If you watched this year’s World Championship, you won’t deny the fact that this year had some of the most exciting moments ever. People couldn’t believe their eyes at some of the results from the matches and there was more than one instance where a player made a name for himself on the field.
But there was more to it than that this year. This year had some of the most historic moments ever in the history of League of Legends. First off, the champions of the 2018 World Championship weren’t Koreans. They were Chinese.
It wasn’t the fan favorites: KT Rolster. It was Invictus Gaming, an out-of-nowhere Chinese team that used their craftiness and fundamental playstyle to help them take down some of the toughest teams during the Knockout rounds.
This is just one of many things that shook League of Legends to its core this year. North America, Europe, and China made history this year and with the events that will unfold from the 2018 World Championship, some serious changes could come around.
Korea has created a legacy inside of League of Legends. They have crafted more powerhouse teams than any other region and to this day, they hold more than half of the superstars. This stems from the fact that since 2013, they’ve won every single World Championship…until now.
In 2013, South Korea Telecom won the World Championship. 2014 went to Samsung White. South Korea Telecom retook the throne in 2015 and then held their ground in 2016 before falling to Samsung Galaxy in 2017. Furthermore, of all the titles that Korea managed to win, there was only one year where they faced a team that came from outside the Korean region and that was China’s Star Horn Royal Club in 2014, the second-best team in China.
In 2015, it was South Korea Telecom versus the KOO Tigers. 2016 was South Korea Telecom versus Samsung Galaxy and 2017 was also a repeat of that, only that year, Samsung Galaxy came out victorious rather than SKT. This year, Korea didn’t even make the final. Their best team, KT Rolster, lost in the quarterfinals of the Knockout Rounds as did their counterpart, Afreeca Freecs. Meanwhile, last year’s World Champion, Gen.G—the renamed version of Samsung Galaxy—fell in the Groups Stage after holding a disappointing 1-5 record.
While the other two Korean teams, Afreeca Freecs and KT Rolster, made it through to the Knockout Rounds, they didn’t make it past the first round. Afreeca Freecs was swept by Cloud9, something that’s never happened in the history of League of Legends—a Korean team being swept by a North American team.
Meanwhile, KT Rolster fell to Invictus Gaming, a loss that no one saw coming. It was nearly a 3-0 sweep but KT Rolster barely won through a backdoor push while being down 0-2. From there, they managed to even the score before finally falling in the fifth match to kick them out of the tournament 3-2 to the eventual champions IG.
All three teams from Korea severely underperformed this year and it can be due to a variety of reasons. However, one of the main reasons that can be attributed to their loss is the fact that they didn’t bring the usual firepower to the game this year.
Since 2013, Korea has set a precedent for bringing teams that focus down on playing strong and consistent League of Legends. This means playing safe when you need to play safe and playing aggressive when you need to play aggressive.
The playstyle evolved from SKT’s 2013 team who created this playstyle and ultimately used it to win the 2013, 2015, and 2016 World Championship finals. The same goes for the 2014 champions, Samsung White.However, with the evolution of new teams and players, it’s become quite evident that this playstyle isn’t the norm anymore. Now, it’s about who can carry harder and while this does have its own benefits, when it comes down to the late game, this playstyle becomes near useless.
Furthermore, if the usual carries cannot carry in that match, then the team could become near useless unless they can find a new carry to lead the team. Therefore, Cloud9 and Invictus Gaming simply focused down on the usual carries of KT Rolster and Afreeca Freecs and rendered them useless.
If Korea doesn’t want a repeat of this year, they’re going to have to change up their playstyle and make it a team effort yet again. They can’t depend on just one or two players to push them from the early to mid game. They need to replicate a playstyle from early 2013-2015 where five players worked together to gain a lead.
North America has a notorious reputation for flopping at the World Championship and this year wasn’t different. The number one seed from North America, Team Liquid, went 3-3 in Groups Stage while the number two seed from North America, 100 Thieves, went 2-4.
However, one team from North America managed to make it out: Cloud9. This team has consistently provided results for North America whenever they failed to show up. They’ve made the Knockout Rounds nearly every year that they’ve participated in the World Championship and that’s been every single year since their start as a team.
This year, though, Cloud9 made it even farther. Cloud9 is usually the only team that manages to make it to the Knockout Rounds but they haven’t had a chance at making it through to the semifinals. This year, they managed to upset Afreeca Freecs, Korea’s two seed, to advance.
