-- but when I check anywhere that isn't directly related to traditional sports I don't get such spoilers.. I'll say 90% of the time.

SchneIIMay 7, 20163 votes

Open up your game client, go to the esports section. Click on the game you want to watch. You have to manually click to show who won. Or go on the website, put on a blindfold, and try to remember how to get to vods. Or Google the vods page.

EleshakaiMay 7, 20164 votes

the same way people avoid movie and game story spoilers: don't go places that discuss those medium.

ElphrihaimMay 7, 20162 votes

{quoted}

the same way people avoid movie and game story spoilers: don't go places that discuss those medium.

But I don't ever check the esports label. The only reason I see things tagged with it are because they get placed on the landing page.

(And I have other reasons why I need to check the Boards, so not checking the boards isn't a good option.)

Yxgl222HaXMay 9, 20161 votes

Or you could just watch the games BEFORE going to the boards/esports thread that we all know has these on it. Common sense op

ElphrihaimMay 9, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Zed or Feed,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=lgzR7OAd,comment-id=00000002,timestamp=2016-05-09T13:45:01.303+0000)

Or you could just watch the games BEFORE going to the boards/esports thread that we all know has these on it. Common sense op

aaand I've already addressed your statements.

If you want to call common sense, use yours.

While I lack the time to watch the games, I have other obligations that require me to check the Boards that take less time.

And finally, they did not used to be on the forum main pages. It was, therefore, very easy to avoid spoilers (just one more reason why Boards suck, I guess).

CaptainAsia999May 10, 20161 votes

Then stop complaing. Going "OH STOP SPOILING THINGS!" before turning and saying, "I don't have time to watch them, and I need to see other things on the board" is literally the dumbest argument I've heard. Why don't you just watch the vods after hearing the outcome like every other person who has things to do? Stop bitching, because there are ways to avoid all of this and you have excuses for why each and every one don't work for you. Either make it work, or stop complaining, because you have no right to.

ElphrihaimMay 10, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Going "OH STOP SPOILING THINGS!" before turning and saying, "I don't have time to watch them, and I need to see other things on the board" is literally the dumbest argument I've heard.

Then you know a lot of really really smart people because that isn't a dumb argument at all.

Why don't you just watch the vods after hearing the outcome

#Because I don't have the time to watch the vods.

Stop bitching, because there are ways to avoid all of this and you have excuses for why each and every one don't work for you.

You call them excuses. I call them reasons.

We could be here all day, but the issue at its core evolved from Riot's decisions and I just wanted to vent after having had this happen for months.

Either make it work, or stop complaining,

I've tried my absolute hardest to, and it doesn't work because Riot keeps making esports announcements that I can't convienently ignore completely.

because you have no right to.

Each person has the right to state their mind in this sort of environment, and I think there is something valuable to stating what I've written before-- Though the primary reason is simply catharsis, I must admit.

(& I am familiar with many free speech related arguments so I realize that just writing that makes me the one being shown the door and not taking it, but I feel there is too much that could be learned from the continuation to not press forward.)

YumtoyMay 11, 20161 votes

You can go to this https://www.youtube.com/user/Kazawuna/videos channel. It shows you all the matches without spoilers. The upload time is decent, usually 1 or 2 days after the actual match at most.

ElphrihaimMay 11, 20161 votes

{quoted}

You can go to this https://www.youtube.com/user/Kazawuna/videos channel. It shows you all the matches without spoilers. The upload time is decent, usually 1 or 2 days after the actual match at most.

the problem is that riot posts the esports match results to the boards...

Rosemary Bread May 7, 20162 votes

Who care about SKT anyways? The game would be so much better without them. Watching them winning over and over again is boring as fuck. Let other regions a chance to win the world. Go NA and EU win us the world.

WeChildrenOf GodMay 8, 20165 votes

The game would be of lower quality competitively. I'd rather watch one region win because they're better, b/c that shows the rest of the world what they need to do. Higher quality games= viewers get higher quality (and those in the crowd get their money's worth.)

I Am MagicianMay 8, 20167 votes

Every pro player respects the hell out of SKT and every organization wants what SKT has, the first and only LOL dynasty. I completely disagree with "let other regions a chance to win"... They all have a chance to win but if they don't play as well they won't win. EU did a great job last year getting to semi's, but the West has to be even better to win it all. We haven't had that many seasons yet, every team has a "chance" but whether they win or not is up to them! So get off SKT's back and put the onus on the other teams to dethrone them at worlds. The game would not be better without SKT. SKT has and will push other teams to be even better. Better league play is more amazing to watch.

JangbolsalMay 8, 20164 votes

A typical right wing Japanese who hates everything related to Korea

EPIKONMay 8, 20161 votes

The league would have been better without LJL.

Oh wait, they are and will always be nonexistent.

Legacy of RaMay 8, 20162 votes

I'm happy to see that SKT-- the World Champions --are still alive, somewhere beneath the dust of the poor showing they've given us so far at MSI. I was actually nervous watching this final set of games, because I wasn't sure if they would show up (like I hoped they would). Thankfully, SKT came through in the end.

The game between SKT and CLG was fine and dandy, sure, but the match against RNG was the real treat. Not to take anything from CLG, because they're definitely putting NA on the map this year, but the match between RNG and SKT was in an entirely different league of mechanics, planning, and execution. That was arguably one of the greatest games I've ever seen in my life, and it was only a best of one. I can't wait for this Friday.

gvangMay 9, 20162 votes

Those seats in that first pic are HORRIBLE. They're some of the players in the tournament, and you guys give them seats where they end up having neck pains? The front row seats are not always the best, ya know?