Swift-Season Invitational Preview Article: TL.net ESPORTS May 7th, 2015 05:43 GMT





After years of watching competitive League of Legends, it has become clear to us that the audience has an insatiable appetite for international competition. With the Mid-Season Invitational right around the corner, it’s finally time to feast our eyes on the latest cross-region extravaganza. While all the pros and the analysts were busy making predictions and forecasting upsets, we at LiquidLegends have decided to take…a slightly different approach.



Have you ever sat down to watch some League of Legends think to yourself “wait a minute, Taylor Swift totally sang about this in one of her singles”? No? Really? Well we have. Under the supervision of LiquidLegends Bear-in-Chief MoonBear, AdsMoFro ponders the “Sad Beautiful Tragic” story of Fnatic, thejuju discusses SKT’s attempt to “Begin Again,” Emily Rand paints us a picture of the “Blank Space” in SKT’s top lane, and HyperST regales us with “The Story of US.” So sit back, pour a drink, put on some tunes on Spotify TIDAL and get hyped for the 2015 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational.



You’re at your desk waiting for games– you’re upset

Reddit’s going off about something that Hai said

‘Cause they just don’t tell stories like we do…



They say Bjergsen

We say Faker

They chant TSM

And we’re on the Deft-train

Thinking ‘bout the day when we wake up and find

That the MSI has been here the whole time...



If you could see

That we’re the ones

Who understand League.

Been here all along,

So, why can’t you see—

You belong with us,

You belong with us.



Sad Beautiful Tragic





Fnatic has always been the biggest name in Europe. North America had CLG and TSM, and later Cloud9, all clamoring for superiority, but Fnatic was the superstar team in Europe right from the start. They’ve played in almost every major tournament, been in every EU LCS final, won the Season One world championship, and had the most famous European players in every role. If the dance of death on the Rift is an art, Fnatic were one of the great cultural exports of Europe.



But the life of the artist is tragic. And no super team lives forever. After a disappointing end to Season Four Fnatic were at a breaking point. Rumours of inter-team conflict swirled around them like a dark cloud. By the end of it all, Cyanide had retired, Xpeke and Soaz moved on to create their own team in Origen, and Rekkles found it best to leave for the seemingly calm waters of Alliance (now known as Elements).



We had a beautiful magic love there.

What a sad beautiful tragic love affair.



Many analysts saw this as the death of an empire, despite the fact that YellowStar remained with Fnatic. It seemed that with the rise of Roccat, SK Gaming, and Elements, Fnatic would be relegated to also-rans.







Picture To Burn



Europe has always been known for having a large talent pool, and with the Korean exodus it’s not as if Fnatic were going fishing in a shallow pool. Tabzz and Dexter were released from their teams, and Alex Ich was looking to get back into the LCS and return to his mid lane roots. Yet Fnatic decided against the veterans of the scene to pick up four rookies to the EU LCS. Four blank slates to fill four blank spaces in the art gallery that was Fnatic's roster.



Kiss me, try to fix it, could you just try to listen?

Hang up, give up, for the life of us we can't get back.



In the top lane, a complete unknown was brought on in the form of Huni. Many thought of Seraph and his failures at CLG and wrote off Huni, who’d never played competitively before. Fnatic brought on another South Korean with Reignover in the jungle. He did have competitive experience, having played for Incredible Miracle, but never really impressed. Febiven was known as a rising star in the EU Challenger series, and of all of the roster changes, this was probably the least surprising. However, he was replacing the biggest name in Europe in Xpeke, and with big shoes to fill he’d need to improve at a much faster rate. Steeelback was yet another a surprising addition to the roster. He hadn’t impressed on SK Gaming Prime, but Fnatic bandied about the term “hand picked by YellowStar” and it was concluded that the two Frenchmen would have a synergy that would mask Steeelback’s deficiencies as an AD Carry.







Change



Very few players are offered the opportunity to rebuild a team around himself. But as far as artists go for such a task, YellowStar is high up on the list. One of only two players to go to all four World Championships, he was also one of the few players to swap roles and attain greater heights.



Now arguably one of the best Western support players, the staples of his game - his ability to make plays, control vision, and synergize with his lane partner - have only improved over time. Outside the game, he’s lost incredible amounts of weight showing that he has the necessary fortitude and maturity, as well as a great amount of game knowledge to back it all up.



I stood right by the tracks, your face in a locket

Good players, hopeful they'll be and long they will wait.



Perhaps we undersold his weight when analysing Fnatic at the start of the split. After all, we should never underestimate the heart of a champion, and YellowStar has consistently proven himself to be one of the best.







Better Than Revenge



With such wide sweeping changes, Fnatic’s performances over the first few weeks reminded us of just how similar they are to the old team. Once again the team was built upon its solo laners, Huni and Febiven, who terrorised opponents and forced them to deal with Fnatic’s high pressure on the top side of the map.



Originally, teams attempted to ban out Febiven’s pool of assassins. However, Huni’s performances in the top lane began pulling attention towards him. Reignover’s synergy with Huni became a staple of their play style as they often ganked the top lane and then roamed together, either into the enemy jungle or to the mid lane. YellowStar also brought back his more aggressive playstyle, returning to picks like Leona and Annie as he roamed the map exerting pressure. While this aggression sometimes led to careless deaths, it more often reaped great rewards. Being a Fnatic denier was not a choice, and many an unwary Fantasy LCS team was crushed by Fnatic's consistent strong performance.



The only team that Fnatic lost to twice in the regular season was the only team that was even more aggressive than them. The Unicorns of Love’s overly aggressive, team fight oriented playstyle seemed to make Fnatic squad lose the coherency and stability of their own playstyle.



While SK Gaming continued to shine throughout much of the regular season, Fnatic was the oddity at the top of the table. With Elements and Roccat struggling at the bottom, most people waited for Fnatic’s bubble to pop. What would happen when they lost a close match? Would they have the necessary fortitude to maintain a great performance throughout the season?



Distance, timing, breakdown, fighting, silence

This train is running the tracks.



In many ways, Fnatic is the product of the LCS format. Take a look at the end standings of the EU LCS and you’ll see that with the exception of SK Gaming, it was dominated by rookie rosters. The best of one format makes it very difficult for teams to tilt and very easy for teams to gain momentum. A multi-game series on the other hand creates far greater emotional strain on players and has a higher likelihood of putting them on tilt, especially younger players who might not have the same mental fortitude as veterans. The best of one format gave Fnatic, and other rookie rosters, the necessary time to build confidence. Any loss could quickly be swept away as a one off, and wins quickly accumulated. After all, an artist's portfolio only matters when they need to bring everything to bear. For a simple public demonstration, the elder veteran and the young challenger enter the arena as equals. The close losses came around, especially the loss to Unicorns of Love which would be hauntingly heartbreaking for Fnatic fans. However, rookies tend to have more optimistic views on games. The elder veteran feels they have an obligation to be the best. The young challenger only has the obligation to improve.



