Two years ago, SK Telecom T1 K blazed through their group stage campaign in the Season 3 World Championships, only dropping their first game to China’s OMG. They drew the first Taiwanese seed Gamania Bears and proceeded to absolutely destroy them in a 2-0 sweep, the future Flash Wolves being left wondering what if they had a better draw.
This year, the Korean favorites blazed through group stages once again, beating up on Edward Gaming, the team many would have regarded as one of the favorites to win the World Championship. As if by fate, SKT drew the first Taiwanese seed again, this time facing ahq eSports Club.
Despite all the parallels to Season 3, the story of ahq is different from the story of Gamania Bears and Taiwan as a whole. In Season 3, the Gamania Bears were gifted their spot into the quarterfinals with the bye system, and the only two games they got to play were massive blowouts against the eventual World Champions. This time, Taiwan delivered massively when few expected them to make it out, going 6-1 in their final week and securing two teams in the quarterfinals.
Ahq’s last gasp loss to Fnatic last week will probably haunt them, as they were quite literally one mistake away from the first seed in the group. Although they would have drawn China’s first seed EDG had they taken that victory, a daunting task on its own, they still would have seemingly had a better chance than against the undefeated Koreans. Although this looks like the end for the heroic Taiwanese squad, they still have one last best of five series to play to impress the world.
Or, of course, they could always win. Although given the way the two teams played in group stages it seems insurmountable, ahq is not the easy opponent that their record indicates them to be. They fought their way from behind in one of the hardest groups, and nearly secured the top spot outright. This should be more of a fight for SKT than their clash with the best of Taiwan two years ago, and while the odds are stacked against them, the odds have always been stacked against Taiwan.
Now before we get into thejuju's breakdown of the matchup, we bring you an exclusive interview with ahq jungler Mountain (conducted after their game against Fnatic in week 1) taken by our very own oo_Wonderful_oo:
oo_Wonderful_oo: Hello, Mountain. Tonight you rebounded strongly against Fnatic despite falling behind early. What was the most important thing?
Mountain: Hi! I think we just have that mentality that if our AD carry isn’t behind, we can win every time. So we just did our best in helping him and succeeded.
W: Oh, I see. Considering that you lost to C9 in opening match, was it really hard concentrating tonight?
M: So, uh. Coming to Worlds we thought that Invictus Gaming and Fnatic are good teams and C9 is 0-6 material. But it seems like iG has some internal problems and is way weaker right now, we just beat Fnatic and C9 is currently undefeated, so we heavily underestimated them. Anyway, our morale took big hit yesterday and it’s big boost for us that we were able to secure a victory tonight.
W: Right now it’s a pretty tricky situation in the group. Many were expecting iG to cruise through and you and Fnatic to compete for second spot but the Chinese team opened 0-2. Do you think that you’ll be able to advance?
M: I think, if we play like we did tonight, we’re capable of doing it. But we won’t make the same mistake of underestimating C9 twice, even if they’re favourites right now. *Laughs*
W: The other Taiwanese squad, Flash Wolves won against heavily favoured Koreans from KOO Tigers tonight. Are you cheering for them, especially considering that they have almost no fans back at home?
M: Both of us represent the LMS, so we were really happy when they won. Hopefully, both the Flash Wolves and ahQ will proceed to playoffs and avoid each other. LMS fighting!
W: Speaking about LMS. What do you think about Garena banning Raison and Chawy, were their actions really that offensive that they were required to get banned?
M: I think, that it was pretty harsh punishment by Garena. LMS doesn't really have a lot of talent and banning Raison and Chawy heavily limits an already limited player pool. Hopefully, it won’t happen ever again.
W: At the Mid Season Invitational, ahq showed signs of brilliance, but got demolished by EDG. Is EDG your worst possible matchup because of the constant practice with them (Editor's Note: EDG and ahq are scrim partners with ahq even visiting EDG's Headquarters to train with them)?
M: *Laughs* Yeah, we stand almost zero chance against EDG, because they know every one of our strategies and any curveballs we might have. However, I wish them the best of luck at this event, hopefully everything works fine for them. But if we face them in brackets, it’s sure to be a 3-0 victory for them.
