Since 2018, when Invictus Gaming became the first LPL team to win the World Championship 2018 (CKTG 2018), the largest international tournament of the year in the League of Legends (LMHT) has almost become a playground exclusively for the two regions LCK and LPL. Since then, if it’s not LCK, it’s LPL that takes the crown. Only G2 Esports (G2) has ever come close to breaking the dominance of these two regions.
At CKTG 2022, many believe it will still be a showdown between LPL and LCK. Other regions, according to many opinions, may only manage to create surprises. A prime example is MSI 2022. At that time, G2 demonstrated excellent form throughout the Group Stage and the first round of the Rumble Stage. However, in the second round of the Rumble Stage, G2 completely faltered, even losing to Saigon Buffalo (SGB).
Among the teams heading to the CKTG 2022 this time, Gen.G Esports (Gen.G) – the reigning LCK Summer 2022 champions are highly rated. Chovy and his teammates are even considered capable of defeating the strong representatives from LPL. If they can clinch the championship at this tournament, it will be the third time in history this team has won the CKTG title. This achievement has been recorded since the name Samsung Galaxy started appearing in the world of LMHT until it was renamed Gen.G.
However, despite being highly rated by experts and the international LMHT community, the CEO of Gen.G, Arnold Hur, remains humble. He stated: “For me personally, the opponent I want to defeat the most is Cloud9 (C9). We had a terrible 2018 season, so C9 is the team I want to beat the most. After that is G2. But to be honest, I’m quite concerned about the teams from LPL.”
For those who might not know, at CKTG 2018, Gen.G had a poor record of 1 win – 5 losses in the Group Stage and was eliminated early. Their only win was against C9. Meanwhile, the team nicknamed “Cửu Vân” performed very well. C9, alongside Royal Never Give Up, were the two teams representing Group B that advanced to the next round in CKTG 2018. By the end of the tournament, C9 made it to the top 4 teams.
Conclusion
The CKTG 2022 tournament is just around the corner with only about 2 weeks until the Play-In Stage officially kicks off. Being highly rated not only confirms the current strength of Gen.G, but also puts an invisible pressure on the players. Chovy and his teammates will face tremendous challenges at CKTG 2022. They need to focus completely and play at 100% to bring the championship trophy back to LCK and assert the strength of Korean LMHT against their great rival LPL.