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Events & Standings
10 thoughts going into Finals
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1. Suning finished 11th in the LPL Spring Split, which is good enough to be about smack dab in the middle of the table in China. To contextualize this, 11th doesn’t even exist in EU, KR, or NA -- 11th is an idea of a future that the LPL already occupies. 11th is a team yearning for a chance to even stand on the big stage in every league in the world but the LPL. But for Suning, 11th was Spring. 11th was six months ago. And now 11th is three games away from being 1st.
2. Three games, though, may as well be 100 if you get stuck and can’t reach three. Such was the case for Uzi in 2013 and Uzi again in 2014 -- the last and only times the LPL faced off against the LCK in the Worlds Finals. In the years since, both regions have at the very minimum been in the discussion for being either the best or second best in the world, but their clashes always managed to happen before the Finals. Now, though, when we finally have a match at the biggest stage -- it is two upstarts. There is no Faker. No Ruler. No Uzi. No iG and no FPX.
3. In lieu of the names we’ve come to expect, we get names that we *will* know. As they say, every legend starts somewhere, and to many people the stories of Suning and Damwon begin here. To others, they’ve been going for years. There is Huanfeng, who [raised himself alone][1] as a young teenager. Who sometimes sneaks away from the team to ride on a subway around the city as a way to meditate and think about his life. Who opened up Jhin’s Curtain Call from inside the enemy base in what may go down as one of the most iconic plays in Worlds history. There is Damwon, who started as a murmur during Worlds 2018 as a newly-qualified LCK team that was crushing Worlds-class teams in scrims. There is Ghost, who was part of a team that was [relegated][2] from the LCK in the very system that made the likes of Damwon possible. There is Nuguri, whose lung [collapsed][3] days before Worlds began. There are five players who were born in 2000 or later. In fact -- only two players were even of-age to be a pro when the LCK and LPL last clashed in 2014.
4. Then there is SwordArt -- at 23, he is the oldest player to take to the Rift this weekend, and he is also the most recognizable name to longtime viewers. He says, “With me isn’t just my own dream but the hopes of many. Like Karsa, or my former teammates at Flash Wolves. Or the former viewers of the LMS. These are the reasons I want to win.”
5. SwordArt isn’t the only proxy hope for a region, though -- his current jungler SofM is the first Vietnamese player to ever make it this far. Long regarded as the best player to ever come from Vietnam, he’d failed for years to even make it to the international stage. It must have been a little bittersweet even to see Vietnam find success at MSI and Worlds in recent years, and now doubly bittersweet to be the region’s sole “hope” with their representatives being blocked from participating because of Covid-19.
6. These are the more obvious “proxy” hopes for fans around the World. There are also the direct hopes such as Suning trying to be the 3rd different LPL World Champion in as many years -- to establish the LPL as a league not just of dominance but of depth. On the other side, there is DWG, who is tasked with trying to reclaim the title for the LCK, who once won five straight Worlds titles. And not just won, but dominated -- there was a three year stretch where every single final was LCK vs. LCK. ShowMaker says, “For the LCK, that (trophy) was originally ours. When you have something stolen away from you, the desire to take back what was once yours is greater than the desire to protect what you currently have.”
7. The less obvious hopes are those of the defeated. These are the final two teams in a long year of eliminations, and only one team is ever allowed to stave off the final elimination. The Worlds Finals is the moment where we crown the year’s best team. It is both a final sendoff for one team and a coronation ceremony for the other. And for millions of fans and players watching around the world, it is a moment of inspiration that’ll send them racing to their own dreams of one day standing on that stage, too. For most of us, it is unfortunately just a fantasy we thrill over in the shower or right before we go to bed, but for a select few it’ll be the shining light at the end of a long journey on the Summoner’s Rift, as it was now for both Damwon and Suning.
8. This weekend will feature the first live crowd we’ve seen since Winter, which means it’s the first time fans will have a face to their name -- one that moves and screams and shouts in a way that is much more human than what we might get from the internet. ShowMaker says, “Since we were a team that had come up through Challengers Korea, when we played in LoL Park, if we were doing well it would be silent. If the enemy does well, it would be loud… but I believe that is one part of what is fun about playing LoL on stage. I think we can get through this well.” The live crowd brings an element back to the game that we haven’t seen in a long time -- I hope for both teams it is more positive than not.
9. As a #1 seed, Damwon is the favorite to take the Finals -- with an 11-2 record across Worlds so far, they’ve blitzed through all competition, as was expected of them. For Suning, DWG is merely the last “favorite” they have to take down. After climbing over #1 LEC seed G2 in Groups, they’ve since knocked off #2 LPL JDG and #1 LPL TES -- knocking off the #1 LCK team would cap off the most impressive run in Worlds history. Especially when you consider where they came from. Though, if you considered where Damwon has risen from, their nearly flawless stretch of games since the Summer began seems unthinkable. No team better symbolizes the old days of League of Legends, where five people can form a team and climb all the way to the top, better than Damwon. With the LCK set to do away with relegations for good, DWG is likely the last remnant of a bygone era.
10. This has been, without a doubt, an extremely strange year. Very few things have been normal, and very few things have made sense, but ultimately I’m glad we still had League of Legends to serve as a sort of guiding post. It’s been a lot like wading through your own house in the dark, using the walls and furniture to map out where you are at any given time. Esports has provided a semblance of schedule and helped me remember what day of the week it is and what month of the year it is, and as we prepare to enter the offseason, let this be the little moment I take to appreciate that. May we have a great Finals to cap off the year, and may we all find some light in the offseason.
[1]: https://medium.com/@crylast/the-boy-arrived-at-the-seaside-66ddcd497f7c
[2]: http://m.inven.co.kr/webzine/wznews.php?idx=212354&site=lol
[3]: https://twitter.com/AshleyKang/status/1303237471275081730