This is the first year North America has ever made it to the semifinals of the World Championship and this is also the first time that North America has swept a Korean team. Cloud9 has set many records for North America despite being the underdog at every tournament.
Cloud9 tends to not yield the same results in their own region. They don’t place as high and they definitely don’t win it all, despite playing better against better competition. One thing’s for sure though, They’ve created a strong reputation for themselves and they mark the beginning of North America entrance into taking down international competition.
As Cloud9 is the hope of North America, so is Fnatic for Europe. Since the beginning of League of Legends competitive play, Fnatic has managed to put the EU LCS on the map. While the EU LCS might have a stronger region than North America, they still struggle against the same competition.
For example, Origen made the 2015 World Championship semifinals alongside Fnatic and G2 Esports made the Mid-Season Invitational final while H2K-Gaming made the 2016 World Championship semifinals. However, they all fell to some team from Korea.
This year was different though. This year, Fnatic managed to make it all the way to the finals, making them the first ever European team to ever make two World Championship finals, one which they won in Season One and then this year when they faced off against Invictus Gaming for the title.
However, there’s more to the story than this. Fnatic was placed on one side of the draw, set off to face against Edward Gaming, the 2015 Mid-Season Invitational champions, for the first round of Knockout while their European counterparts, G2 Esports, were set off to face against Royal Never Give Up, the 2014 World Championship finalists.
Not only did both of these European teams oust two of the best teams in the world, they also managed to make history along the world. This was the first year a European team was able to take out a former international tournament finalist.
While G2 Esports did fail to make it past Invictus Gaming, Fnatic took down Cloud9 with dominant fashion and then went on to go into the finals. They ended up losing to IG but they added one more piece of history to Europe.
The usual competition in the League of Legends World Championship is Korea versus China. However, nine times out of ten, Korea has been able to win some of the most crucial matchups. In 2014, China’s Star Horn Royal Club fell to Korea’s Samsung White in the finals.
Then, in 2017, Royal Never Give Up fell in a close five sets to South Korea Telecom. Finally, another notable instance is whenever ROX Tigers took down Edward Gaming in a 3-1 victory during the 2016 World Championship. Korea wins ninety percent of the matchups but this year, it was completely different. This was the first year where China brought all three of their teams to the Knockout Rounds while Korea only brought two.
Furthermore, China advanced more teams throughout the tournament than Korea did. However, their most notable achievement during this tournament was the fact that they won it all. They’ve come close in the past but this was the year where they finally managed to do it with Invictus Gaming securing the 3-0 victory versus Fnatic.
Of course, winning the World Championship is a first for China and this means history. This is the first year they’ve ever won the entire tournament and this can be potential for the future years to come. China had a historic year this year and they finally took down their rivals, Korea, in an all-out battle that ended with Invictus Gaming coming out victorious.
Obviously this year has had many things come as a first. This was the first year that North America made a semifinal appearance. This was the first time Europe had a team make it to the finals twice in their career but most importantly, this was a year in which China won its first World Championship.
This means that Korea’s reign is over. Four long years of Korean dominance are gone and a new era has arisen. This era will not be completely filled by Korean superpowers that dominate every aspect of the game. Now, it’s going to be up for grabs by North America, Europe, or China—and it depends on who manages to get their hands on it first.
Of course, Korea can still be a threat next year but they’re not going to be as big of a threat as they have been in the past. South Korea Telecom is no where as strong as they once were and KT Rolster has proven to be a disappointment when it comes to fulfilling the role as Korea’s dominant team player.
Meanwhile, the other teams are usually one-and-done, meaning that they’ll have one or two outstanding games and then fall to a team that normally would have been easy pickings. In the end, it’s going to be depend on who can play the more consistent playstyle as strong as possible.
Next year, with so many records being broken, you can expect a stronger performance from China, Europe, and North America as a whole. Heck, you might even see a European Mid-Season Invitational champion or even a North American finalist.
With the way that League of Legends was played this year, I would say that you should be prepared to expect anything. Anything will be possible for the future. Betting-wise, I would rearrange my picks because with the unpredictable results we’ve been getting, you never know: North America might have the next big team.
We can expect many things to come from the results of this tournament. Europe and North America will definitely become more confident in their own playstyles and I won’t be surprised to see if China starts its own legacy.
New playstyles will be influenced and new players will become superstars. We will get a new Faker and a new super-team for the next few years. The old age of League of Legends is over and now comes a new age where new teams arise and rule the game.
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