In Spider-Man comics, Doctor Octopus brought together Kraven the Hunter, Electro, the Vulture, Mysterio and The Sandman, to form the Sinister Six; a group formed with the intention of destroying Spider-Man. Numerous times, they failed, and everyone’s favorite web-slinger always stood triumphant at the end of every conflict.
That’s pretty much kT Rolster’s League of Legends team, whom made big waves this season, when they dumped four-fifths of their previous year’s roster, and replaced them entirely with all-star caliber free agent individuals, most of whom were returning to Korea after unsuccessful stints in China. Mata, Pawn and Deft, three former Samsung players with the first two being members of the S4 Worlds champion Samsung White squad and the reigning LCK MVP Smeb joined Score, the lone kT holdover, to form a team that on paper looked unbeatable.
The goal of this League superteam was obviously to win Worlds, but there was no secret about how the organization specifically wanted to dethrone the 90’s Bulls of League of Legends, SK Telecom T1, aka SKT. Organizationally, kT and SKT are basically the AT&T and Verizon of Korea, two giants of the telecommunications industry, who are in endless competition with one another. And the players themselves, many of the newly signed guys were players that either had long-standing grudges with their SKT counterparts, were simply tired of their one squad always winning, or both. Both Pawn and Smeb have something of vendettas against SKT’s Faker, the oft-proclaimed best player in the world, easily stemming from resentment of said title.
Needless to say, prior to the start of Season 7, there was much ballyhooed about the construction of the new kT Rolster and how they’d fare against SKT throughout the year.
And as the League year is rolling to its conclusion of the regular season, with kT and SKT having played several times already, the results are that kT has completely and utterly failed, like the Sinister Six repeatedly did against Spider-Man.
Despite the fact that at varying points, kT has taken individual games from SKT throughout numerous encounters, at no point throughout the entire season were they able to win out in a best-of series:
- March 2: SKT 2, kT 1
- March 5: SKT 2, kT 1
- April 22: SKT 3, kT 0 (playoffs)
- June 27: SKT 2, kT 1
- August 3: SKT 2, kT 1
- August 19: SKT 3, kT 2 (playoffs)
Bend the knee, kT.
The latest playoff loss was truly the biggest failure, as kT actually lead the series 2-0, before dropping three in a row to lose. To those who don’t follow the League scene, this would be like the Miami Heat with LeBron and Bosh having a 2-0 on the San Antonio Spurs before dropping three straight to lose a best-of five.
Really though, it’s almost humorous how much SKT owns kT, despite their superteam roster. Even during the summer split when SKT lost four in a row to lesser-heralded teams, when kT encountered SKT in week 9, they still lost. For whatever reason, despite how good kT is against everyone else, they’re still SKT’s slump buster, because their players all have in their heads that they’re inferior or something, but it’s undeniable that they’re not mentally as tough as their rivals.
The funniest part about the whole situation is that in spite of the fact that I make it sound like kT sucks, they’re still a top-tier squad in Korea which means they’re a top-tier squad in the entire League scene. They just can’t beat SKT for some reason. That being said, the irony of the situation is that SKT currently holds the fate of kT’s Worlds chances in their hands, based on how they finish out the Summer playoffs.
With one series left between SKT and Longzhu Gaming to determine the Summer champion, kT is now forced to root for their tormentors to win; due to the questionable seeding process, if SKT loses to Longzhu, then Longzhu automatically gets the Korea region #1 seed, while SKT gets the #2, meaning kT will then have to fight and play several more matches with the hope to get the #3 and final seed. But if SKT beats Longzhu, then kT automatically gets in at #2; thus, their best interests are to root for their owners.
Regardless, there’s nobody for kT Rolster to blame but themselves for being in this situation, because if their superteam truly delivered as advertised, then they’d have secured their Worlds placement already, and would just have to figure out just where it is they’re at. Instead, they’re in a position to where they actually stand a chance to not even make it to Worlds, and although the likelihood isn’t that great, they’re no strangers to being denied; just a year prior, the heavily-favored kT Rolster ended up getting upset by Samsung Galaxy for the #3 seed, who then proceeded to go all the way to the finals, while kT sat at home throughout all of Worlds.
If history repeats itself, kT might just blow its entire esports division up and throw in the towel. That in itself might be interesting to see develop.
