As of now, the first week of LCK has seen quite a few surprising results. Firstly, the top 3 team from the spring split – HLE was toppled by DK in the opening match of LCK Summer 2024. Most recently, KT, with many renowned players who have won the World Championship, was unexpectedly defeated by KDF with a score of 2-0.
However, what surprised many even more was the background of KDF’s new AD Carry player – Leaper. Specifically, this 2000-born player was once an intern at DRX but only lasted about 2 months. After that, Leaper switched careers to become a League of Legends YouTuber and achieved some success by reaching the milestone of 100,000 subscribers while consistently posting videos.
Moreover, LCK viewers shared a rather interesting story about Leaper and Deft (current AD Carry of KT). According to that, Deft was the motivation that made Leaper want to become a professional player and join the academy team of DRX. However, after observing and practicing for some time, Leaper felt he couldn’t compete with Deft, so he retired to focus on YouTube. Coincidentally, in his first match at LCK, Leaper ended up defeating Deft.
This made KT’s defeat even more painful in the eyes of the fans. It’s worth noting that KT currently has 3 former World Champions including Deft, BeryL, and Pyosik. However, they failed to demonstrate superiority in terms of competitive spirit and suffered a swift defeat. This left many spectators feeling dissatisfied and believing KT would have a terrible journey in LCK Summer 2024.
Indeed, looking back at the recent match, viewers can see that KT was not well prepared for this game. They seemed to be stuck with the spring meta, prioritizing the safety of the Senna – Tahm Kench duo. This resulted in KT’s laning phase becoming too passive, preventing the team from gaining an advantage going into team fights.
Obviously, KT’s recent loss to KDF is not enough to assert that this team will have a disastrous season. KT’s current roster has a history of starting slow but performing well in the later stages of the Group Stage. In fact, KT in LCK Spring 2024 also lost to KDF but still managed to secure 4th place by the end of the group stage.
However, the defeat against KDF also serves as a wake-up call for the KT team. They need to quickly improve their performance and adapt to the current meta to achieve better results and nurture their ambition to compete for a spot at the 2024 World Championship.