Group C consists of two giants and two underdogs. Will the favorites move onto the knockout stages or will someone play spoiler?
Photo by: Oceanic League of Legends
Group C – Group of Titans
Going into the 2015 World Championship, Group C has two of the favorites to win the tournament. SKTelecom T1 (SKT) and Edward Gaming (EDG) are the frontrunners to advance into the knockout stages after a relatively straightforward draw where their best competition will come from the games against one another. H2K Gaming (H2K) and Bangkok Titans (BKT) will give it their best and try to upset the two giants and prove that they deserve a spot amongst the world’s elite.
The Teams
SKTelecom T1 (SKT)
Photo by: Esportspedia
Roster:
- Coach: Kim "kkOma" Jeong-gyun
- Top: Gyeong-Hwan “MaRin” Jang
- Jungle: Seong-ung “bengi” Bae
- Mid: Sang-hyeok "Faker“ Lee
- ADC: Jun-sik "Bang“ Bae
- Support: Jae-wan "Wolf“ Lee
About:
The starting roster for SKT is arguably the strongest in the world. They glided through LCK Summer 2015 only losing a single best of three series (17-1 record) and won the championship in convincing fashion winning 3-0 against KT Rolster. Their blip at the Midseason Invitational (MSI) is the only worrying statistic since they lost a series against EDG, another team in the group, however their play since then has been impeccable. SKT also brings along talented substitutes Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon and Jae-hyeon “Tom” in the mid and jungle role respectively. These players are well known around the world for being extremely talented and offer SKT something different if their strategies do not go according to plan. SKT has the firepower and they look to reclaim their spot as World Champions after missing out on the tournament last year after winning Season 3 Worlds.
Player to Watch:
Faker is the best player in the world. He plays arguably the most influential position in League of Legends, mid lane. SKT needs Faker to be playing well to win. Their whole team is talented, but it’s the performances of their star player that will lead them to the Championship. He needs to continue his form he showed in the OGN Champions Summer 2015 and show why he’s the world’s greatest player.
Edward Gaming (EDG)
Photo by: Gamepedia
Roster:
- Coach: Ji “Aaron” Xing
- Top: Tong “Koro1” Yang
- Jungle: Ming "Clearlove“ Kai
- Mid: Won-seok “PawN” Heo
- ADC: Hyuk-kyu “Deft” Kim
- Support: Tian “meiko” Ye
About:
Although EDG is considered one of the favorites to go far and possibly even win the tournament, they are not approaching the tournament at a high. They underperformed throughout the entire summer split and their playoffs. Despite their amazing performance and victory over SKT at the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), they’ve been on a downward spiral since. Some may argue that the reason behind their summer struggles is due to their desire to bring in new players and have them develop their skills on stage. However, the trend is still worrisome as they only qualified because they won the 2015 Season China Regional Playoffs. It was not the easiest of roads for this powerhouse to get to Worlds. However they are here and many expect them to unveil their true potential on the grandest of stages.
Player to Watch:
Deft, former member of Samsung Galaxy Blue, has been nothing but a savior for EDG. He’s adapted to the Chinese League scene fairly well and was a large factor in the team winning MSI by securing their spot in the tournament with a pentakill against LGD Gaming. Deft will have to regain that form of his MVP-winning Spring Split in order to help carry EDG to glory at worlds.
H2K-Gaming (H2K)
Photo by: Gamepedia
Roster:
- Coach: Neil “Pr0lly” Hammad
- Top: Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu
- Jungle: Jean-Victor “Loulex” Burgevin
- Mid: Sang-wook “Ryu” Ryu
- ADC: Peter “Hjärnan” Freyschuss
- Support: Raymond “KaSing” Tsang
About:
H2K enters Worlds without any expectations. At the start of the Summer 2015 EU LCS Split, they looked like a powerhouse, a team that could challenge Fnatic as the top team in the region. However that dream quickly vanished after going 4-6 in their last 10 games of the regular season and was dispatched by fellow EU Worlds attendee Origen in a 4 game series in the playoffs. Coach Pr0lly had created strategies that allowed his team to win through macromanagement to cover for his teams’ weakness in micro play and it worked against some of the lesser teams in the region. The strategy to outplay their opponents did not work against some of the top teams in Europe and if H2K hopes to play competitively against the other teams in the group, they need to find strategies that allow them to outmaneuver their opponents. H2K will look more towards their performance than their record as they attend their first International Tournament.