W: Many people say that finals will feature Korean SK Telecom T1 and Chinese EDward Gaming due to LGD Gaming bad start to event. If it happens, who will hoist the Summoner’s Cup?
M: EDG.
W: What will be the score? 3-0 EDG?
M: No, I think it will be way more close. Probably, 3-2 or 3-1 if EDG comes out very strong.
W: Okay! Any last words?
M: Cheer for us, we’ll try our best!
SKT T1 vs. ahq
Taiwan Rising: A Year of Trial
Taiwan has had very little success since the Season 2 World Championships, where the Taipei Assassins upset their way to the one million dollar prize. The region put up weak showings in both Seasons 3 and 4, getting blown out in international competition by basically everyone. For a long period of time the Garena Pro League was the weakest of the premier regions. The Taiwanese teams in the GPL were so dominant over the Southeast Asian Teams that made up a majority of the competition that the GPL was close to a joke.
This year, the Taiwanese teams split off from the GPL to form the League of Legends Master Series. The Taiwanese-only league took the place of the GPL as the fifth premier region, and the rest of the GPL was relegated to a Wildcard Region. Still, few thought that Taiwan would be any more than the fifth best region, the joke of the premier regions.
However, Taiwanese teams showed up at the few international events of this year. The Yoe Flash Wolves, at the time Taiwan’s best team, surprised Cloud 9 and SK Gaming at the IEM World Championships in Katowice. At the time, these were the second best and best North American and European teams. Although they would lose to top North American seed and eventual champions Team Solomid, they were the only team to take a game from them.
The Mid-Season Invitational rolled around a few months later, this time ahq being the representative of the LMS. They were not expected to do well at this tournament either, but ahq went 3-2 in the group stages. Unfortunately, they weren’t good enough to compete against eventual champions EDG in the semifinals, and were eliminated rather quietly.
Going into Worlds, the region was once again underrated. It seemed unlikely that either of Taiwan’s teams would make it out of the group stage. ahq was pitted in a difficult group with undefeated European champions Fnatic and Chinese third seed Invictus Gaming. Meanwhile, the Flash Wolves were mostly ignored as they were thought to be bad.
A troubled first week did no favors for the Taiwanese teams. Both the Flash Wolves and ahq went 1-2 in the first week, and looked quite weak. The Flash Wolves even dropped their game against Brazil after being agonizingly split pushed to death. Despite this, their victories were surprising to many people. The Flash Wolves took down the Korean KOO Tigers, who were favored to handily top their group, while ahq had a remarkable comeback victory vs Fnatic. Based solely off of their victories, it didn’t seem as if all hope was lost.
And in Week 2, Taiwan delivered. The LMS teams went a combined 6-1 in the last week of group stages, the Flash Wolves making an undefeated run to top their group, while ahq was a small misstep from the coveted first seed. Truly, there is no reasonable person that can deny that LMS isn’t at the very least a worthy premier region.
SKT T1: The Return of the Emperor
SKT T1 is the most storied organization in the history of esports. No other organization has had the success across multiple games that SKT has had. In many ways, SKT was almost expected to win once they brought together a League of Legends team.
Not only did the team win, but their World Championship-winning K roster is arguably the greatest team to have ever played the game.
The days of SKT T1 K are gone, with only two of the original five members still on the team, but in many ways this has been a season of redemption for the team. When the Korean Exodus hit, most teams were affected massively. The only team to survive mostly unscathed were the Korean Emperors.
But for some reason, even with all-stars like Faker in the mid lane and MaRin in the top, the team took a while to find success. Throughout the first half of Spring the GE Tigers were the better team, undefeated at one point. Based off of their form alone, Korea looked to have mostly survived the exodus which drained the region of some of its biggest talents.
Then IEM Katowice happened, and the GE Tigers broke. Korea was seemingly no longer the best region. China suddenly took over as the best region, aided in no small part by the massive number of Korean imports who became the new stars of the region.
SKT, however, quietly went through the second half of the Spring split. All of a sudden, they were 6-0 in the second half with only their last game left to play against the first placed GE Tigers. They won in a decisive 2-0, unfazed by the former greats.
