2022 will apparently be the year of the “Super Teams” at League of Legends. While experienced professionals are joining Team Vitality in Europe, some exciting players with a long history are coming together at the rather mild Gen.G in South Korea. Leading the way is the exceptional talent Chovy – he is finding a strong team again and is meeting old friends from the days of “Team Griffin”, a team that fell apart under a brilliant coach.
What is a “Super Team”?
- The term “Super Team” comes from the language of musicians. It is referred to as a “Supergroup” when musicians come together who were already successful as solo artists. In LoL, a “Super Team” is when players form a new team who have already attained star status.
- In Europe, the team “Vitality” is touted as a Super Team in 2022. They already had an excellent jungler in Selfmade and are now adding two European superstars, mid laner Perkz and top laner Alphari, who played in the USA in 2021. They are also bringing in bot laner Carzzy from LEC champion MAD Lions.
- A new Super Team is forming at the rather mild Gen.G in South Korea. They already had the legendary ADC Ruler under contract and are now adding him with a mix of veterans and new talent. Three of the new players have already played together at “Team Griffin”.
Also in the USA, a sort of Super Team is forming at “Team Liquid”. They no longer have a single US player on the roster:
Gen.G – a solid but somehow boring top team
What reputation does Gen.G have? Gen.G is considered the arch-rival of SKT1. This dates back to about 5 years ago when the mid laner “Ambition” (now 29) was seen as the antithesis to Faker. Gen.G was still called Samsung Galaxy back then and won the 2017 World Championship against Faker, a defeat that apparently weighed heavily on him at the time.
In recent years, Gen.G had become a rather mild team, playing solidly but not causing much attention. They were seen as a typical, methodically playing Korean LoL team, while fans preferred the explosive style of DAMWON Gaming or cheered along with SKT1, the legendary team from South Korea.
Gen.G now has a world champion and 2 super talents
Who plays for Gen.G in 2022? The central new signing is mid laner Chovy. He has achieved the feat of qualifying for the last 3 Worlds with 3 different teams, each time being the central anchor point of his teams. However, both Team Griffin (2019) and DRX (2020) spectacularly fell apart after their respective Worlds appearances.
Chovy has transformed from an exciting young talent into one of the best LoL players worldwide. Unlike other super mid laners like Doinb or Showmaker, he had very little help. At his last team, Hanwha Esports, Chovy was so dominant and clearly the best player on the team that people referred to Hanwha Esports as the “Church of Chovy”.
When Gen.G signed Chovy, they embraced the meme and tweeted “Welcome to the church.”
New at Gen.G is also top laner Doran (2021), an old teammate of Chovy, with whom he played from 2018 to 2020, first for Griffin, then for DRX. Doran is considered an incredibly talented top laner, who is now reunited with Chovy.
In the jungle, Gen.G is relying on returnee Peanut, who already played in the jungle for Gen.G in 2019 and was the starting jungler for SKT1 in 2017, the team that painfully lost to Gen.G in the World Championship final. The 23-year-old is considered an experienced veteran, who will likely take over shot-calling at Gen.G. His coach attests that he now makes sophisticated and intricate calls: every decision is very good and he excels at utilizing resources in the game.
As ADC, Gen.G is relying on Ruler, the last player from their team that became World Champion in 2016 as Samsung Galaxy. The 22-year-old Ruler is considered extremely strong in the laning phase.
The 22-year-old South Korean Lehends will play as a supporter for Gen.G. He is probably the only one in the team without a big name. He comes from Affreeca Freeks. However, Lehends played in 2018 together with Chovy for Griffin – then in 2019 with Doran and Chovy for the team.
Coach discovered 3 players in 2017 who are now world stars
What stands out about the roster: What resonates in the team composition is a strong focus on former players of Team Griffin. This is a special story:
- Team Griffin were absolute no-names in 2017, playing in the second Korean league.
- They hired a coach named “cvMax”, who had no experience in LoL. Normally, someone like that would never become head coach. But cvMax convinced the manager to give him a chance and then proved to have an incredible sense for talent. He discovered new players and nurtured them. He gave many players their first professional contract who previously were not on anyone’s radar.
- The players that cvMax discovered during his time at Griffin have become superstars in LoL in 2021: Besides mid laner Chovy, he also discovered jungler Tarzan (LNG Esports) and bot laner Viper, two of the world’s best players today. Viper became World Champion in 2021 with EDward Gaming.
- However, Team Griffin fell apart due to scandals and controversies. cvMax got into trouble for allegedly choking a player. That was top laner Sword – at that time, there was the controversy that cvMax preferred to let Doran play.
In 2022, the rather mild team of Gen.G will apparently try to carry on the legacy of cvMax and reap the fruits of his labor. They would probably have liked to sign Viper and Tarzan along with Chovy, Doran, and Lehends – but they are now unaffordable. However, with Peanut and Ruler, they have brought in high quality.
LoL: Brilliant coach allegedly choked player – how the court drama ended