By the time the playoff best of five series came around, Fnatic were clear in second place having defeated third place team H2K twice in the regular season. Their semifinal match with H2K was a close affair. Although the 3-2 result wasn’t the most convincing in history, it proved that they had developed a mental toughness required for them to win a championship. The EU spring split final wasn’t the most clinical, as UOL proved once again that their chaotic playstyle had the ability to drag teams into the mud with them, where they thrived. Like most pieces of modern art, it was enjoyable to view but also at time very difficult to comprehend.



But the mark of a champion is the ability to win, and win even when things aren’t quite right. While Fnatic was forced to improvise against the surrealist Unicorns, they still ground out a win and clinched the title. With that, they booked their ride to the Mid Season Invitational.







I Almost Do



Everyone knows that international competition is a whole stage. All the rules that you’ve learnt from a split of playing in your region are thrown out the window. New metas, new champion pools, new playstyles, lots of travel and a short time to adapt to all of these changes. It’s a challenge that many teams find difficult to overcome.



Even in the face of these challenges, Fnatic’s raw artistic talent can not be denied. Huni’s performances have been superb and Febiven is yet another rising mid laner in Europe. The supportive duo of Reignover and Yellowstar compliment their solo laners well, but this alone won’t be enough. Steeelback was able to keep up with European bot lanes for the most part without ever looking overly impressive. It’s going to be interesting to see how Fnatic match up with teams like EDG whose whole strategy is to camp the bot lane, and when facing competition like Deft and Bang, Steeelback’s deficiencies may show up. Steeelback’s future at Fnatic could also prove a distraction, but could also serve to spur him on to perform and prove his worth, either to Fnatic or to potential suitors.



Time is taking its sweet time erasing your fears

But you've got your demons and darling, they're all going to look like me.



Huni shares a similar champion pool with the likes of Koro1 and Marin, who have both proven themselves to be very good players of champions like Gnar and Hecarim, so the drafting phase may become even more focused on the top lane than during the regular LCS season. Febiven has the odds stacked against him if he plans to pull ahead to a great lead like he does in Europe, since some of the best mid lane talent will be at MSI including Pawn, Faker, EasyHoon, Westdoor and Bjergsen. Major challenges await Fnatic's solo lane rookies, and the pressure could either make or break the young squad.



Their ability to rebuild from scratch is something many a team can envy including a certain NA team, but it’s a case of a little too soon for Fnatic as they head into MSI. Fnatic have improved exponentially over the split, but against superior opposition at MSI, a semifinal berth seems like the most reasonable result for them. The key for them is to take away the experience that will no doubt do them a world of good as they head into the summer split and Worlds. And find a way to dance the waltz of death across the Field of Justice once again.



What we have – a beautiful magic love there.







Begin Again



juju: 3/24/15 [22:47] this may seem controversial but I think skt>ge right now



League of Legends fans can be fickle. Open up any form of social media after a major game and you can see emotions running high with fans and anti-fans in all out warfare. No quarter can be given on Twitter. No retreat made from the salty shores of Reddit. But even the most die-hard fan will eventually be martyred under the relentless assault of the hive mind. The resistance of passion forced underground hiding to survive.



I have long held on to the belief that SKT has been the best team in the world. Even when the GE Tigers were on a tear. Even when T0M joined SKT as their new jungle substitute. Even when there was simply no evidence that SKT was much better. For all I knew they could have been a bunch of frauds in the beginning of the second half of the regular season. I knew that my intuition was not the most credible evidence. I didn’t flame anyone for disagreeing with what was, at the time, more of a feeling than an actual argument.



But I believed.



I've been spending the last eight months thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end.

But on a Wednesday in a cafe

I watched it begin again



Watching SKT beat GE in a convincing 2-0 in the last day of the regular season. Watching SKT edge out a red-hot CJ Entus. Watching SKT beat the GE Tigers 3-0 without using their best player and mid lane superstar Faker.



With Patch 5.5 and the Cinderhulk meta, SKT has peaked. Today the SKT resistance marches forward. SKT is the best team coming into MSI.



The new age of SKT dominance will Begin Again.







Beginning the Second Half



SKT's start to the the regular season was very shaky. They finished 4-3 in Round 1, which left them in a disappointing 4th place. Their first match was against NaJin e-mFire, a team that was similarly hyped up in the preseason but had also struggled. NaJin would start their new jungler Peanut, who had been on the NaJin roster for a while but had only recently turned 17. SKT would win 2-1 after bizarrely getting destroyed by NaJin in game 2 when Ohq became ridiculously fed on his Kalista. It was a very exciting match, but what stood out the most was how much better MaRin played compared to his previous matches in Round 1.



Playing Hecarim in game 3 he destroyed NaJin top laner Duke, potentially the best top laner in the world, and was outstanding with his teleports and flanks. In his previous match against the GE Tigers, his lackadaisical play while trying to flank led him to get repeatedly caught out on Lissandra and he died multiple times unnecessarily. Their next match against CJ Entus, he was extremely impressive helping his team secure the clean 2-0 win even with Faker resting and Easyhoon taking the mid lane in both games. CJ Entus were completely outplayed in objectives and could never answer the constant challenges from SKT. They would look a little shaky against KT Rolster, dropping the second game of the Best of 3, but still managed to eke out the win after putting Faker in Game 3.



Turn the lock and put my headphones on

He always said he didn't get this song

But I do

I do



The team would start their new jungler T0M in the series against Incredible Miracle in Week 9. Known as an Udyr main in Solo Queue, he showed the power of Man-Bear-Pheonix-Turtle extremely well against IM and clinched MVP points in his first professional game. T0M showed a very different style of play from Bengi. Instead of focusing on vision and a more passive style of jungling, he was extremely aggressive by counterjungler and taking risks that few other junglers straight from Solo Queue would have been able to accomplish.



This difference in playstyles with Bengi is similar to the dichotomy between Faker and Easyhoon, with Faker being an extremely aggressive playmaker who could dominate games by himself, and Easyhoon being a passive, control-based player whose ability to stay alive and still do damage was unrivaled by anyone in the world.



This offered yet more strategic depth to the roster choices of SKT, allowing them to force teams to deal with a combination of jungler and mid players tailored to take advantage of specific weaknesses. Unfortunately, Piccaboo's wrist injury would mean the team would be unable to make similar swaps in the bot lane between him and the skilled, but similarly stylistically different Wolf.







After Katowice



Korea did not have a good tournament at IEM Katowice. CJ Entus, the second placed team from Korea, was horrendously jetlagged and did not have all of their accommodations ready for them, and lost ignominiously in the group stage. The GE Tigers, who had been undefeated in Korea, ended up losing to last-placed LPL team WE in one of the biggest upsets in competitive League of Legends history. In the end North American Team SoloMid ended up the winners of a crazy tournament, which few other than diehard TSM fans had expected.



