Learning From the MSI, Part 3: The Closing Chapters
The Shaolin Monks of the LMS
While the previously mentioned regions in Part 1 and Part 2 are the most popular and hyped up scenes in League of Legends, we must not forget the other teams in attendance at the event. After all, the last time the world failed to take the Southeast Asian regions seriously, Taipei Assassins won the Season 2 World Championships.
But as the story goes, the major regions were never to be blindsided again, and their more rapid growth put Taiwan on the perpetual back foot despite growing into their own circuit, the League of Legends Masters Series.
The League of Legends Master Series representatives, ahq e-Sports Club, were an unlikely candidate for the role. They trailed their regions top teams for the entire split, which was a far cry from their years trading top dog position between themselves and TPA. With each humiliation, they showed their determination to improve, adopting a bet to shave their heads in defeat. By the end of the season, the LMS casters had dubbed them monks for their appearance, in a quiet mockery of ahq’s downfall.
Obviously ahq came into their regional gauntlet as the heavy underdogs against HK Attitude, Taipei Assassins and yoe Flash Wolves. The monks proved everyone wrong however, as they went a combined 9-1 to take the LMS championship, losing only the once to YFW.
Still analysts questioned the overall strength of the Taiwanese scene, and nobody paid ahq too much mind going into the MSI. So ahq responded by absolutely destroying Team Solo Mid, Fnatic and Beşiktaş before giving SK Telecom their closest game of the round robin by being 10k gold above the Koreans at one point. They ended the group stage in 3rd place, and a 3-2 record, which is much better than what most analysts originally projected for the team.
Alas, ahq failed to gain traction against the eventual champions of the tournament as Edward Gaming thoroughly swept them aside in the semifinals, but ahq was successful in reminding the world that the teams of the LMS are no lightweights.
Despite that, Liu “Westdoor” Shu Wei can still be ranked among the best mid laners in the world for his outright carry potential on assassins such as Zed and Fizz, proving that the Taiwanese scene still has its fair share of talent. In fact, Westdoor’s devotion to his famed Fizz pick seems to transcend metas, as he has successfully used the Tidal Trickster throughout different metas, even when Fizz was far from the top crop of picks, as is the case in the Cinderhulk era. Should ahq find themselves on the road to the Season 5 World Championships, mid laners around the world would be remiss to forget about Westdoor, lest they become shark bait on the grand stage.
Turkish Delight
The final team in attendance at the MSI was the winner of the International WildCard Invitational, Turkey’s Beşiktaş e-Sports Club. Though they failed to score a single victory at the event, as is the default fate of a wildcard in the face of more developed regions, the implications of their inclusion are still admirable.
BJK (for Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü in Turkish) are the only team in attendance, and one of the few in the entire professional League of Legends scene, to be formed by an actual sports organization—in this case a football club. BJK is one of Turkey’s biggest sports fixtures, having been around for over 100 years.
This means that despite being heavy underdogs, BJK brings a ton of exposure to the event, with all of Turkey rallying behind them. No doubt their support, Mustafa “Dumbledoge” Kemal Gökseloğlu has already become his nation’s next national hero after he picked up first blood on the legendary Lee “Faker” Sanghyeok, with statues of bearded canine wizards already being erected in his honor.*
Dumbledoge, the support player of the Wildcard team, scored first blood on the best mid laner in the game.
Other than that, BJK are also the first team to give their region a repeat appearance on the international stage after Dark Passage featured at least years Worlds. This shows that despite going home winless, Dark Passage did affect its region in some way, making it more competitive and keeping other teams on the ball.
BJK can be proud that they represented their country, and that they carry the honor of such a prestigious club for their nation onto the Summoner’s Rift. Should they make it to this year’s World Championship, you can be certain they will be greeted with a wave of applause.
*Dumbledoge is not actually being considered for national hero status.
The State of the World
In the post-MSI reality we now live in, we have to contend with a few truths brought to light in the wake of this awesome tournament.
- China has claimed the Most Dominant Region crown from Korea… for now.
- Korea, while weakened by the exodus, is still a top threat, and retains the potential for greatness in their culture and support staff.
- New talent, if used correctly, has what it takes to challenge and eventually topple the powers that be, as illustrated most prominently by Europe.
- North America as a region desperately needs to become more competitive to produce better international results.
- The other non-major regions continuing to develop, and their talent pools can be rather deep.
All in all, every region stands to benefit from the Mid-Season Invitational, and it was a brilliant idea on Riot’s part to create this type of event. The format could use a little work, but for now we just witnessed a wildly entertaining set of LoL games that also shed light on burning questions in the community.
No doubt each representative at the MSI is already back home and preparing for their respective Summer Splits, and I suggest you do the same. Get hyped, wait on news of possible roster changes, and of course, more articles in the near future.
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