The LoL Worlds final is set between G2 Esports and FunPlus Phoenix. The focus for the Chinese team is on Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang, who is the mid laner for FunPlus Phoenix. Somehow, G2 Esports can’t seem to get the “super carry” out of their minds, just before the World Championship final of the League of Legends.
What kind of game is this? On Sunday, G2 Esports from Europe plays against FunPlus Phoenix (China) for the world championship in League of Legends.
This will be one of the biggest eSport events in history. The semi-final between SKT1 and G2 Esports is said to have been watched by almost 4 million people: a record.
FunPlus Phoenix is strongly positioned in every role. The jungler Tian is considered to be absolutely world-class. But the mid laner “Doinb” has made a special name for himself.
All the hopes of China rest on him.
Super Carry, Super Carry
What is so special about Doinb? Doinb is considered to be somewhat of a strange player.
Mechanically, he is supposedly not “that strong”; he is said to handle the mouse and keyboard less effectively than comparable world-class mid laners.
The mid laner for Fnatic, Nemesis, called him one of the “likely worst mid laners in the tournament.” However, he had to endure a lot of mockery and scorn for that.
Doinb is said to possess an incredibly good game understanding and make extremely good “picks,” meaning he selects champions well – he practically eliminated Fnatic in the quarter-finals with Ryze alone.
He is known as a player who hardly stays on his lane but instead moves freely across the map, unlike conventional mid laners. Such erratic behavior requires his team to support him, which seems to work at FunPlus Phoenix.
Doinb showcased his strong champion pool in the semi-finals of the LoL Worlds. In Match 1, he was simply irresistible on Rumble, before then contributing quietly to his team’s victory against the 2018 LoL world champions, Invictus Gaming, while on Nautilus.
FunPlus Phoenix is currently said to be showcasing the strongest “ban and pick” phase at the LoL Worlds 2019.
Doinb with a KDA of 6.1 at the Worlds
This is how it is going for Doinb during the LoL Worlds: Doinb has earned a reputation as a “super carry,” an exceptional player who leads his team to victory all on his own.
The lines between “awe” and “irony” have blurred since the hype around Doinb has grown so big.
Doinb has an average KDA of 6.1 at the Worlds with 8 different champions (via gol.gg):
- Ryze, which he played in 5 games, has an incredibly high KDA of 21.7
- with Nautilus, which he played 3 times, is more defensive at 3.8
- he played Kayle 2 times
- additionally, he also played Rumble, Renekton, Sion, Galio, and Malphite
In comparison: Faker has a KDA of 3.8 at the Worlds – Caps has 4.0.
Doinb was considered “cursed” after the scandal
Why was he considered cursed? Doinb is South Korean but has been playing in China since 2015. After 2014, there was a wave of many Koreans moving to China because there was fresh money, and Koreans at that time were considered the best players in the world.
A Chinese team discovered Doinb in Korea’s Solo Queue, where he had already made a name for himself as a “high-Elo” player.
In China, however, his career was considered “cursed,” as DotEsports describes. Doinb’s time in China started well with the Qia Gu Reapers, as the team even qualified for international tournaments, where they were unluckily eliminated. But then disaster struck.
A conflict between Doinb and his then jungler caused the team to have to withdraw from a tournament in April 2016. Doinb accused the jungler of not listening to the coaches and wanting Doinb to be benched.
This “scandal” brought Doinb a career setback and a strange reputation.
Doinb then played for rather mediocrely successful teams between 2017 and 2018, which couldn’t accomplish much. The Qiao Gu Reapers were bought and became JD Gaming. With that team, he didn’t find great success. Later, he switched to the Rogue Warriors, which also didn’t go well.
Doinb was already considered a “failed import” in China.
But while things weren’t going well for his teams, Doinb managed to adjust his playstyle relatively late in his career and won individual awards.
Now he is known for having a broad and somewhat strange champion pool in the mid lane.
The team “FunPlus Phoenix” recruited Doinb in December 2018 and apparently decided to fully back Doinb and support his style of excessive roaming. Because it only works if the rest of the team is on board.
With jungler Tian, he now forms a strong tandem and has earned a reputation as a “super carry.”
G2 Esports can’t stop thinking about Doinb
This is his role for G2 Esports: G2 Esports’ final opponents are quite the trolls for such a top team. They seem almost obsessed with Doinb:
Top-laner Wunder kept shouting during the quarter-final after a good play in the match against DAMWON Gaming, “Super Carry, Super Carry Doinb, Super Carry, Super Carry.”
Mid laner Caps said after the semi-final victory that they are considering signing Doinb. He himself will switch out of the mid laner position.
The head of G2 Esports, Ocelote, took this joke up: Even though G2 Esports is a team made up entirely of Europeans – except, of course, if they now poach Doinb. (via inven)
And bot laner Perkz has now posted: “My room is directly opposite Doinb’s. If I knock on the door every hour during the night before the match, we both can’t sleep – who do you think will win?”
How Doinb’s story ends, we will find out on Sunday at the final. At the moment, it looks like it could be the World Championship of the “cursed” Doinb – but Caps, Perkz, and the others are sure to have something to say about that.