Then they won 3-0 over the Tigers in a one-sided finals only a few weeks later, cementing their status as the best team in Korea. They were expected to take home the trophy at MSI.
It took two best of five series that went to all five games to seemingly break Korea. Fnatic pushed SKT in their series, although it was one of the poorest series that the Koreans had played all year. Then they fought a close series versus China’s EDG, but ultimately lost in the fifth game.
SKT, and by extension, Korea’s reign of dominance was officially over. No one would doubt the statement that EDG was the best team in the world.
A Summer season full of rage commenced. SKT blazed through their opponents, dropping only six games in 18 best of three series, only losing a bizarre series to CJ Entus. They then wiped out organizational arch-nemesis KT Rolster in possibly the most one-sided finals series in Korean history.
There is no doubt that SKT was the best Korean organization in history. Out of ten championships, SKT had taken four of them. Three of those finals were won in 3-0 stomps. It was fitting that SKT led the challenge against the rest of the world to prove that Korea was once again the greatest region in the world.
It was almost fate that SKT drew EDG in their group. Out of all the teams at Worlds, EDG was the only team that SKT had not overcome. This was a big chance for SKT to win when it counted most, and to prove their greatness to the world again.
And prove themselves they did. SKT absolutely crushed their group stage campaign, even wiping out EDG with surprising ease. For a team that has the best player in the world, Faker, on their team, it was surprising that he wasn’t the star of the team’s victories. MaRin, from the top lane, has brutally and efficiently dominated every top laner he has faced, including EDG’s AmazingJ. Bang, the perpetually underrated AD carry, died once in the first six games they played, and his KDA sits at a staggering 71.0. Formerly the team’s biggest burden, Bengi destroyed his rival Clearlove in the second game they played against EDG; ending the game in a one-sided stomp and cementing his status as possibly the best jungler at Worlds. Faker even stepped out for some of his games, with substitute Easyhoon playing the last two games with the team, and may even sit out of the quarterfinal series against ahq, depending on coach kkOma’s judgment.
There may not be much that SKT needs to prove in this match, being heavily favored to make the finals with this bracket draw. But SKT was surprisingly untested during their group stage campaign, even by EDG. For SKT, this tournament has no longer become about if they can win, but by how much they can win. Almost everyone expects them to deliver, and maybe this time they will return the crown to Korea.
ahq eSports Club: Trial by Fire
ahq has had a history of difficulty in the World Championships. Last year they drew both tournament favorite Samsung White and top Chinese seed EDG, and were immediately written off. Nonetheless, they pushed EDG to a surprising tiebreak, and although they couldn’t win in the end, they didn’t go down as quietly as people expected them to.
This year, ahq has had the best Taiwanese squad since the Taipei Assassins unexpectedly raised the Summoner’s Cup back in 2012. They absolutely dominated the LMS, only dropping three games in their entire summer campaign. There was hope that given the right draw, that the team would make it to the bracket stage.
And then the groups were drawn. Pitted in one of the most brutal group draws with both iG and Fnatic, there seemed to be only an outside hope that the team would make the quarterfinals this year. Once again, ahq looked to have to struggle their way to the top.
Ahq certainly didn’t help themselves with their shaky start. Pitted against North America’s Cloud 9, a team that barely made the World Championships to begin with, they were expected to sweep the team in an easy start. Cloud 9 weren’t expected to take any games off of the teams in this group.
They were wrong. Cloud 9 used their Veigar pick to absolutely dominate and push ahq into their base in less than 25 minutes. This was not the start that ahq wanted to have in their first game at Worlds. After being down in a major deficit vs Fnatic, there was the real possibility that the team would go down 0-2 in their first two games at Worlds. However, a combination of questionable play from Fnatic and and Ziv being a hero on Gnar saved them from certain disaster. Unfortunately, their next game would be a loss to the previously 0-2 Invictus Gaming, bringing them into a three way tie for second all below the 3-0 Cloud 9, who had secured at the very least a tiebreaker for second place.
