LCK – KT Rolster
Despite having a decent lineup in the LCK, KT Rolster’s performances at the start of the Spring Split were extremely poor. Their first 5 matches in the LCK Spring 2020 resulted in disappointing defeats, only breaking their losing streak against a struggling Afreeca Freecs. Perhaps the combination of a not-so-young team lacking experience in top-level competition led KT Rolster to consistently fall short against more seasoned teams.
However, when competing online, KT Rolster completely transformed with a series of consecutive victories. In the last 2 weeks of competition, they secured 4 wins in a row, matching their total points from the previous 5 weeks, which allowed KT Rolster to claim a position in the top 5 along with a ticket to the playoffs. It remains to be seen whether this transformation is temporary, as they recently lost their last 2 matches, including one against rookie APK Prince.
LCS – Evil Geniuses
Bang and his teammates at EG are considered a mid-tier team in this year’s LCS, primarily due to their inconsistent performance in the tournament, alternating between wins and losses with no sign of stability. Many have assessed that EG could make it to the playoffs, but competing for a higher position seems extremely difficult, and they could easily fall to teams like 100 Thieves, TSM, or FlyQuest.
However, everything changed completely when they competed online. Excluding their loss against the formidable Cloud 9, Evil Geniuses won all their opponents in the group stage, including the tiebreak match. Surprisingly, the player who performed the most differently compared to when on stage was Bang. The pressure of being perceived as someone difficult to communicate with seemed to hold him back, but playing League of Legends comfortably at home allowed him to flourish like in his prime.
LEC – MAD Lions
The first round of the LEC playoffs witnessed a real earthquake as MAD Lions unexpectedly defeated G2 Esports with a score of 3-2. In the group stage, MAD Lions were seen as a stable team, merely capable of reaching the playoffs but not contending for the championship. They did manage to win against G2 or Fnatic, but mostly due to the other side’s blunders; everyone thought they would be knocked down to the losers’ bracket in the first round of the playoffs.
However, in the match against G2 Esports, MAD Lions proved otherwise, spectacularly defeating the European champions. The standout player of the day for “the mad lions” was none other than their jungler Shadow; watching game 3 made us feel like a superstar like Tian was playing for him with some incredibly skilled Lee Sin plays. Shadow, in particular, and MAD Lions, in general, have become a fascinating phenomenon in this LEC Spring season.
