"It’s almost a truism Koreans dominate Starcraft but Blaze showed at MLG that they can do the same to LoL."
"It seems as if TSM is the only American team currently capable of facing up to the Koreans, but they will have to improve a lot before the season two finals."
"M5 has one extra little bit of spice that makes their recipe so much tastier. They have swagger."
Phew, what a hectic few weeks it’s been in League of Legends. Dreamhack, MLG, ECC Poland, IPL and now IEM have all gone by in a blur. We finally got to see Koreans outside of their homeland and they really put on a show.
AZUBU Blaze made their first trip outside of Korea earlier this month and, boy, was it ever a successful one? At MLG they crushed America’s best team and showed the world that League of Legends has more in common with SC2 than one might think. After a weekend where the SC2 tournament at IEM saw a 50/50 split of Europeans and Koreans in the semi-finals it might seem odd to talk about Korean homogenisation, but Nerchio and Vortix were blips on the radar. It’s almost a truism Koreans dominate Starcraft but Blaze showed at MLG that they can do the same to LoL.
If Western teams don’t step up their game to match the Koreans, we could easily see a similar situation, where non-Korean teams are marginalised even at tournaments in their home countries. Koreans players are well-known for taking esports more seriously than Europeans, and particularly Americans. As LoL gains popularity in the East, there is a real danger that Western teams will be swept away by the superior training, preparation and professionalism that Koreans bring to the table.
A week after MLG, IPL Face-Off brought this message home in a less direct way. With Team SoloMid re-asserting their dominance over the American scene, what does it mean if Blaze is capable of crushing the best team in America so handily? CLG Prime’s time in Korea doesn’t seem to have helped them, as they were stomped by TSM at Face-Off and have been unable to make it past the quarter-finals of OGN’s The Champions. It seems as if TSM is the only American team currently capable of facing up to the Koreans, but they will have to improve a lot before the season two finals.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Moscow Five showed similar supremacy. The Russians might have been worried about having to face Counter Logic Gaming, but SK did them a favour by knocking CLG into the bronze match of IEM instead. But although M5 humiliated SK in the grand final, the other results showed that the Europeans have a greater chance of slowing down the Korean onslaught.
M5 and CLG were considered by most to be shoe-ins for the top two spots at IEM. But SK’s refusal to just let CLG move into the final means that the presumed hierarchy needs a little rethink. Was that semi-final win a one off, or is SK really a rising force again? If they are, how far can they rise? They looked a long way short of beating Moscow Five, but could they have spent all their energy the previous day? Certainly, SK looked emotionally drained during the game, while M5 looked like their usual machine-like, opponent-stomping selves. Given more and better preparation, could SK be the team to topple M5 and maybe even the final boss that is Blaze?
It’s difficult to say, but with SK still having work to do and with CLG stumbling somewhat, M5 currently looks like the main threat to the champions elect, Blaze. Sure, there’s still a long time to go until the season two finals, but Moscow Five has shown more consistency than any other team. If there’s a better mid player than Alex Ich I don’t know who it is, but M5 is strong in every lane. They seem to have the perfect mix of individual brilliance and impeccable team play.
Is it an unbeatable mix? Well, evidently not, as we saw at Dreamhack, but M5 has one extra little bit of spice that makes their recipe so much tastier. They have swagger. Professional gaming, at the very highest level, is all about mentality. M5 seems unbeatable to most teams in the same way that most Koreans seem unbeatable in the Starcraft world – in the same way that Blaze currently seem unbeatable in the LoL world. The idea of Blaze playing M5 at the Season Two finals is mouth-watering and it’s really a shame we won’t get to see it sooner.
In the mean time, Western hopes lay on the shoulders of CLG EU. Froggen’s team are still going strong in The Champions and still have the opportunity to strike a real blow in the intercontintental war that is coming.
AZUBU Blaze made their first trip outside of Korea earlier this month and, boy, was it ever a successful one? At MLG they crushed America’s best team and showed the world that League of Legends has more in common with SC2 than one might think. After a weekend where the SC2 tournament at IEM saw a 50/50 split of Europeans and Koreans in the semi-finals it might seem odd to talk about Korean homogenisation, but Nerchio and Vortix were blips on the radar. It’s almost a truism Koreans dominate Starcraft but Blaze showed at MLG that they can do the same to LoL.
If Western teams don’t step up their game to match the Koreans, we could easily see a similar situation, where non-Korean teams are marginalised even at tournaments in their home countries. Koreans players are well-known for taking esports more seriously than Europeans, and particularly Americans. As LoL gains popularity in the East, there is a real danger that Western teams will be swept away by the superior training, preparation and professionalism that Koreans bring to the table.
A week after MLG, IPL Face-Off brought this message home in a less direct way. With Team SoloMid re-asserting their dominance over the American scene, what does it mean if Blaze is capable of crushing the best team in America so handily? CLG Prime’s time in Korea doesn’t seem to have helped them, as they were stomped by TSM at Face-Off and have been unable to make it past the quarter-finals of OGN’s The Champions. It seems as if TSM is the only American team currently capable of facing up to the Koreans, but they will have to improve a lot before the season two finals.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Moscow Five showed similar supremacy. The Russians might have been worried about having to face Counter Logic Gaming, but SK did them a favour by knocking CLG into the bronze match of IEM instead. But although M5 humiliated SK in the grand final, the other results showed that the Europeans have a greater chance of slowing down the Korean onslaught.
M5 and CLG were considered by most to be shoe-ins for the top two spots at IEM. But SK’s refusal to just let CLG move into the final means that the presumed hierarchy needs a little rethink. Was that semi-final win a one off, or is SK really a rising force again? If they are, how far can they rise? They looked a long way short of beating Moscow Five, but could they have spent all their energy the previous day? Certainly, SK looked emotionally drained during the game, while M5 looked like their usual machine-like, opponent-stomping selves. Given more and better preparation, could SK be the team to topple M5 and maybe even the final boss that is Blaze?
It’s difficult to say, but with SK still having work to do and with CLG stumbling somewhat, M5 currently looks like the main threat to the champions elect, Blaze. Sure, there’s still a long time to go until the season two finals, but Moscow Five has shown more consistency than any other team. If there’s a better mid player than Alex Ich I don’t know who it is, but M5 is strong in every lane. They seem to have the perfect mix of individual brilliance and impeccable team play.
Is it an unbeatable mix? Well, evidently not, as we saw at Dreamhack, but M5 has one extra little bit of spice that makes their recipe so much tastier. They have swagger. Professional gaming, at the very highest level, is all about mentality. M5 seems unbeatable to most teams in the same way that most Koreans seem unbeatable in the Starcraft world – in the same way that Blaze currently seem unbeatable in the LoL world. The idea of Blaze playing M5 at the Season Two finals is mouth-watering and it’s really a shame we won’t get to see it sooner.
In the mean time, Western hopes lay on the shoulders of CLG EU. Froggen’s team are still going strong in The Champions and still have the opportunity to strike a real blow in the intercontintental war that is coming.