Ahq, however, shook off any doubts with fantastic play in the second week, stomping both Invictus Gaming and Cloud 9. AN was a hero in almost every game he played, being one of the best performing AD carries in the week. His fantastic play against Fnatic in their second game nearly brought the team back from yet another deficit against the Europeans. With all three inhibitors down and Westdoor’s Zed killing off the Yellowstar’s support Shen, it only seemed a matter of time before ahq would close their last game and leave their group in first place. However, Febiven’s Leblanc bursted down AN’s Jinx, leaving ahq reeling. Ahq were aced in the enemy base, and lost their nexus, only seconds before their own superminions would have won the game. They bounced back with another decisive win over Cloud 9 in the tiebreak, making the bracket stage of an international tournament for a second time in a row.
Ahq’s teamfighting play has been fantastic. Their early deficits against Fnatic were rectified with fantastic play from their top laner Ziv and AD carry AN. AN in particular has been probably ahq’s MVP for obvious reasons. However, the individual play of their jungler Mountain and mid laner Westdoor has been suspect at best. Although the team comes together extremely well, individually there have been holes in their mid and jungle play. Against SKT, with potentially the best jungler and mid laner in the world right now, they need to deliver, or risk being blown out too hard for Ziv and AN to bring it back.
It seems as if SKT is too stacked for ahq to beat, but they have shown more tenacity than any other team in this tournament. They may be down and out in their match, but ahq will still put up a respectable fight until the very end.
The Matchups
Top Lane: MaRin(SKT) vs Ziv(ahq)
For whatever reason, be it the meta or individual play, MaRin, not Faker, has stepped up to be the hardest carry on SKT. He has absolutely dominated in their wins, and with SKT’s style of giving their top laner a lot of resources being powerful in this meta, he has been playing like the best top laner in the world. Gone are the questionable laning and mid game decisions that plagued the majority of his career. MaRin has finally lived up to his initial title of “Faker of the Top Lane”. As he is also the captain and shotcaller of his team, he has delivered both mechanically and strategically in this tournament.
Ziv has been a great performer for ahq in all of their wins. He has only had one really poor game, and that was when he was forced onto an out of meta Maokai pick. Other than that game, he has shown great performances on Gnar and Darius. However, he hasn’t shone in the laning phase, making his presence more known when he groups with his team rather than in the individual lanes. He is a player that has a massive impact on his team no matter how far behind he may be.
As underrated as Ziv may be, he faces MaRin, who might just be the best top laner in the world. Unlike Ziv, MaRin gets a lot of resources from Bengi, and that will be too much for Ziv to overcome. Although Ziv is still great, MaRin is simply better.
Bengi(SKT) vs Mountain(ahq)
A year ago, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to label Bengi as a burden for his team. When SKT T1 K was slumping, Bengi’s poor play was one of the major reasons why. However, the former World Champion has revamped his play, and is at worst a top three jungler in the world right now. He may not be the most mechanically talented jungler, but his ability to shut down the enemy jungler and be in the right place at the right time is top-notch.
One of ahq’s most underperforming players has been Mountain. For some reason or another, his normally solid play has been quite off this tournament, with him getting randomly caught out or messing up otherwise easy ganks. His Rengar game against Cloud 9 was terrible, and he’s had questionable performances in all of his other games as well. For a player whose primary role is to facilitate his lanes, particularly bottom lane, he hasn’t been nearly as good as he could be.
Based off of performance before Worlds alone, Bengi would have been the obvious choice for this matchup. Now, with Bengi having possibly his best performance in his whole career while Mountain is having a bad tournament, it’s quite clear that Bengi handily wins this. If Mountain does not step up to the challenge, Bengi will run circles around ahq.
Faker/Easyhoon(SKT) vs Westdoor(ahq)
SKT has a choice between two of the best mid laners in the world, and neither choice would particularly cost them. Faker has had a resurgent performance this summer, and has tried to make it clear that he is the best player in the world still. After beating long-time nemesis Pawn twice already, his next step is to reclaim the World Championship. Faker hasn’t had the most impressive tournament, but the scary part of SKT thus far is that he hasn’t needed to carry yet. His team has yet to be put in the position where Faker is their last hope for victory.