Korea’s position looked shaky after Katowice. The GE Tigers lost their crown of the best team in the world to China’s best team Edward Gaming, who were a very dominating team in their own right. With the GE Tigers still looking like the best team in Korea, people proclaimed that this was the end of the dominance of LCK, that the talent drain to the other regions was too much for a Korean scene without most of its superstars to remain the best in the world.



I disgareed. I felt that using Katowice as a benchmark of Korean strength was extremely foolish, as I felt that Korea definitely underperformed at Katowice. Jumping to conclusions after a tournament that only had a single best of five seemed amateurish to me. However, I did concede that EDG was without a doubt a top three team in the world. Although I debated whether they truly were the top team, I understood that they could give the top Korean teams a real challenge, and could take series off of them. But I still believed in Korea. And I still believed that SKT would make a comeback.







The Moment I Knew



Patch 5.5 hit the Korean servers in week 10 of the season. SKT’s first match would be against Jin Air, a team who had very convincingly won 2-0 over them in their initial clash. In that match earier in the Season, Jin Air was able to tilt Bengi after he got picked a few too many times, and in Game 2 Faker’s Xerath was completely outplayed by GBM’s Ahri. Jin Air was a promising top 4 team, and this looked to be a challenging match for SKT.



Instead, the games were relatively one sided in favor of SKT. Game 1 was initially close with TrAce getting early leads on his Trundle, but ultimately it didn’t win them the game as SKT’s composition was just too tanky for Jin Air to deal with later in the game. Game 2 saw Bang’s incredible Kalista play carry the game for SKT, to close out Jin Air much in the same fashion that they had won over SKT in Round 1. With the GE Tigers getting upset 2-1 by a KT team that looked on the rise, I felt almost certain that SKT was the best team in LCK.



SKT would destroy Samsung the very next week in one of the fastest 2-0 wins of the season, managing to win game 2 in less than 25 minutes. However, the real test would be against the top team in the league, the GE Tigers. The GE Tigers were sitting on a record of 12-1, and only dropped four games in the season. Meanwhile, SKT was 6-0 in Round 2, and had not lost a game since dropping the second game to KT Rolster. The match was looking like a preview of the finals to come, and the winner would probably be the best team in Korea.



Every single Christmas I want to talk about that and for the first time...

What's past is past



SKT would win the match, and it wasn’t even close. Rookie jungler T0M completely outplayed the struggling Lee on the GE Tigers, and allowed Bang to get an early advantage on Sivir that he just snowballed for the rest of the game. With Faker on Detective Lulu, Bang delivered a monster performance on Sivir, catching out the GE Tigers with his incredible speed. Game 2 was not so bad from GE, but SKT managed to pull away with an early lead. However, an overambitious Baron call from the team led to Smeb getting a triple kill and stealing the Baron. The game would be a little more back and forth until a brilliant fight at Baron for SKT led for an ace which ended the game. SKT, however, looked superior to GE, with the jungle matchup of T0M against Lee being the biggest factor in SKT’s win. They would go into the playoffs as the favored team to win the Spring Season and represent Korea at MSI.







New Romantics



SKT had to face a true test in the first round in a red-hot CJ Entus team. CJ Entus was on a nine game winning streak after comprehensively stomping Jin Air in three nearly flawless games. Jin Air did not get any leeway in their games, and were sent home in a disappointing 3-0 loss. In fact, CJ had not lost a single game since Patch 5.5. With SKT riding their own nine game winning streak, these two teams looked like the two strongest teams in Korea ever since Cinderhulk. Their mastery of the meta was uncomparable to any of the other teams in the world.



The first two games were extremely well played by CJ, giving SKT no room to breathe in their matches. SKT subbed in T0M and Easyhoon for their initial matches, and Ambition managed to capitalize on T0M’s inexperience and made T0M look like a complete amateur, giving T0M his first losses in a professional game. By game 3, both Faker and Bengi had returned to the starting lineup. With their backs against the wall, this was do or die for SKT.



SKT would pick a similar composition to their game one win over GE, with the Lulu in the mid lane backing up a Sivir. Bengi performed impressively on Rek’sai, being seemingly everywhere on the map and giving his team the necessary pressure that they needed to maintain the lead. They would close out a very one-sided game three, getting one step closer to the reverse sweep.



SKT would attempt the same composition in game four, but CJ countered it by picking the Sivir away from SKT and also picked Ziggs for a superior lategame. SKT, in an awkward position, was forced to play Lucian. This placed a huge burden on Bang, needing to play an impressive game to win against the powerful lategame that CJ Entus had. Fortunately, he was able to deliver possibly the best AD Carry performance of the season, carrying SKT through a brutal 70 minute game. It was a masterclass in Lucian play.







MaRin also managed to save the series for SKT by teleporting to the minion wave after the rest of his team had been killed to delay CJ for long enough that they were unable to finish the game. Had he not made that play, I would not be here proudly declaring the new age of SKT. Instead the SKT resistance would remain in hiding, hunted by the marauding social media militia.



In the deciding blind pick game, SKT obtained both Leblanc and Kalista which were two power picks the team had never lost with. They steamrolled CJ in the reverse sweep that seemed to define some of their tightest games and rode into the finals to face the villian from the first half of the Season. The GE Tigers.



Everyone thought the finals would be close. Everyone thought SKT would play Bengi and Faker and that they would fight GE in a hard fought series but would eventually prevail. Instead, SKT defied all expectations by starting with T0M and Easyhoon. And while it did not initially look great, SKT defied all expectations and dismantled GE in a decisive 3-0 victory. The entire team played phenomenally, but T0M and Easyhoon in particular were the standout players of the series. Easyhoon managed to aggressively solo kill kurO multiple times in the last two games with phenomenal performances on Cassiopeia and Azir. T0M completely outclassed Lee, whose lackluster performance seems to be the biggest reason why GE is no longer the best team in the world. Of all people, Easyhoon, the man who stood in Faker’s shadows as his understudy, won the MVP award for SKT.







Out Of The Woods



Why is SKT so good right now? How have they managed to overcome every opponent they’ve faced since falling 1-2 to the GE Tigers in the last match of Round 1?



