The League of Legends World Championships are approaching. However, one of the strongest teams from Korea, Griffin, loses its head coach just before the start: He was successful, but not successful enough. A defeat in the Korean LoL finals against SKT1 with Faker seems to have cost him his job. His departure is now final, albeit delayed.
Which team is it about? It is about the team “Griffin,” which has been the dominant team in the League of LoL in South Korea, the LCK, since 2018.
Griffin is a relatively young team – it has only existed since late 2016, under the name Griffin since January 2017. They are very successful and have been shaking up the LCK in recent years.
Dominant in the league – but lost 3 finals already
This is how the last years went for Griffin: Griffin has had a sort of “final curse” in 2018 and 2019. The years went strangely:
- The team was incredibly strong during the regular season in 2018 and 2019 and dominated the LCK for large stretches. They looked like “the new mega team from Korea”
- However, towards the end of a season, they fluctuate and do not deliver the expected performances against the top teams. Because even if the league went well, a last match must be won in the playoffs. Griffin has now lost this final 3 times in 2 years: twice against SKT1, once against KT Rolster.
As a result, Griffin could not win the LCK, even though they dominated the league.
In 2018 and 2019, Griffin secured the league relatively early and experimented with new players or new tactics towards the end of the regular season.
In the playoffs, where the league champion is determined, it did not go optimally in both years. This year, SKT1 regained dominance and did so quite clearly.
Defeat against SKT1 in the final likely sealed the end
Why does the head coach have to leave now? The coach of the team, Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho (29), was reportedly informed after the final loss against SKT1 that he would be dismissed.
Allegedly due to “lack of success and his inability as a coach.” He said this in a stream. Journalist Ashley Kang translated this (via Twitter).
However, coach cvMax protested against this decision of the management, and it was retracted. Now, just before the world championship, the separation is final. cvMax states that “trust between both parties has been broken,” the conflict has persisted, and he is leaving the team.
cvMax tells the fans that Griffin is strong enough to win the Worlds without him.
Hello. This is Team Griffin.
For Griffin’s new journey, the contract with coach Kim Dae-Ho (cvMax) has ended with mutual agreement. We sincerely thank coach cvMax for his time with Team Griffin. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/FVR1RiOxF6
— Team Griffin LoL (@TeamGriffinLoL) September 26, 2019
The team itself speaks of the contract ending by mutual agreement and thanks the coach for his work.
The LoL Worlds begin on October 2. However, Team Griffin will only compete with the other top teams starting on October 12. They are in a group with the favorites from Europe, G2 Esports, the US team Cloud 9, and a 4th team that still has to qualify.