Easyhoon has been quiet for most of the summer, taking a back seat to Faker through most of the season. Easyhoon may see play, but it isn’t as likely as it would have been back in Spring. Faker has just been too good this season for the team to ignore. Still, Easyhoon should not be underrated, and his Karthus pick against H2k showed that he’s still comfortable with his more passive, farm-heavy style, should SKT require that.
Westdoor, on the other hand, has once again shown the limitations of his small champion pool. For all the hype he’s gotten, his team has been winning games despite his presence on the team. This is a player who can only play assassins and Twisted Fate, and that’s not always what the team needs. Although his assassin play is top-notch, it’s not going to cut it against SKT, a team with two of the best mid laners in the world. Compounded with the fact that Westdoor usually loses lane pretty hard, it’ll be an uphill battle for him going forward.
This is probably the most one-sided matchup in favor of SKT, and Westdoor will have a huge uphill battle. Westdoor, like Mountain, has been playing quite poorly throughout this Worlds tournament, and will have to step up massively if ahq has wants any chance of winning.
Bang(SKT) vs AN(ahq)
Bang somehow ended the group stages with a staggering 71.0 KDA, only dying once in six games. He hasn’t been the most standout player on SKT, but he hasn’t needed to be. Bang has just sat in the back dealing damage, while SKT dominates the other team. It’s a very relaxing and low risk job, perfect for an ADC like Bang.
AN has been his team’s MVP in worlds. This guy has had an insane tournament, with teams dedicating their resources to shut him down repeatedly. Although he hasn’t always been successful, his aggressive style of play and his faith in his teammates to back him up has helped ahq secure games when their backs were against the walls.
Given the two circumstances of these players, it’s difficult to say which player has been consistently better. Bang has just been there doing his job as usual with an insane KDA, while AN is the biggest reason ahq made it this far anyway. However, given that Bang has the ability to be one of the best AD carries in the world (his Lucian game vs CJ Entus in the semi-finals of the LCK Spring split especially stands out), it’s not easy to dismiss him. The two finish squarely tied.
Support: Wolf(SKT) vs Albis(ahq)
At MSI, Wolf’s terrible performance was one of the biggest reasons why the team looked so shaky. He seemed to be tilting throughout the entire tournament, and his last game as support Nautilus stood out for how bad it was. Since then, Wolf has stepped his game up and has the second highest KDA in the tournament after Bang at 15.6. Although this may be because his team is performing at such a high level, Wolf’s performance still should not be underrated.
Albis was always a decent support, but with the Tahm Kench pick that he first brought against Fnatic he has shown how good he can be. Constantly saving AN and just being a tanky nuisance in general, his play on the catfish has been a major reason why AN is able to get out of dangerous decisions. However, he hasn’t been nearly as impressive on other champions as he was on his Tahm Kench. Albis hasn’t been bad, but he isn’t particularly standout either.
The difference between the two supports has been marginal at best, although Wolf’s performance, like the rest of his team, may be masked a little by how ridiculously dominant SKT as a whole has been. If Wolf starts getting nervous and making bad plays again, Albis could end up being the better player. Since it’s been a long while since Wolf has last underperformed, however, it’s very safe to say that he is the better player in the match.
Staff Opinions
thejuju
SKT has a real shot of going 12-0 into their finals, and at this rate 15-0 isn't impossible. ahq's chances are low at best, and AN needs to have a magical best of five to pull them through.
739
The one and only SK Telecom T1, the greatest team Korea has produced, the only team that didn't sandbag and didn't expose themselves in Group Stage. Can't see this being any different than a solid 3-0 win for SKT, unless Westdoor magically increases his champion pool, Ziv doesn't go full 1v5 and AN/Albis keep performing like they did in their previous games.
Fusilero
An even top lane and marginal advantage in bot lane is absolutely nowhere near enough for AHQ to match up to SKT in every other aspect.
keithasante
I give AHQ no chance at making this look even slightly competitive.
oo_Wonderful_oo
I want to believe that AN and Albis can steal a game, else if 15-0 SKT T1 run to second World Championship happens, some retard will come up and say that this team is close to SKT T1 #2 triple crown.
Staff Predictions
thejuju (3-0) 739 (3-0) Fusilero (3-0) keithasante (3-0) JonGalt (3-0) oo_Wonderful_oo (3-1) |
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