They weren’t supposed to win.

This five word phrase has cropped up again during the careers of members of LMS team Flash Wolves. A roster that included Coach Chou “Steak” Luhsi, mid laner Huang “Maple” Yitang, and support Huo “SwordArt” Shuojie climbed the stage of the Staples Center in bright orange Gama Bears uniforms. GPL’s top four placement at 2013 All-Stars guaranteed them a bye into the World Championship quarterfinal. One year after the Taipei Assassins claimed the Summoner’s Cup, Gama Bears collided directly with 2013’s World Champions in their opening round. They immediately lost two games in a row and bowed out in a best-of-three.

But they weren’t even supposed to be there.

ahq e-Sports and Taipei Assassins won the Garena Premier League Summer and Spring Splits respectively. When Gamania Bears, a new team in 2013, entered the Taiwan/Makau/Hong Kong qualifier for the Season 3 World Championship, they did so with not only ahq and TPA, but TPA’s sister team, Taipei Snipers, lead by World Champion, Chen “MiSTakE” Huichung. After splitting 1-1 with TPS to top their group, the Bears dropped instantly against Group B’s second place team, Wayi Spiders.

To make a complete run through the final and face Taipei Snipers again, Gamania Bears had to go through the other top Taiwanese teams of the era: TPA, ahq, and Wayi again, this time finishing the latter with a 2-1 victory. Even then, they entered the grand final against TPS as underdogs.

When they won, only dropping one game to TPS, the crowd, brimming with fans of the opposing teams, barely shifted to cheer for Gama Bears.

“After the game, I really wanted to cry,” Maple said. “Especially when I saw my teammates crying.”

When fans mention Flash Wolves’ startling winning match record against SK Telecom T1, the strongest team in the world, the easy counter is the first clash between the Bears and SKT. The 2-0 win from SKT over the young Taiwanese team, later disbanded when Riot Games introduced the 17 year minimum age participation rule, still only brings their record to even.

“We’ll definitely win,” NL said in Riot’s Gama Bears feature before the games. Obviously, they didn’t.

But the excited young Bears fantasizing about bringing the Summoner’s Cup back home to Taiwan only to get smacked down by South Korea’s sleeping monster doesn’t stick out nearly as much as one minor, oft-overlooked detail.

View photos The Gama Bears after their Season 3 World Championship qualifying victory (lolesports) More

It was impressive for the Gama Bears to make the World Championship.

Unlike their predecessors and Season 2 World Championship winners Taipei Assassins, Gama Bears didn’t have the undefeated run in GPL with double digit KDAs. They didn’t blow a tiny league out of the water. They didn’t have the legacy and stacked schedule of scrim partners. They already outperformed expectations.

Several years later, the core of that Gama Bears roster remains whole, moving on to Flash Wolves as sponsors came and went. Steak, Maple, Hsiung “NL” Wenan, and SwordArt welcomed now-decorated jungler Hung “Karsa” Hauhsuan. Steak joined the coaching staff as long-time substitute Yu “MMD” Lihung took over the starting top lane role. NL went into open-ended retirement to welcome Lu “Betty” Yuhung as AD carry.

Along with the well-entrenched core of Flash Wolves players, a few more idiosyncrasies remain consistent. A stark contrast between a desire to gamble, focusing on crushing hard and fast from the opening of the game, and hesitating to make the relevant plays to close has plagued Flash Wolves.

Karsa has long preferred a heavy ganking style, referring to himself as a gambler. At last year’s MSI, NL said the team will at times wait to gain dragons before pressuring turrets. Becoming sure of a lead may have also forced Flash Wolves into scaling picks early on in the MSI Group Stage this tournament, debilitating their strength in Maple’s powerful laning phase.

This balance of up-front kick and jarring hesitation gives Flash Wolves a surprisingly strong matchup against the best team in the world, SKT. In best-of-ones, Flash Wolves have managed to repeatedly unsettle the three-time World Champions. Now, for the very first time ever, Flash Wolves will face SKT in a best-of-five.

Story continues