SKT has, without a doubt, the scariest roster on paper. It’s not just the fact that they have Faker, who is the most dominant player to ever play the game. It’s the fact that all three of their substitute players are strong players who would be on the starting lineup of most other teams. Ordinarily, most teams who have subs use them only in emergency situations, or are NaJin and don’t use their roster’s strengths to their full advantage. SKT, in this matter, is different from any other team in the world. They can put any of their eight members in the lineup and create a strong roster. They have overwhelming diversity when compared to other teams, with the ability to sub in Easyhoon for Faker, T0M for Bengi, and Piccaboo for Wolf at will. No other team possess such near completeness on their roster, and it puts them miles ahead of other teams in terms of strategical strength with their rosters. At MSI, however, the team was only allowed a single sub. SKT chose to bring Easyhoon to MSI, which seems to make the most sense for the team. Faker and Easyhoon are both top five mid laners world wide, and their different styles allow for SKT to run many different strategies. In fact, the team can effectively hide Faker until matches where he’s needed, making SKT nearly impossible to scout ahead of time.



And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid

I think it's strange that you think I'm funny 'cause he never did



Having a titanic roster alone does not win SKT games. SKT also has the benefit of being the most innovative team in the Patch 5.5/Cinderhulk meta, mastering the tanky compositions that are being run now better than any team in the world. They also have a special Lulu-Sivir pick composition, which relies on the insane speed Sivir can get to pick off straggling opponents. The only other team in the world who has as near perfect mastery of the meta as SKT does is fellow Korean team CJ - the only team that has taken a game off of SKT since Patch 5.5 hit the LCK.



SKT is also, without a doubt, the most tenacious team to ever play the game. SKT are the masters of adapting within a series, having executed multiple reverse sweeps in best of five situations with the most recent being against CJ. SKT has always been the team that gets stronger and stronger as the match goes on, and are extremely good in best of five series. There are only three teams in the history of League of Legends that have beaten SKT (K) in a best of five. They are Samsung White, CJ Frost, and NaJin White Shield. Even the fearsome Samsung Blue has never defeated SKT K in a best of five, although they admittedly never met while Samsung Blue was at their peak. The most important part to note is that SKT has only ever dropped one game to a non-Korean team, and that was against OMG in the first game of the Season Three World Championship Group Stage. There are no other Korean teams being represented at MSI.



Walked into lane expecting you'd be late

But you got here early and you stand and control the wave



SKT has the best early game in the world. They are nearly perfect in all matters of lane swapping, making few mistakes and rarely falling behind no matter if they are in a 1v1 situation, a 2v0 situation, or a 2v1 situation. In this factor SKT has a gigantic advantage over EDG, a team who struggled when early pressure was applied to them. Both WE and LGD pushed EDG to five games because of their superior early games taking absolute control over EDG. EDG won against both teams with herculean efforts by first Pawn, and then Deft in the deciding game. Against SKT, it will be hard to come back from an early deficit. Although EDG is a good enough team that they can make comebacks from being down, SKT is a much scarier opponent than either LGD or WE.



SKT, to sum it up, is nearly flawless. If they have one weakness, it is that they sometimes overcommit on fights and give up advantages that they had in the game. It has happened twice against GE - once in their second game in Round 2, and once in the final game of the finals. But in both games the team has been able to bounce back and win. It is this key factor that EDG has an advantage over SKT. EDG managed to snatch victory from LGD’s fingertips by winning crucial teamfights in the mid to late game, where they were able to level the advantages that LGD had gotten earlier on in the game. However, the occasions when SKT gives up leads are few and far between, and EDG will have to pray for those to win.







Who I've Always Been



SKT goes into MSI with a message to prove to the rest of the world. Korea has been shown to be mortal, and is weaker than before. But it is still, just barely, the best region in the world. However, the embarrassment at Katowice gives SKT a burden, with the hopes of their people to win it all. If there is one team that can handle that pressure, it is SKT. They are former World Champions, and the initial incarnation of the team was the greatest League of Legends team in history.



In any great story, the hero must overcome three great trials to prove their worth. One, CJ, gave them a tough fight before SKT showed all of their mettle and tenacity to bring victory home, despite being in a huge hole. The second, GE, was completely outplayed by an SKT team that didn’t even use its absolute strongest lineup.



There remains one last ordeal for them to face. The LPL Edward Gaming, who have been contenders for best team in the world for a while now.



And this time, the title isn’t just about the best team in the World, but also indirectly a competition for the best region. EDG may fight, but I feel that SKT has all the tools necessary to ward off anything. The team is not as strong or nearly as dominating as the old SKT K was. However, the new iteration of the teams looks at a new future for League of Legends teams, one where the substitute roster isn’t only used for emergencies, but is a legitimate strategy that the team uses from game to game.



Once SKT fans were forced to hide. No more.



I've been spending the last eight months thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end.

But on a Wednesday in a cafe

I watched it begin again



Blank Space

An emerging talent in League of Legends will indubitably be compared to the best in their region. If said talent is perceived as prodigious, they will come to be compared to the best player in the game: Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Whispers will even swirl around untested raw talent and up-and-coming solo queue players. "So-and-so is the next Faker of the _____ lane" people will say. Like a painter in front of a blank canvas, they see only infinite dreams of beauty.

Nice to meet you, where you been?

I could show you incredible things - magic, madness, heaven, sin.

The alluring siren of the blank canvas is a trap every connoisseur falls into. The taste of potential is intoxicating, and people see what they want to see in the emptiness cast out in front of them. And it is precisely for this reason that in nearly every case these claims of "the nex Faker" have been massively exaggerated. The worn path of the professional player is littered with discarded canvases chasing a dream.

So it's gonna be forever, or it's gonna go down in flames.

You can tell me when it's over - if the high was worth the pain.

So what is a blank canvas worth? What is Jang “MaRin” Gyeong-Hwan, the current top laner on SK Telecom T1, worth?



Let's start from the beginning. Funnily enough, both MaRin and Faker have similar beginnings.



SK Telecom T1 K is a storied and decorated name in eSports. Ever since its origins in Starcraft: Brood War, its name has commanded respect. But it has not been with its own ups and downs. After acquiring the roster of Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu’s Eat Sleep Game, SK Telecom T1’s greatest accomplishment was a semifinals loss to CJ Entus Blaze at the IEM Season VII World Championship in Hanover, Germany.



On June 14, 2013, SK Telecom jettisoned their entire roster save for jungler Cho “H0R0” Jae-hwan. Like many LoL teams that had come before them, and like many LoL teams to follow after them, SKT Telecom T1 was going to solve its problems with rosterswaps.

And I know you heard about me so hey, let's be friends.

I'm dying to see how this one ends.

SK Telecom T1 K is a storied and decorated name in eSports. Ever since its origins in Starcraft: Brood War, its name has commanded respect. But it has not been with its own ups and downs. After acquiring the roster of Bok “Reapered” Han-gyu’s Eat Sleep Game, SK Telecom T1’s greatest accomplishment was a semifinals loss to CJ Entus Blaze at the IEM Season VII World Championship in Hanover, Germany.On June 14, 2013, SK Telecom jettisoned their entire roster save for jungler Cho “H0R0” Jae-hwan. Like many LoL teams that had come before them, and like many LoL teams to follow after them, SKT Telecom T1 was going to solve its problems with rosterswaps. SK Telecom T1 K was formed with three relative unknowns: jungler Bae “bengi” Seong-ung, volatile AD carry Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin, and the aforementioned Faker. Bengi had limited competitive experience on BBT in NLB Winter 2012-2013, and the other two were solo queue players. But it was Faker who was to take charge and lead his team to glory.



