As of writing this we are currently 7 weeks in to the Summer split of the LCK with 3 weeks left to go before we begin the play-off stage of the tournament. Coming in to this split the favorites that everybody was looking at were the clear top dogs of the Spring split Griffin, Kingzone DragonX, and SK Telecom. Right now these teams sit at 3rd, 4th, and 6th place with the previous split’s champion SK Telecom being the worst of the three with their current standing at 6th. So what happened? How did these three incredibly powerful teams that looked to be a cut above the rest of the competition fall so far?

The obvious thing to look at to provide any kind of reason to the huge mix-up in placing this split is roster swaps, right? Well looking at the different roster moves that were made by LCK teams during the off season and throughout the split we can see that the only major roster moves that occurred were Pray moving to KT Rolster, a team that is showing very similar results to that of last split and Gen.G picking up Kuzan and SeongHwan two players that have seen very little domestic success in the past and that have both been playing second fiddle to their team’s primary mid laner/jungler Fly and Peanut. So with no significant roster swaps occurring within the current top teams, what was it that made them rise above the teams that appeared to be so dominant last split?

To truly understand the cause behind the huge changes in the standings of the LCK we have to take a journey to the west to look at Europe’s G2 and a tournament that took place two months ago. At this year’s MSI we League of Legends fans bore witness to a series of unprecedented events. North American fan favorite Team Liquid defeated reigning world champion IG in an excruciatingly one sided match, G2 Esports defeated SK Telecom in a best-of-5, and the first all western final in a major League of Legends tournament since season 1 worlds. Coming in to this tournament everybody assumed that the classic Chinese play-style of constant aggression was the clear best way to play the game and that IG were the obvious favorites to be the tournament winner. The other competitors at the event proved that this was not the case as we saw all four teams from the major regions displaying their own unique play styles and proving that they can work, with G2 being the eventual victor.

For years Europe and North America had followed the formula of ‘Copy what the Koreans do’, this year was the first year in which western teams decided to steer away from this formula and embrace their own unique playstyles. While Team Liquid opted for a play-style centered around their support Corejj’s play-making ability, G2 opted for a new style that we have seen very little of, a style that can only be described as the ‘5 carries’ style. This means that every single player in G2’s lineup can either play a carry style champion and have the team provide them resources or they can play a more supportive style of champion and provide the resources that their elected carry needs. This is a complete polar opposite to the traditional Korean style of play in which one or two players(the mid and ADC) would be put onto a hyper carry champion and be spoon fed resources throughout the game with the rest of the team playing supportive champions that can help slowly grind out the resources that these carries need. This would usually result in a traditional Korean team composition consisting of a tank top laner, tank jungler, utility/hyper carry mid laner, a hyper carry ADC, and a tank/enchanter support.

With Korea utilizing this formula for so many years teams started to realize that when going up against a Korean team this is what you should plan around; the enemy jungler putting a lot of pressure on bot/mid with the topside of the map generally being left alone up until bot lane swapped up to top following them getting bot lane tower/dragon. Very seldom have we seen Korean teams utilize a game plan similar to what we are seeing from teams such as G2 and IG where any member of the team has the potential to carry and to be played around. The only time we have seen Koreans utilize this style of play in which all 5 players were given the resources to carry is when teams had exceptionally talented players in all 5 roles such as Azubu Blaze in season 3, SK Telecom in season 5, and GE/Rox/Huya Tigers in season 6/7. Being stubborn and sticking to the classic Korean formula has been the downfall of a lot of these Korean teams. For instance Gen-G at last year’s world championship failed to adapt to the meta and dropped out in the group stage despite being the reigning world champion and one of the favorites to win the entire event.

Currently the top three teams in the LCK are Damwon Gaming, Sandbox Gaming, and Griffin. If we take a closer look at these teams we’ll notice one very consistent thing, they are three of the freshest faces in the LCK. Damwon Gaming only just qualified for the LCK this year and apart from a few one off appearances the only member of their line-up who has long-term LCK experience is Flame, Sandbox Gaming also only just qualified for the LCK this year and their only precious LCK experience is their top laner Ghost having played since season 5, then finally Griffin qualified for the LCK in Summer 2018 and none of their members have any previous LCK experience. So the three new kids on the block are also the three top teams, is this a coincidence? Clearly not, with these three teams being the newest teams to qualify that also means they have the younger team members and are not as accustomed to the classic Korean play-style. Taking a look at the lower tier teams we can see that SK Telecom’s Faker and Mata have both been playing professionally for over 6 years, KT Rolster’s Smeb, Score, and Pray have also all been playing professionally since season 3, the same applies for Afreeca Freecs’ Spirit, and multiple other teams consist of players that have been around since season 5. The teams which are relying on these older veterans of the league are the same teams that are seeing diminishing returns in their line-up, whether this be older player’s mechanical skill falling off or their over-commitment to playing the old style that has been cemented into their mind by their coaching staff over the years.

Obviously being new to the professional League scene is not the only contributing factor but it is clear that being able to accept that the playstyle that may have been perfect in prior seasons is not perfect for the meta that we have been playing in for the past year. Of the three top teams the obvious stand out team is Griffin due to them being the only top team from last split to remain within the top three. Since them joining the LCK in Summer 2018 Griffin have put up consistent results and have had top finishes in both of their splits, finishing second in the Summer 2018 regular season and play-offs, first in the Spring 2019 regular season, and second in the Spring 2019 play-offs. With their entire line up being brand new to the League of Legends scene and putting up consistent top finishes, Griffin was quickly put on the radar of everybody within the League of Legends scene. Exactly what is it that makes this team so successful? One of the major players in Griffins success is their ‘ADC’ player Viper. Despite being the ADC Viper’s list of played champions far surpasses the 21 marksmen listed in the League of Legends client, having played games on 31 different champions since the beginning of LCK Summer 2018. This list consists of a huge array of champions including Pyke, Neeko, Kled, Teemo, and Vladimir with which he currently holds a record of 12 wins and 1 loss. This ever expanding pool of champions is something that is key to seeing success within the current state of League of Legends. Much like sticking to the old Korean style of play, having tunnel vision and only picking one class of champion limits the possibilities of your team composition and of you as a player while being able to provide your team with a support, mage, bruiser, marksman, or Teemo allows your team to construct team compositions that your opponents could never prepare for. A prime example of Griffin using this to their advantage is the Spring 2019 play-offs where they drafted Taliyah-Pantheon bot lane in 2 out of their 3 games against SK Telecom where despite the games ending as losses these new and experimental picks managed to catch SK Telecom off-guard and netted them a significant early game lead.

The current state of the LCK is a simple changing of the guard, while players such as Smeb, Score, Pray, Faker, and Mata may have been kings in their day, right now they are simply Korean League of Legends players. While their legacy and achievements will never be forgotten, as of right now they are passed their prime. Very few competitive sports players manage to have long careers that are filled with success, but those that do leave behind the framework with which the next generation of players not only learn from but then go on to improve through their own means. The current upper echelons of the LCK are a prime example of this, teams such as DWG, SB, and GRF are all displaying levels of play that far exceeds that of the older veterans of the league and continue to show improvement over time. While League of Legends is a constantly changing game that requires players to adapt at an exponential pace, being experienced starts to become a hindrance to your play and if you can’t let go of what may have been the most efficient way of achieving victory in the past then you will never be able to fully adapt to the latest most efficient style of play.