Thus, after many days of intense competition, the group stage of LCK Summer 2023 has concluded with KT Rolster’s surprisingly top-ranking performance. The surprise comes from the fact that just last Spring, they struggled greatly to finish the season in 3rd place overall. However, it cannot be denied that since Spring, KT has made significant progress. Based on their performance, the top position at the end of the LCK Summer 2023 group stage is a well-deserved reward.
However, there was a bit of a surprise in KT’s final match, specifically during game 2 against Liiv SANDBOX. Fans were extremely surprised when KT replaced their entire lineup with young players currently competing in the Challengers league to face LSB. Nevertheless, this young squad performed very well and won without much difficulty against the more experienced players.
However, there have been numerous criticisms of KT’s actions. While it is understood that this team needs to “hide their strategies” as the playoffs approach, bringing in young players from LCK CL to compete is seen as an act of “disrespecting” LSB. In fact, this has been viewed as putting added pressure on the LSB players themselves, who are in need of points to keep their playoff hopes alive. Facing younger opponents would only create an additional burden for LSB’s stars, as losing would certainly lead to criticism, while winning would only hold significance in terms of morale.
Many have even called for LCK to impose heavy penalties on KT. These opinions reference previous cases where T1 and Gen.G had even more perfect records than KT, yet none of these teams resorted to the “hiding strategies” tactic that KT employed. In their final matches of the group stage, both T1 and Gen.G maintained their performance and made sound choices according to the meta.
Of course, it is possible that KT did not intend to disrespect LSB. However, their actions have left many people dissatisfied. The community’s concern that this could set a precedent in the LCK is entirely reasonable, especially for major teams, as playoffs always need to be prioritized more highly.