Emerging as one of the best talents to ever play the game, and later crowned as the best, Faker was the jewel of SK Telecom T1 K. Then called SK Telecom T1 #2, the team pleasantly surprised with a third place finish in the OLYMPUS Champions Spring 2013.



The team quickly molded to Faker, relying on him as the primary carry. As Faker would draw the majority of opponents’ attention, Piglet and his support Lee “PoohManDu” Jeong-hyeon became a dangerous duo when left to their own devices. Both bengi and Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong provided stable presences in the jungle and top lane respectively.



SK Telecom T1 K thrived on this dynamic, winning Hot6ix Champions Spring 2013 in one of the most storied best of fives in League of Legends history against the KT Rolster Bullets before going on a tear through the Korean Regional Finals that would end in the Season 3 World Championship title.

Keep you second guessing like "Oh my God, who is he?"

I get drunk on jealousy.



Emerging as one of the best talents to ever play the game, and later crowned as the best, Faker was the jewel of SK Telecom T1 K. Then called SK Telecom T1 #2, the team pleasantly surprised with a third place finish in the OLYMPUS Champions Spring 2013.The team quickly molded to Faker, relying on him as the primary carry. As Faker would draw the majority of opponents’ attention, Piglet and his support Lee “PoohManDu” Jeong-hyeon became a dangerous duo when left to their own devices. Both bengi and Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong provided stable presences in the jungle and top lane respectively.SK Telecom T1 K thrived on this dynamic, winning Hot6ix Champions Spring 2013 in one of the most storied best of fives in League of Legends history against the KT Rolster Bullets before going on a tear through the Korean Regional Finals that would end in the Season 3 World Championship title. SK Telecom T1 K had a sister team, known as SK Telecom T1 S. H0R0 survived the roster purge and stayed in the jungle, with mid laner Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon was picked up from Samsung Galaxy Blue. In the bot lane was the duo of AD carry Bae “Bang” Jun-sik of NaJin Shield and Xenics Blast, and support Lee “Wolf” Jae-wan who had previously played with Bang on NaJin Shield and furthered his career on the Chunnam Techno University team.



But like SK Telecom T1 K, SK Telecom T1 S had picked up a solo queue superstar with no prior competitive experience. A blank canvas who was building a reputation for making plays and coming in with the expectation he carry the team to victory the way Faker would. A blank canvas by the name of MaRin.



Yet SK Telecom T1 S languished in the shadow of their successful sister team. Faker’s rise was accompanied by a mid lane meta that showcased the breadth of his champion pool along with his skillful command of assassins like Ahri and Zed. MaRin’s debut Champions season, PANDORA.TV Champions Winter 2013-2014, saw him on his signature champion of Rumble with varied success. He ended with a 3.39 KDA on the season, buoyed significantly by a perfect 10 KDA on Renekton in SK T1 S’s first match against Team NB. But without that one game, his KDA drops to a 2.07. While this statistic isn’t everything, this is noticeably low for a top laner who was expected to be the carry of his team.

Find out what you want, be that top laner for a game.

Wait, the worst is yet to come... Oh no.

SK Telecom T1 S and MaRin’s next opportunity to showcase their talents came in Hot6ix Champions Spring 2014. The top lane meta had shifted to primarily two champions: Shyvana and Renekton. MaRin fared a bit better statistically – ending the season with a 3.83 KDA – but SKT T1 S still failed to make it past the group stage, in spite of their sister team SK Telecom T1 K struggling significantly as well. While SKT T1 K’s dynamic revolved around Faker, SKT T1 S had evolved into a slow-paced defensive team.



Stuck on one of two tanks, Shyvana or Renekton, MaRin’s impact on the outcome of games was significantly lessened. He lacked the dominance on Shyvana displayed by NaJin White Shield’s Baek “Save” Young-jin. He instead showed the most success on Renekton against the KT Rolster Arrows. But even in these victories MaRin often looked at odds with his teammates, aggressing when his supporting cast preferred a more passive playstyle. When it came to teamfight co-ordination, SKT T1 S had drawn a blank.

OGN LoL Champs Spring 2014 :: Round of 16 :: Mar. 26(Wed) 03:00 PDT The Match Starts at 39:34

SKT T1 S had eased into a plodding pace, seemingly taken aback by the four-man fast turret pushes that dominated the latter parts of Champions Spring 2014. Instead of MaRin storming the scene with his solo queue talents, he found himself going no where. Once again, SK Telecom T1 S failed to exit the group stages.



Among mounting fan assertions that MaRin was a bust, SK Telecom T1 S entered Hot6ix Champions Summer 2014 with middling expectations. Yet for the first time, they managed to make it out of groups and into playoffs. The top lane meta had finally shifted, opening opportunities for MaRin on Kayle, Gragas, Shen, and Lulu.



But at this point, SK Telecom T1 S was firmly entrenched in an ultra defensive playstyle and clash of playstyles. MaRin had found trying to carry his team in the void of a quagmire.



In their exhausting quarterfinals win against NaJin Black Sword it was Sword’s Lee “Duke” Ho-seong that made a name for himself in the top lane rather than MaRin. In the third place match for Champion Summer, MaRin was once again outshone by Samsung Galaxy White’s Jang “Looper” Hyeong-seok in S’s third place Champions Summer match.

LOL CHAMPIONS SUMMER 2014 (SAMSUNG White vs SKT T1 S Set1)



Based on these lackluster performances, it may come as a surprise to many that MaRin won the top lane starting position after SKT T1 S and SKT T1K mergered. With Impact’s departure to North America’s Team Impulse, MaRin had been given a second chance. Starting again on a team with a new dynamic, MaRin had a chance to wipe away the defensive and anemic style of art on his canvas.



In preparing for SBENU Champions Spring 2015, the new SK Telecom T1 removed the burden of carrying from MaRin completely. The player whom MaRin had once been compared to, Faker, occupied the mid lane as the team’s star. Additionally, SK Telecom transformed into two iterations of one team, revolving around substitutions in the mid lane and later, the jungle. Rather than play the role of the team’s hero, MaRin was expected to provide versatility through his champion pool and ability to peel and protect SK Telecom’s carries: Faker, Bang, and sometimes even Easyhoon.

