Widely known as the greatest team to grace the League of Legends professional scene, Korean powerhouse team and three time world champion, SKT, is now eliminated from the tournament after suffering a 3-1 loss against the European champions, G2 Esports in their semifinals match.
Led by the legendary mid laner, Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, SKT was looking to avenge their loss against G2 Esports in the semifinals match of Mid Season Invitational but came up short, managing to take only one game off against G2. SKT looked lost in the series, making unsynchronized plays and just overall not being on the same page during the games.
During the matches, Faker, who is known for his consistency and playmaking abilities, showed signs of regression and vulnerability. He uncharacteristically made mistakes, like getting caught out of position, late teleports, poor teamfight positioning and mechanical errors. Fans gave Faker the nickame "Unkillable Demon King" because of his clutch performances and perfect mechanical execution on champions that he uses, but on this series, Faker failed to deliver in the clutch. During the final game of the series, SKT played around the mid lane and gave Faker an early lead on his champion, Qiyana, but failed to translate the lead into anything meaningful. At a crucial Baron fight, Faker was caught in the middle of everything, dying instantly and allowing G2 to take the Baron and take the lead in the game.
Other players on the team made mistakes too. SKT support, Lee "Effort" Sang-ho, got caught out a lot of times, leading to deaths and was engaging on the enemy team when his teammates could not follow up instantly. His ultimate usage on Leona was also questionable in most of the scenarios he used it. SKT jungler, Kim "Clid" Tae-min, also made a crucial mistake during the game four of the series that might have cost them the game.
With SKT's exit, there are no more Korean teams on the tournament. This will be the first time that SKT will enter the world championship and not make it to the grand finals. Last year, all Korean teams were also defeated and failed to make the finals, which begs the question, "Is Korea not the strongest region anymore?"
Led by the legendary mid laner, Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, SKT was looking to avenge their loss against G2 Esports in the semifinals match of Mid Season Invitational but came up short, managing to take only one game off against G2. SKT looked lost in the series, making unsynchronized plays and just overall not being on the same page during the games.
During the matches, Faker, who is known for his consistency and playmaking abilities, showed signs of regression and vulnerability. He uncharacteristically made mistakes, like getting caught out of position, late teleports, poor teamfight positioning and mechanical errors. Fans gave Faker the nickame "Unkillable Demon King" because of his clutch performances and perfect mechanical execution on champions that he uses, but on this series, Faker failed to deliver in the clutch. During the final game of the series, SKT played around the mid lane and gave Faker an early lead on his champion, Qiyana, but failed to translate the lead into anything meaningful. At a crucial Baron fight, Faker was caught in the middle of everything, dying instantly and allowing G2 to take the Baron and take the lead in the game.
Other players on the team made mistakes too. SKT support, Lee "Effort" Sang-ho, got caught out a lot of times, leading to deaths and was engaging on the enemy team when his teammates could not follow up instantly. His ultimate usage on Leona was also questionable in most of the scenarios he used it. SKT jungler, Kim "Clid" Tae-min, also made a crucial mistake during the game four of the series that might have cost them the game.
With SKT's exit, there are no more Korean teams on the tournament. This will be the first time that SKT will enter the world championship and not make it to the grand finals. Last year, all Korean teams were also defeated and failed to make the finals, which begs the question, "Is Korea not the strongest region anymore?"