Player to Watch:
Due to H2K’s reliance on objectives rather than straightforward overpowering their opponents, the shotcaller is their most important player in this tournament. KaSing fills this role with the team and it will be up to him to make the calls and plays that get H2K towers, dragons, and barons in order for them to get some victories against some of the stronger members of the group.
Bangkok Titans (BKT)
Photo by: Esportspedia
Roster:
- Coach: Akarawat “Cabbage” Wangsawat
- Top: Pawat “WarL0cK” Ampaporn
- Jungle: Chayut “007x” Suebka
- Mid: Nuttapong “G4” Menkasikan
- ADC: Juckkirsts “Lloyd” Kongubon
- Support: Sorawat “Moss” Boonphrom
About:
Bangkok Titans (BKT) is the heavy underdog in this group. Many expect them to go winless in the group stage and exit the tournament with minimal impact other than being warmup games for some of the stronger teams in the group. They got into this tournament by beating The Chiefs eSports Club in the 2015 International Wildcard Turkey. In that same tournament they beat previous attendees Dark Passage to prove they are capable of beating teams that have been to the illustrious tournament. Regardless of their success at Worlds, BKT has proven that they deserve to be here and have beaten anyone that stood in their way from making it this far. They achieved first place in the 2015 GPL Summer league and appear to be in fine form entering the tournament.
Player to Watch:
The Bangkok Titans are said to live and die by their midlaner G4. Their strategies to win games often involve him outlaning his opponent in order to carry the rest of the team to victory. The jungler adds heavy pressure to his lane in order to push the lane into his favor. If they adapt the same strategy at worlds, he will need to perform at a superhuman level to help his team win games. He’s against arguably the best two midlaners in the world in Faker and PawN and he needs to pressure his counterparts to secure victories.
Predictions:
- 1st: SKT – 6-0
- 2nd: EDG – 4-2
- 3rd: H2K – 2-4
- 4th: BKT – 0-6
The group stages will simply serve as a warmup for the two giants of SKT and EDG. I believe both teams will roll over the rest of the competition in the group and head into the knockout stages as two of the favorites, similarly to how they qualified for the tournament. Their individual skills are levels above the other teams and there aren’t many strategies that will make up for the massive difference in mechanical skill.
Getting deeper into it, the matchups between SKT and EDG will be intense but SKT will pay EDG back for their defeat at MSI and win both games against them. PawN has gotten the better of Faker in the past but Faker’s form is at another level and he will finally push that matchup into his favor in these group stages.
EDG’s skill and strength will pull them out of this group. Despite their recent struggles, they will defeat BKT and H2K in all the games even if some of them are close. Form is temporary but class is permanent and their players will show up for the tournament and gain momentum as it progresses.
H2K will come into the tournament with plenty of strategies to win the map instead of lanes in an attempt to win games but the only team they will beat, although they will likely have a few close games even against the stronger two teams, will be BKT. Also a side-story to this group is Ryu vs. Faker. The two played against each other in what is arguably the most famous play in League of Legends history and will once again face each other in the mid lane in this group. Ryu will be seeking revenge, but Faker will triumph against his old rival.
BKT will have a similar appearance at Worlds that KaBum! eSports had last year, except without the victory. They will throw some strategies in game that will surprise opponents and possibly get close to a victory, but in the end they will fall short as the differences in skill become apparent. However, the team is skilled and on enough of a winning streak right now that if any opponent underestimates them there will be a shock win for them in the group.
SKT and EDG will emerge from the group if they play at their expected level and give respect to their competition. It’s up to H2K and BKT to play the role of the underdog and develop some type of momentum if they wish to knock the giants from their perch.