Cherry lips, crystal skies

I could show you incredible things

On Maokai, MaRin has found a new home, boasting a 9.08 KDA on the champion while lending utility, peel, and occasional initiation for his team. While his Gnar was not as stunning as the GE Tigers’ Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho, MaRin had his fair share of teamfight-changing Gnar ultimates. On top of that, his Rumble has remained a pocket pick – on whom he has an 8.77 KDA over the course of Champions Spring 2015 – if the team wants him to play a larger carry role. Regardless of who is in the jungle, be it bengi or newcomer Im “T0M” Jae-hyeon, or who is in the mid lane, Faker or Easyhoon, MaRin has finally proven his critics wrong.

Stolen kisses, pretty lies

You're the King, baby, I'm your Queen

In a way, MaRin exemplifies SK Telecom T1’s successful Champions Spring 2015 run: malleable, sometimes experimentative, and difficult to pin down or ban out completely. In the new age of SK Telecom, MaRin holds down the top lane, not as “the Faker of it,” but as a strong player in his own right.



But if after a long journey we have found the worth of Jang “MaRin” Gyeong-Hwan, the current top laner on SK Telecom T1, we still have one last question to answer.



So what is a blank canvas worth?



MaRin's journey is not just one of redemption after a second chance. It teaches us something important about how we should think about new players. The so called "next coming of Faker". The last piece to fill the carry hole a team is missing.



Players don't exist in a vacuum. The playmaking MaRin suffocated and choked in the passive and overly-defensive environment on SKT T1 S but has found new life on the newer SKT T1 team. There is only so much a lone player can do. It's a story that has been repeated across regions, team, and players. A blank space can't be filled by a blank canvas, and a second-hand canvas can't always be scraped clean. And a blank canvas is only worth as much as love from the artist it is given to. And a player is only worth as much as the love of the players, and the love of the game.



They'll tell you I'm insane but I've got a blank space, baby.



And I'll write your name.



The Story of US





Along time ago, back in ye olde days of beta and Season 1 there was an elite club of players who were considered the elite of the game. This was an age where titans stood in North America, the birth place of League of Legends itself. For the eldest veterans of the game, it just comes back in flashes, you know? Like a kaleidoscope of memories.



But if there is one region that has slowly crept up and come to overshadow North America completely, it's not the Europeans or Koreans who can take that fame. No. Just like in the media, the real nightmare is China. China is a region that has walked a similar path as North America in its early days. But today the story is different.



What happened?



I don't know what to say, since the twist of fate when it all broke down

And the story of US(A) looks a lot like a tragedy now.







I knew you were trouble when you walked in



The two regions first squared off in 2011 at IEM Season VI - Global Challenge Guangzhou. It was only a few months ago that the Chinese servers were officially released. Nobody expected the Chinese newcomers - World Elite, Invictus Gaming, and EHOME - to put up much of a fight against the Western teams. Especially not against Counter Logic Gaming. After the end of Season One, CLG had become one of the best teams in the world, with numerous first-place finishes in domestic and international tournaments. HotshotGG’s crew was the team to beat.



I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us, how we met and the sparks flew instantly.

People would say, "They're the lucky ones."



To everyone’s surprise, World Elite took home China’s first international title at Guangzhou. Despite having CLG in their group, WE didn’t drop a single game in the round robins. They would then defeat CLG again in the finals, this time in a best-of-three. In this tournament the world witnessed the birth of a future legend called Weixiao, who put on a clinic with his superb Vayne mechanics. Not only was CLG unable to deal with Weixiao, they were also outplayed strategically, losing to WE in 2v1s and early Dragon control.



How was it possible that a team with only a few months of competitive experience could defeat one of the best teams in the West? Before the meta had evolved into a war of constant vision control and objective rotations, the victory conditions were much simpler. Games could be won solely by feeding superstars with godlike mechanics. By their first international tournament, the Chinese teams already had such superstars: Weixiao and PDD. World Elite also had a full-time coach/analyst before most of the Western teams. Their coach, JoKer (nowadays a famous Chinese caster/personality), was a contributing factor to his team’s strategic prowess.







Season Two, however, was not the season when China took over the world. Plagued with visa issues, the Chinese teams couldn’t participate in many oversea tournaments. The few in which they did participate ended with disappointing results. World Elite, still the best team from China, hit a roadblock at Azubu Summer 2012 after being knocked out of the tournament by the rising Western titan, CLG.EU. A week later at IPL Face-off, WE lost to both Team Legion (with Wildturtle as the mid laner) and Team Curse in BO3s. At the same time, China’s growth was overshadowed by the meteoric rise of their neighbor Korea.



On the other side of the globe, Team SoloMid dethroned CLG after acquiring Dyrus in the top lane. While CLG continuously failed to make a statement in OGN, TSM swept the domestic tournaments, claiming four consecutive first-place finishes from IPL 4 to Season Two NA Regionals. While the NA fans worshipped their new kings, they were about to receive a rude awakening when Azubu Blaze, one of the best Korean teams, crushed TSM on American soil with a 5:0 head-to-head record. Coming into worlds, neither NA nor China were the favourites to win. Their performances went as expected as both regions ended their journey in the quarterfinals, with controversy surrounding both sets of games.



While NA teams paled in comparison to Europe’s M5 and CLG.EU, China lived in the shadow of Korea. Two regions had tried their best. And on that crowded stage, surrounded by thousands of people, the two shining hopes of their region were defeated and alone.



Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking,

And I'm dying to know is it killing you like it's killing me, yeah?



Although the two regions briefly clashed on the Worlds stage, there wasn’t any definitive evidence to conclude that China had a deeper talent pool by the end of Season Two. If you compared the top two teams from both regions, NA kept up with China when it came to talent acquisition throughout the season. TSM had the best domestic players in each position, with the exception of Chaox in the bot lane. CLG was also not to be taken lightly after they acquired Doublelift, a well-recognized ADC in the world. In China, the two veteran teams, iG and WE, brought in their share of future hall-of-famers. iG acquired the most influential Chinese top laner of all time, PDD, and WE had their own star players, Clearlove and Fzzf. With Taipei Assassins stealing the show at Worlds, the Chinese teams watched anxiously from the backstage, biding their time until a chance for redemption.







Back To December



IGN ProLeague Season 5 - one of the most competitive tournaments in the history of LoL - invited some of the world’s strongest teams to Las Vegas. IPL 5 featured Europe’s finest, CLG.EU and Moscow 5; the Season Two champions, TPA; and the Korean powerhouse, Azubu Blaze. World Elite weren’t close to being the favourites among the top tier teams. They weren’t even on the radar for some Western players. For example, in Aphromoo’s pre-tournament vlog, he referred to WE as a team that got “pooped on in IPL Face-off”.



Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. World Elite had one of the most impressive tournament performances in history and took revenge for being robbed of their quaterfinal win. Channelling that anger, they swepted both M5 and CLG.EU in two BO3s before overwhelming the dark horse Fnatic with a 5:2 record. Weixiao lived up to his expectations as the best ADC in the world with his unrivalled laning and flawless team fight positioning. In every game, Weixiao would win his lane with a farm advantage, allowing his team to utilize their signature “fast-push, take early towers” strategy to its fullest. Since no-one could deal with an always-farmed Weixiao, WE would win most of the mid-to-late game team fights.







