Champions Spring 2015: The road to Playoffs
Riot·3/4/2015, 7:51:01 PM·0 votes·7,247 views
Korea has historically been the strongest region in professional League of Legends, forging world champions in a cutthroat competitive environment where one game could be the difference between competing for the crown or being sidelined for four months. With Champions Spring 2015 shifting to a league format, fans became deeply interested in seeing how Korea’s top eight teams would deal with playing a Best of 3 match every single week.
The results have been surprising, to say the least. Here are the biggest stories that pave the road to the LCK Playoffs.
Transport yourself back to the pre-season in Korea, a few months after Samsung White claimed the 2014 World Championship. What do you see? A competitive scene crippled by international transfers and a severe loss of talent? A top-heavy region ready to be brought under the iron fist of Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok? A two-horse race between SK Telecom T1 and NaJin e-mFire?
If your name is Kang "GorillA" Beom-hyeon, you see your new empire. The GE Tigers quietly announced their formation on Twitter, as the former NaJin support gathered a few of his old friends to make a run at qualifying for Champions. They looked far and away the best team in the Qualifiers, but few would have expected them to be the best in the tournament proper.
In almost every postgame interview (and there have been many, as GE have not lost a single Best of 3 match all year), the Tiger holding the mic will attribute his victory to his teammates and coaches. The experienced fan may be tempted to dismiss this as another typical Korean interview, but when this adage of humility comes from the mouth of a Tiger, it rings true.
Indeed, the GE Tigers are the very picture of teamwork. Prior to their formation, only Kim "PraY" Jong-in and GorillA could really be said to be exceptional players. Top laner Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho never really impressed on Incredible Miracle. Jungler Lee “Lee” Ho-jin had moments of brilliance on NaJin Black Sword, but was overall too green to contend with the best. Mid laner Lee “Kuro” Seo-haeng had a historical reputation for being a decent player on a weak team.
And while all three players have shown marked improvement from previous seasons, their individual performances do not even hold a candle to their play as a team. Each individual Tiger could be considered a ‘perfect teammate’, in the sense that they will almost always be where they need to be at any given time. Taking this into account, the GE Tigers are really not so different from past elite Korean teams: smooth communication, mutual respect among teammates, authoritative coaching, and a dash of star talent.
In their current form, the Tigers are on course to finish the regular season with a 14-0 match score. This alone makes them deserving of attention -- and foreign fans will be forced to pay attention to them as they begin their IEM Katowice campaign.
There is no other region that utilizes substitute players as much as Korea, and this is a product of multiple changes to the region’s competitive structure. Firstly, the weekly league system means that each individual game is worth less in the grand scheme of things (unlike previous years, where each team only played six immensely valuable Group Stage games). Secondly, the abolishment of sister teams and the shift towards 10-man rosters has meant that coaches have not been afraid to experiment with different configurations for their teams.
At first glance, a constantly changing roster may seem to be a strategic error. Fielding different players each week may slow the development of team synergy (as made evident through NaJin e-mFire’s apparent refusal to field Oh “Ohq” Gyu-min), but it also provides time for a team to figure out their optimal roster for Playoffs and important matches. SK Telecom T1 has profited from this, beginning with the unthinkable, almost blasphemous, act of leaving Faker on the bench in favor of Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon.
For SKT coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun, the roster rotation rule has allowed him to more accurately gauge the abilities of his players and craft strategies around them after much trial and error. It seems like a no-brainer to anyone else to always have Faker in the booth, but what if the situation called for an more effective Xerath or Cassiopeia player?
Likewise, the Jin Air Green Wings have found success with their rotation of AD carries Kang “Cpt Jack” Hyung-woo and Na “Pilot” Woo-hyung (their given names are just a coincidence). Though the two share similar champion preferences, Jin Air can rely on Cpt Jack to tip the scales with his impressive playmaking ability, while Pilot’s masterful, safe positioning frees up Jin Air’s solo laners to be more creative with their play.
The Rise of the Tigers
Transport yourself back to the pre-season in Korea, a few months after Samsung White claimed the 2014 World Championship. What do you see? A competitive scene crippled by international transfers and a severe loss of talent? A top-heavy region ready to be brought under the iron fist of Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok? A two-horse race between SK Telecom T1 and NaJin e-mFire?
If your name is Kang "GorillA" Beom-hyeon, you see your new empire. The GE Tigers quietly announced their formation on Twitter, as the former NaJin support gathered a few of his old friends to make a run at qualifying for Champions. They looked far and away the best team in the Qualifiers, but few would have expected them to be the best in the tournament proper.
In almost every postgame interview (and there have been many, as GE have not lost a single Best of 3 match all year), the Tiger holding the mic will attribute his victory to his teammates and coaches. The experienced fan may be tempted to dismiss this as another typical Korean interview, but when this adage of humility comes from the mouth of a Tiger, it rings true.
Indeed, the GE Tigers are the very picture of teamwork. Prior to their formation, only Kim "PraY" Jong-in and GorillA could really be said to be exceptional players. Top laner Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho never really impressed on Incredible Miracle. Jungler Lee “Lee” Ho-jin had moments of brilliance on NaJin Black Sword, but was overall too green to contend with the best. Mid laner Lee “Kuro” Seo-haeng had a historical reputation for being a decent player on a weak team.
And while all three players have shown marked improvement from previous seasons, their individual performances do not even hold a candle to their play as a team. Each individual Tiger could be considered a ‘perfect teammate’, in the sense that they will almost always be where they need to be at any given time. Taking this into account, the GE Tigers are really not so different from past elite Korean teams: smooth communication, mutual respect among teammates, authoritative coaching, and a dash of star talent.
In their current form, the Tigers are on course to finish the regular season with a 14-0 match score. This alone makes them deserving of attention -- and foreign fans will be forced to pay attention to them as they begin their IEM Katowice campaign.
Roster Rotations
There is no other region that utilizes substitute players as much as Korea, and this is a product of multiple changes to the region’s competitive structure. Firstly, the weekly league system means that each individual game is worth less in the grand scheme of things (unlike previous years, where each team only played six immensely valuable Group Stage games). Secondly, the abolishment of sister teams and the shift towards 10-man rosters has meant that coaches have not been afraid to experiment with different configurations for their teams.
At first glance, a constantly changing roster may seem to be a strategic error. Fielding different players each week may slow the development of team synergy (as made evident through NaJin e-mFire’s apparent refusal to field Oh “Ohq” Gyu-min), but it also provides time for a team to figure out their optimal roster for Playoffs and important matches. SK Telecom T1 has profited from this, beginning with the unthinkable, almost blasphemous, act of leaving Faker on the bench in favor of Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon.
For SKT coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun, the roster rotation rule has allowed him to more accurately gauge the abilities of his players and craft strategies around them after much trial and error. It seems like a no-brainer to anyone else to always have Faker in the booth, but what if the situation called for an more effective Xerath or Cassiopeia player?
Likewise, the Jin Air Green Wings have found success with their rotation of AD carries Kang “Cpt Jack” Hyung-woo and Na “Pilot” Woo-hyung (their given names are just a coincidence). Though the two share similar champion preferences, Jin Air can rely on Cpt Jack to tip the scales with his impressive playmaking ability, while Pilot’s masterful, safe positioning frees up Jin Air’s solo laners to be more creative with their play.
