Before the playoffs of the Summer 2021 season, the LCK organizing committee announced the names of those who earned individual titles as well as the all-star lineups after a challenging group stage. Most positions are deserving, but there remains considerable debate, especially regarding the selections for the all-star lineups.
The list of individual awards and all-star lineups after the LCK Summer 2021 group stage:
* MVP of the season: NS Peanut.
* LCK All-Star Team (arranged in order of Top Lane – Jungle – Mid Lane – ADC – Support):
– Team 1: AF Kiin – NS Peanut – DK ShowMaker – NS deokdam – T1 Keria.
– Team 2: DK Khan – DK Canyon – GEN Bdd – GEN Ruler – NS Kellin.
– Team 3: LSB Summit – LSB Croco – HLE Chovy – LSB Prince – LSB Effort.
* Rookie of the season: LSB Croco.
* Coach of the season: DK kkOma.
* Best player: NS Gori with 1100 MVP points.
In the MVP position for the group stage, Nongshim RedForce’s jungler Peanut has been named. This choice can be seen as reasonable as the former T1 player has led and contributed significantly to NS’s gameplay and their current position in the standings. Players like Gori and deokdam can freely shine thanks to Peanut’s efforts. Particularly, champions like Diana, Viego, and Lee Sin in Peanut’s hands are of high quality and are crucial to NS’s success before entering team fights. Peanut’s importance in NS’s gameplay is also shown by the fact that Gori sometimes is willing to sacrifice himself for Peanut to gain an advantage before entering crucial stages of the match.
For the coach of the group stage, “Mama Bear” kkOma is the name that received the award. DWG KIA had a slightly shaky start after returning from MSI 2021; however, as the season progressed, they demonstrated their class, resilience, and extensive experience in the domestic arena. Additionally, DK made a mark by changing the positions of players even during official matches to discover more effective strategies.
Even though the players returned to their original positions and no further changes were made, the strategy of DK’s coaching staff, led by kkOma, brought a fresh perspective. The top position after the group stage for the defending champions of Spring 2021 is the clearest proof of the success of the DK team as a whole and the leadership talent of coach kkOma in particular.
Liiv SANDBOX’s player Croco was voted as the Rookie of the Season after the group stage with notable performances that helped LSB reach the playoffs to compete for the LCK Spring championship and a ticket to the 2021 World Championship held in China. Along with other members of LSB such as Summit, Prince, and Effort, Croco was also included in the third all-star lineup after the group stage of LCK Spring.
However, the selection of the all-star lineup caused considerable controversy in the League of Legends community in Korea and among interested fans worldwide. Specifically, NS’s player Gori, despite winning the Best Player award, was absent from all three all-star lineups. Similarly, Chovy – despite having MVP points after the group stage only trailing Gori (1100 points) and Canyon (1000 points) – was placed in the third all-star lineup while HLE, although not performing well and being eliminated from the playoffs, still showed how phenomenal Chovy’s carrying capability was.
Another notable point is that Faker continues to be absent from all categories, including the all-star lineup, even though at this moment, he has also achieved 900 MVP points and is tied in the standings with Chovy and Kiin – both of whom made it into the all-star lineup after the group stage. Moreover, except for Keria, the entire T1 lineup did not contribute any names to this award list.
However, according to an explanation from a reporter at Korizon, these awards after the group stage are based on votes. This is the most significant difference as the awards for the entire season will only be announced after the playoffs and the regional qualifiers because those awards will be selected based on the points that individuals and teams achieve.
Thus, any team still in contention for the playoffs and regional qualifiers, as well as their players, still have a chance to win individual titles after the official season concludes. Every name must strive to the fullest, even exceeding 200% of their capacity to avoid ending up with an empty season.