On Nov. 3, what was once unthinkable happened for the second straight year. G2 Esports’ win over SK Telecom T1 in the Worlds semifinals wasn’t entirely unpredictable—in fact, G2 did the same thing at MSI. It’s the broader picture on the strength of regions that’s so shocking.
Instead of facing another LCK team for the championship, G2 will instead go up against an LPL team, FunPlus Phoenix. From 2012 to 2017, the final had always featured at least one Korean squad—most of the time there were two. But in the last two years, no Korean team has made it.
It’s now clear that Korea’s reign over the League world is over. But this actually reflects a tectonic shift in esports that’s been underway for quite some time.
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