Yet IPL 5 wasn’t enough for the West to fully accept China’s place at the top of the regional rankings. There were three reasons for this. First, given China’s lackluster track record prior to IPL 5, this could have been a fluke. Since most of the NA fans rarely paid attention to the Eastern scene until the recent Korean exodus, they had little to no knowledge of China’s success in the Pacific. For example. China dominated the GIGABYTE StarsWar League Season 2 tournament that featured three Korean teams. Most impressively, iG swept the newly crowned OGN champions NaJin Sword in a BO5. Second, while WE did outplay their opponents, they seldom bodied any teams they played against. Third, they never played against any top NA teams in this tournament, which prevented definitive answers to certain questions, such as “Could Weixiao out-lane Doublelift?” and “Could Caomei outclass Dyrus?”



While NA failed to redeem their Season Two failures, China was at the pinnacle of their success heading into Season Three. IPL 5 should have been a wakeup call for the NA teams. Sadly, it didn’t seem to bother most of the NA fans or pro players. Xpecial brushed aside TSM’s first day exit in the tournament. HotshotGG appeared to be satisified with his team placing top six, even though CLG got there only having to beat CRS.EU in a BO3. The reality was that other regions were pulling further ahead of NA in each subsequent tournament. Little did the NA fans know, in the next season, China would completely leave their region in the dust.







You're Not Sorry



The 2013 Shanghai All-Stars showcased the increasing gap in power between NA and China. All-Stars featured one team from each of the major regions comprised of rosters voted by their fans. In the first round of the tournament, the ragtag group of NA celebrities faced a Chinese team with WE and iG veterans. Since neither teams had ample practice, the games would be decided through pure mechanical outplays. Not to anyone’s surprise, China defeated NA in two games with superior team fighting and outstanding individual play from the likes of PDD and Weixiao.







The All-Stars event was merely a glimpse of China’s growing power in Season Three. By the end of 2013 LPL spring season two new teams, Oh My God and Positive Energy, had taken over the top two spots. OMG fielded some of the best players in their position, most notably LoveLin and Cool. PE had NaMei (aka Devil), one of the next generation ADC prodigies. NaMei’s unrivalled team fight positioning carried his three mediocre teammates to the LPL finals two times, winning the league the second time. Prior to Worlds another upcoming world class ADC, Uzi, made a miraculous run with Royal Club that placed them as the first seed coming into Worlds. While NA struggled against China’s old guards, the next generation of Chinese powerhouses silently took over the scene without the West paying much attention.



How I was losing my mind when I saw you win here,

But you held your pride like you should've held me.



Compared to China’s deluge of new talent, the growth in NA was but a trickle. Cloud 9 was the only new team from NA that showed any promise. They had some of the best players domestically with Meteos and Balls and one of the best shot callers to ever grace the scene in Hai. But the rest of NA was lackluster. Talented players such as Pobelter and Link either didn’t have the right teams to support them, or failed to live up to their potential. If the best NA had to offer outside of C9 and TSM were Mancloud and Xmithie, NA’s chance at winning Worlds were slim to none.



During Season Three Worlds, the only games between NA and China were from TSM vs. OMG. Aside from their bot lane, TSM was out-classed across the board. Dyrus was repeatedly camped and shut down by Gogoing and his jungler; Reginald was always behind in farm to Cool; and TheOddOne was invisible compared to the omnipresent LoveLin. In both games, OMG had a commanding lead from their unrelenting early game pressure. TSM had no turnaround potential if they fell behind early, since OMG was far superior in team fights.







As a region, China had leapfrogged NA by this point. The Chinese teams dropped only one game to all of the Western teams combined in that tournament. Had Cloud 9 or Vulcan faced OMG in a BO3, they would have suffered the same fate as TSM. Yet, the same team that absolutely crushed TSM could not replicate their success domestically. OMG succumbed to their rivals, Royal Club, in the LPL regional qualifiers, and then again in the quarterfinals of Worlds. Two months later, OMG lost in a BO5 against NaMei’s PE in the LPL summer playoffs. Where the other Chinese teams had the individual mechanics and team fight ability to match or surpass that of OMG’s, the NA teams were outgunned man-for-man.



So many things that I wish you knew,

So many walls that I can't break through.



By the end of Season Three, the regional power rankings had shifted once again. While Korea cemented their #1 position in the world thanks to SKT T1 K’s dominance, China surpassed Europe and took their place as the second strongest region. Meanwhile, NA dropped to the bottom of all the major regions. Aside from Cloud 9, NA didn’t have any hopeful teams that could challenge the East; and without fresh blood, the already shallow pool of talent continued to drain after the retirement of Reginald and HotshotGG. Furthermore, the North Americans didn’t have the established coaching infrastructure like the Koreans, who developed an unrivalled strategic understanding of the game that could overcome the “brute force” style of play from the Chinese teams. NA’s future was grim, and they were only falling more behind unless drastic changes were made.







Can I Go With You



By the end of Season Three, the regional power rankings had shifted once again. While Korea cemented their #1 position in the world thanks to SKT T1 K’s dominance, China surpassed Europe and took their place as the second strongest region. Meanwhile, NA dropped to the bottom of all the major regions. Aside from Cloud 9, NA didn’t have any hopeful teams that could challenge the East; and without fresh blood, the already shallow pool of talent continued to drain after the retirement of Reginald and HotshotGG. Furthermore, the North Americans didn’t have the established coaching infrastructure like the Koreans, who developed an unrivalled strategic understanding of the game that could overcome the “brute force” style of play from the Chinese teams. NA’s future was grim, and they were only falling more behind unless drastic changes were made. A new era dawned for LPL in Season Four with the formation of Edward Gaming. Sniping the spot left behind by LMQ, EDG wasn’t just going to play in the LPL. They were going to rule all of China. And to do so, they needed firepower. In a series of highly ambitious roster moves, EDG grabbed some of the best players in China: the two battle-tested World Elite veterans, Fzzf and Clearlove, as well as their famous coach, Aaron; the LPL champion, Positive Energy’s NaMei; and two newfound talents, Koro1 and U.



They didn’t disappoint. In 2014, the “super team” dominated China with a top-two finish in all of their major tournament appearances. Most impressively, EDG secured back-to-back LPL titles with only two losses combined in both playoff runs, Yet, China’s “super team” did not play to the aggressive early-game and lane dominance style traditionally identified with the top Chinese teams. Much like an elite level Korean team, EDG played with a solid understanding of their win conditions, flawless execution of their strategies, and superb coordination of their team fights. If EDG ever fell behind in the early game, they would stall out the game until their superstar, NaMei, was fed enough to carry his team in late game 5v5s.







