The Finals of the World Championships in League of Legends (LoL) 2018 are over. Korea is licking its wounds. The gameplay in LoL has shifted and become more aggressive. South Korea could not cope with this. Now they hope for the return of Faker to the top of the world.
This is how the Finals ended: As exciting as the World Championships of League of Legends were in the first weeks, they became relatively dull starting from the semifinals.
Unfortunately, there were no more close matches or crazy victories from the underdogs. The favorites clearly prevailed in all three games.
The only team from Asia that reached the semifinals, Invictus Gaming, won their semifinal and the final clearly and dominantly. Fnatic had no real chance in the final to stand up against the Chinese.
Catastrophe in South Korea: But before that, the tournament was exciting and saw curious defeats of the favorites.
Especially hard hit by the LoL Worlds 2018 was South Korea. The country, usually so successful in League of Legends, embarrassed itself in the eyes of many in these Worlds:
- Last year’s winner Gen G. was already eliminated in the main round
- Afreeca Freecs became the first Korean team to lose to one from North America: Cloud 9 defeated them. This noticeably hurts the South Koreans
- And KT Rolster, actually the co-favorites, also did not succeed – they were eliminated early against the later champs Invictus Gaming
LoL has become more aggressive
What has changed? The expert, Chae “Piglet” Gwang-Ji, a former star player himself, explains what the problem of South Korea at the highest level of League of Legends is:
In Korea, players are taught not to engage in fights when their jungler is not nearby. However, this style is no longer up to date. In the current meta, one must play aggressively.
The current LoL is characterized by dominant presence in the laning phase, an aggressive playstyle from the junglers, and a flood of wards that guarantee visibility.
In the Finals, Invictus Gaming also won clearly because their jungler Ning played dominantly and cleverly. He was crowned MVP of the Finals. Experts praise Ning for his excellent and superior “Pathing.” He takes tactically better paths than his opponents and thus controls parts of the map.
The meta of LoL seems to have shifted.
- In the past, South Korea dominated by seeking clever and cautious team fights and systematically winning in the decisive later phases.
- The current LoL allows for “snowballing” on the lane and an early aggressive playstyle in one-on-one situations.
South Korea does not seem to have adapted to the new meta yet.
This is what South Korea hopes for: The great hope of the South Koreans lies on LoL god Faker next year. He is expected to bring South Korea back to the top.
But this year, Faker and SKT 1 did not even qualify for the World Championships.
The huge role Faker still plays in League of Legends is evident from the reaction of the winners.
How much Faker is revered in South Korea
This is Rookie: The midlaner Song “Rookie” Eul-jin (21) is South Korean but plays for the Chinese team Invictus Gaming.
In his position, he was crucial to IG’s victory at the LoL Worlds 2018, the World Championships. “Rookie” was one of the big stars of the tournament.
However, as a South Korean midlaner, Rookie has always been considered a kind of “Faker jr” and is compared to the star player Lee “Faker” Gang-hyeok.
This seems to bother Rookie not at all. He is almost humble in this moment of his greatest success.
Even the World Champion raves about Faker
This is what Rookie says about Faker: Even after his victory at the Worlds, Rookie pays respect to his idol. He says: “Even now, Faker is the biggest star in the world. I cannot surpass him.”
Rookie continues:
“I am very grateful that people compare me to Faker, but I think it will take a long time for me to even get close to him. I do not even think I could compete against him in the mid lane. Even though I have become the World Champion today, I do not think I am the best midlaner in the world.
I want to tell Faker that I will always watch his games and his solo queues. I hope he can continue with his amazing plays.”
However, relying solely on Faker may not be sufficient for South Korea to look better next year. They will likely need to adapt to the new “snowball and control ward” meta of League of Legends. But League of Legends might look completely different at the LoL Worlds 2019.
