Learning From the MSI, Part 2: The Eastern Titans

China and Korea: The Grudge Match

Nearly every single major international League of Legends tournament since 2013 has resulted in a Chinese/Korean final, and the MSI wasn’t a tournament to stray from the norm. These two opponents also couldn’t be more intimidating forces for this fated clash.

SK Telecom are the Season 3 World Champions, 2-time OGN champions and they have the best player in the world, Lee “Faker” Sanghyeok, in their employ. In the other corner are Edward Gaming, who have made China their stomping grounds and have been the undisputed rulers of the League of Legends Pro League for 3 straight splits.

Most importantly, EDG’s most recent split of dominance is underscored by the wealth of Korean talent that moved to various Chinese teams for equally various reasons (read as: fat paychecks). Despite competing in arguably the most competitive region in the world at the moment, EDG still remained untouchable.

They’ve gained World Champion mid laner Heo “PawN” Wonseok, and the best pound-for-pound marksman in the world in Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu. Even if they had a little hiccup in their regional playoffs with PawN being in the hospital for the majority of a series, they persevered and entered the MSI as the favorites for a good number of analysts.

SK Telecom are no slouch however, as they had to overcome a full split of being overshadowed by the new dominant organization in Korean waters, the GE Tigers. SKT quickly buckled down however, and looked increasingly powerful and coordinated in the latter weeks of the split, culminating in a clean sweep of GE Tigers in the LCK finals without even using Faker.

SK Telecom’s ‘Easy’ Plan for Victory

SK Telecom have remarkable players in each role, and of course who can help but talk up the prowess of Faker, the greatest LoL player of all time? But SKT’s real strength lies in the fact that Faker isn’t the only weapon they can slot into the mid lane.

Lee “Easyhoon” Jihoon is easily overlooked as a mid laner because the shadow Faker casts is so large, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t world class. Easyhoon gives SKT an unparalleled advantage in the draft phase by changing the dynamic of the squad by his presence alone.

When SKT opt to field Faker, their strategies become mid lane focused, allowing the god to work his wonders from the center of the map. Easyhoon is noted for his more supportive style, thus allowing for MaRin and marksman Bae “Bang” Junsik more opportunities to carry.

SKT may be the only team in the world thus far to employ a substitute player so effectively, and this is due to the fact that both players have clear strengths and differences in playstyle. Traditionally, this stylistic difference has also seemed like a difference in quality, again owing to Faker’s insane level of play.

But Easyhoon has been demonstrating an uncharacteristic level of aggression as of late. Despite playing only 12 times during the regular season of the LCK, he has become an Azir and Cassiopeia extraordinaire and was last seen solo killing his opposition, Lee “kurO” Seohaeng, in SKT’s clean sweep of the Korean finals.  This means that a player swap for SKT is more of a sidegrade at this point.

EDG’s Jungle Fever

It’s hard to have one up on a team like SKT, but EDG have a clear advantage, and it doesn’t come from any of their lanes. Ming “Clearlove” Kai is one of China’s original godlike junglers, having played for Team WE when World Elite were still the legendary world class team with Gao “WeiXiao” Xue-Cheng and Yu “Mizaya” Jing-Xi in the roster.

Not to discredit SK Telecom’s Bae “bengi” Seongung, who let’s not forget is in fact a World Champion, but Clearlove still wins out just on recent run of form. While bengi reached the pinnacle of achievement in LoL back in 2013, bengi had a less than stellar 2014 season. In fact, fans were at one point clamoring for his removal from the team, claiming he was little more than dead weight for Faker to carry. Even though bengi saw a resurgence in 2015, he had to share the jungle reins with Im “T0m” Jae-hyeon.

Clearlove on the other hand has 3 LPL titles under his belt, and all of which come from back to back splits of utter dominion over the rest of China. The domestic success of Edward Gaming cannot be understated, especially in light of the Korean exodus. Even with the majority of Korea’s headline talent making the jump to play in the LPL, Clearlove has performed beyond expectations and triumphed continuously, and in one of the busiest split formats ever in the MOBA genre of progaming (each LPL team played 44 games in total).

Clearlove’s success is also made even more impressive in region that now contains the best jungle talent pool in the world, bar none with Lee “KaKAO” Byungkwon, Lee “Spirit” Dayoon and Choi “DanDy” Inkyu all prowl the jungles of China these days.

China’s top jungler also has the advantage of champion pool, playing 9 champions over the Spring Split, as well as the fact that the meta supports his farm heavy control style of jungling. He’s proficient on every top tier jungler at the moment, as well as some pocket picks that nobody else seems to play at his level. Add up all these factors and the deck starts to look very stacked in EDG’s favor.

The Showdown

Both teams not only boast exceptional rosters but also world class coaches. Ji “Aaron” Xing and Kim “kkoma” Jeong-gyun have masterminded regional dominance for their respective squads for quite a long while, and both know the ins and outs of a best of X series. The levels of adaptation provided by these coaching geniuses is what makes these two teams so dangerous the deeper the battle goes.

Again, like the SKT vs FNC series, this one was (to borrow a wrestling entertainment term) a bonafide slobberknocker, if not more so. I would highly recommend watching all the games as well.

Here’s an attempt to summarize the series, though nothing beats seeing it happen in real time: SKT fire the first salvo in a crushing win with Easyhoon’s Cassiopeia going 9/0/8. EDG respond in kind, using PawN’s own Cassiopeia along with Deft’s signature Jinx pick. Game 3 was Clearlove taking SKT to school with a downright dirty early game as Nunu to give his team another win.

Backed into a corner, SKT have no choice but to bring out Faker, and as Faker is wont to do, he battles back in clutch situations, posting a flawless Kassadin score of 6/0/12. Game 5 is where the magic happened. SKT decides it’s time to unleash the ultimate weapon of Faker on his most feared champion: the all time 12-0 competitive record LeBlanc.

EDG are ready for it and draft a team of tanks and all manner of spell shields courtesy of Morgana and Sivir specifically tailored to ward off Faker’s onslaught. Paired with the audacity of allowing Clearlove his old favorite Evelynn, now a squarely off-meta pick, EDG successfully do what no other Chinese team had done before. They defeated a Korean team in a major tournament final.

So begins the reign of China as kings of the professional League of Legends scene. From now up until the Season 5 World Championships, we will be looking at the LPL for the top caliber of play, expecting their strongest teams to dominate the competition, and praising PawN as the new god of the mid lane.

But even if Korea has been dethroned at the moment, this is not the end for the region. You can bet that SK Telecom’s management is already enacting plans to double down on training. The same goes for the rest of the Korean scene. No doubt they’re taking the loss of their fellow Koreans hard, and will seek to redeem themselves at Worlds for the sake of their pride.

Now that we’ve covered the biggest blockbuster to happen at the MSI, it’s time to showcase the lighter side of the event. Tune in next time to learn the story of ahq e-Sports Club, the international wildcard, as well as read through a few lists and fun facts about the tournament.

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