EDG wasn’t the only LPL powerhouse. China still had OMG that consistently held on to the second place. And then there was Royal Club, who bounced back from a poor regular season, making yet another miracle run through the Chinese regional qualifiers for their second straight Worlds appearance. The trio poised to challenge the mighty Koreans.



While China ushered in a new age of talent, NA tried to do the same. Attempting to dethrone C9 and TSM, the rest of NA eagerly built their own “super teams” through a series of mergers and acquisitions. Team Dignitas acquired two of Team Coast’s main carries, Shiptur and Zionspartan. CLG brought in an European play-making jungler, Dexter, and a promising Korean top laner, Seraph. LMQ, essentially a Chinese team, looked to dominate NA with their ultra-aggressive style of play. In the regular season, these new teams seemed capable of revolutionizing the stagnant NA scene. And they were well on their way to make an impact on the Worlds stage.



Or so we thought.



Oh, a simple complication...

Miscommunications lead to fall-out.



The story of NA has always been “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” C9 and TSM both had a tumultuous year. While C9 took a few dips in the regular season, TSM faced waves of roster changes that flipped the team upside down. Yet, by the end of the summer split, most of NA’s “super teams” crumbled under pressure. TSM was the sole exception. Bjergsen, Lustboy, and Locodoco were the three driving forces that secured TSM their first LCS title since Cloud 9’s inception. With rest of NA slacking, it was up to TSM and C9 to face the Eastern titans on the international stage.



The few encounters between the two regions in Season Four were in China’s favour. During Riot’s All-Stars Invitational event in Paris, NA’s champions Cloud 9 faced off against OMG. Both teams played with substitute mid laners. But despite C9 drawing first blood in the group stage, OMG retaliated by sweeping C9 in the semi-finals. While the first two games were close, OMG’s triumph was due to having better players in most positions and being stronger in team fight coordination.



The NA fans believed that since C9 dominated their region with superior shot-calling and objective play, they could easily punish the supposed “brute force” Chinese teams that had no regard for vision and objective control. That myth was busted in this series. OMG was the one that out-manoeuvred C9, constantly catching them out of position around the map. Even if C9 had beaten OMG, the Chinese squad at All-Stars weren’t even close to being the best strategic team from China. EDG were the top dog by a mile and if they had gone to All-Stars, C9 would have been crushed in both objective plays and team fights.







By the time Season Four Worlds rolled around, NA had made significant strides to catch up to the Chinese teams. In the double round robin group stage, TSM and LMQ both took a game from the LPL teams. Although the difference in mechanics was not as clearcut as in the previous seasons, the gap was still there. In the two games between SHRC and TSM, SHRC completed destroyed TSM in the first game. Despite SHRC mostly playing catch-up in the second game, they stood their ground in team fights and snuck two Barons from TSM, almost making a comeback. The Chinese teams played more consistent to their style, and they outperformed NA for the second straight season on the Worlds stage. It was another chapter in the tragedy that is the story of North America. Where they once stood with China in the same crowd watching the Finals of Worlds, they were all alone now.



I'd tell you I miss you but I don't know how,

I've never heard silence quite this loud.



TSM and Cloud 9 couldn’t have carried NA by themselves. With the failure of CLG and Dignitas, NA wasn’t competitive enough as a region to forge teams who could consistently defeat the Eastern powerhouses in a best-of-X series. However, the race between the two regions had not been against each other for the past two seasons--the common enemy was Korea, and that did not change after SSW’s unstoppable performance at S4 Worlds. The solution became apparent: if you can’t beat them, join them. Or, have the Koreans join you.







Tied Together With A Korean Smile



There will only be two North American players compared to the ten Korean players participating at Riot’s Mid-Season Invitational in Tallahassee. Seeking glory and riches overseas, dozens of Korean players scattered across the globe after Season Four, limited only by Riot’s Interregional Movement Policy. North America and China were two of the biggest customers for Korean imports: 50% of NA teams and 83% of Chinese teams had at least one Korean player. Although just like in real life, no one can out spend the Chinese.



So many things that you wished I knew,

But the story of US and CN might be ending soon.



There will only be two North American players compared to the ten Korean players participating at Riot’s Mid-Season Invitational in Tallahassee. Seeking glory and riches overseas, dozens of Korean players scattered across the globe after Season Four, limited only by Riot’s Interregional Movement Policy. North America and China were two of the biggest customers for Korean imports: 50% of NA teams and 83% of Chinese teams had at least one Korean player. Although just like in real life, no one can out spend the Chinese. There is dilemma in continuing the comparison between the two regions without delving into the question, “who has the better foreign players?” It could be argued that neither TSM nor EDG are accurate representations of their regions.

In terms of players, TSM has 3/5 foreigners on their roster; EDG has 2/5. Numbers aside, both teams relied mainly on their foreign players to defend their regional crowns. TSM couldn’t have won LCS without the unstoppable Danish duo of Bjergsen/Santorin and the meticulous map support provided by Lustboy. EDG couldn’t have won LPL without Deft and PawN, who had to rush out of the hospital to save his team from World Elite.



When it comes to team play, TSM has far surpassed the rest of NA with their outstanding strategical play and clutch international performances. Their victory at IEM Katowice proved their newfound ability to seriously threaten the formerly unstoppable Korean and Chinese teams. However, there are no evidence to suggest that the rest of NA have caught up with the East. Also an exception, EDG always played more like a Korean team than a Chinese team even before acquiring Deft and PawN.







But, the battle between NA and China lives on in spirit. At MSI, the North American fans will cheer endlessly for TSM, who have brought glory to NA countless times. Despite all the roster changes, TSM, as a brand, will always be NA’s pride and joy. In China, EDG carries on the hope of the Chinese fans. Their captain, Clearlove, has been the flagbearer of China since his World Elite days. Of course, they still have to face the final boss, Korea. But this time at MSI, the playing field is more even.



All the questions about TSM and EDG will be answered in a few days as the regional power rankings shuffle once again. If NA cannot break free from China’s stranglehold at MSI, they may never be able to catch up to the hybrid, talent-stacked LPL teams that will master their synergy and find their identity by Season Five Worlds.



We've watched this tragedy for four Seasons now. Will we finally see something different?



I don't know what to say, since the twist of fate when it all broke down

And the story of US looks a lot like a tragedy now...



Next chapter.





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Writers: AdsMoFro, thejuju, Emily Rand, HyperST



AdsMoFro, thejuju, Emily Rand, HyperST Editors: Zess, Carnivorous Sheep, SunsetSC



Zess, Carnivorous Sheep, SunsetSC Graphics: dranblat, Zess, JonGalt



dranblat, Zess, JonGalt Tailored by: MoonBear





