One of the main reasons why I enjoy professional League of Legends so much is because it’s simply something that Koreans are absolutely, irrefutably the greatest in the world at. I’ve watched and had my heart crushed enough times at watching Koreans excel but fall short in a variety of international contests such as baseball, soccer and various Olympic sports to know how much I actually want to see South Korea win things, and in professional League, I not only have such, but because I also play the game recreationally, I have the ability to relate and understand how the players are playing and to appreciate just how good they really are.
Needless to say, over the last four years or so of watching professional League, I’ve witnessed Koreans dominate the scene without any legitimate concern that the ride is going to end any time soon; and personally, I love it to no end.
Obviously, a discussion about professional League of Legends dominance cannot be had without mentioning SK Telecom T1, the be-all, end-all when it comes to the entire esport. Three-time World champions in an arena that’s only six years old, winners of countless tournaments both domestic and international, and after yesterday, two-time winners of the Riot Games Mid-Season Invitational, AKA mini-Worlds. The bottom line is that SKT wins big and wins often, and their dominance over the scene is pretty overwhelming.
In other sports, this kind of suffocating excellence often prompts discussion over whether their constant winning is a detriment for the sport as a whole, and the League scene is really no exception. SKT has been on top of the League scene for nearly four full years now, with only hiccups in Season 4 and the first Mid-Season Invitational, where they failed to win, but won just about everything else otherwise. Suffice to say, it’s not really that big of a surprise that there are large swaths of League fans out there that have simply gotten bored of SKT’s constant winning, and have turned their allegiances against them.
This is not surprising behavior as, as a fan of various other sports, I’ve seen this happen countless times. People got tired of Michael Jordan’s Bulls and rooted for anyone but the Bulls in the 90s. The Patriots were pretenders until Tom Brady emerged and turned them into a dynasty, and everyone outside of New England hates them now. And the Yankees are mostly reviled among most baseball fans without any New York ties. Fans simply tend to turn against successful organizations, and SK Telecom is no exception to the rule.
When in Europe for the season 5 World Championships, SKT had a pretty easy ride all the way to the grand finale; by the time they arrived in Berlin, the fans in Germany were very much supportive of the plucky upstart KOO Tigers, another Korean team. SKT stomped them in the first two games of the best of five, and after the Tigers fought and won a single game back, the vast majority of the Mercedes-Benz Arena were all suddenly KOO fans, cheering wildly for them, while jeering and booing SKT. SKT won regardless, and suddenly fans were applauding them and celebrating their victory.
I left disgusted with fans in Germany.
The following season, I watched a slam-packed Madison Square Garden in New York going bonkers over the-now ROX Tigers, as they clawed their way to a 2-1 lead over the reigning champions in an epic Worlds re-match in the semifinals of the season 6 World Championships. One more ROX win would end the SK Telecom streak of excellence and guarantee a different champion; but it would never come. ROX showed their hand too soon, SKT adapted and adjusted, and took the next two games to advance to the finals. It was arguably the greatest five-game series in the professional scene’s short history, and the fans were vehemently against SK Telecom the whole time.
However, it didn’t end there, as in the finals, history basically repeated itself, as SK Telecom were pretty resented by the fairweathered fans at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and they cheered vehemently for team Samsung Galaxy; yet once again, SKT wins in the end. Fans suddenly pretend like they’re the biggest SKT fans once the event is over.
I left disgusted with fans in the United States, but this is nothing out of the ordinary since I feel that way all the time in any other sport.
Needless to say, I’m curious to know whether SK Telecom T1’s players feel about fans abroad. I have to think that they kind of hate them, for their flip-floppy fairweather tendencies. Fans in Korea pledge their allegiances pretty firmly, and fan support sections are pretty structured at events in Korea. One thing is for sure, they’re not blind to their surroundings and at least one player on SKT, Wolf, is very aware that there are people out there that want to see them lose.
I get it, I’ve been a sports fan long enough to know that average fans don’t like seeing dominance and don’t want dynasties to develop. They like parity, competitive contests, and the idea that anyone can win.
But SK Telecom hasn’t ever operated in a deplorable fashion that should make fans loathe them as much as they do, overtly or secretly. All they do is win, but they do it in the quiet, studious and professional manner that Koreans are raised to do. They construct their team methodically and not just a Miami Heat or New York Yankees-like amassing of all-stars; sure it was big news when they signed Peanut and Huni, but both were available free agents and they wanted to go to SKT as much as SKT wanted to sign them.
Yet fans out there actively resent and root against SK Telecom for really nothing but succeeding. And I wonder what the players and/or the rest of the organization feels about that.
Regardless, my take on the SK Telecom dominance being bad for the scene is the same as how I feel whenever the query comes up of any single sports team dominating their sport; if you don’t like it, someone needs to take down the kings then. Don’t like the Patriots? Tough shit. Think the Cavaliers and Warriors are bad for the NBA? Well maybe some other team needs to get better and take them down. The same applies to SK Telecom. Tired of seeing them win all the time? Pray that some other team develops a stronger work ethic than they do, and recruits players smarter and more skillful than they are, and then hope they take them out.
I’m not going to stop supporting SK Telecom, personally. I love seeing a bunch of Koreans beating the shit out of comers from all around the rest of the world, and leaving them feeling helpless and demoralized in the process. Even if it’s just in video games, I’m proud nonetheless to see something where Koreans are undoubtedly the best in the world at, and they will never not have my support in continuing doing what they’re doing.
