The 2017 World Championship final is still regarded as a historic match in professional League of Legends, as it is associated with many milestones and iconic moments in the game.
From Samsung Galaxy becoming the second team after SKT to win the world championship more than once, SKT T1 losing a Bo5 match at Worlds for the first time in history, to the image of the “Tears of the Demon King”. Recently, during a livestream, Spica – a player currently on Team SoloMid – shared some noteworthy information about this match.
Specifically, Spica revealed that Huni – the former SKT player and currently his teammate – recounted the moment from the 2017 World Championship final between SKT T1 and Samsung Galaxy. According to Huni, during game 3 of that Bo5 series, in the ban/pick phase, the coaching staff and some SKT players discussed banning Crown’s Malzahar, after being “destroyed” by this champion in the previous 2 games.
However, Faker rejected this suggestion. He refused to ban Malzahar and allowed SSG to continue picking this champion in game 3. Huni revealed that “Faker’s ego was too big,” so he couldn’t accept being defeated by Malzahar in the previous 2 games and “avoiding” it by banning this champion in game 3.
After revealing this story, Spica also stated that not banning Malzahar was Faker’s mistake, and it was a reason that led to the creation of the moment known as the “Tears of the Demon King”.
So did Faker really get crushed by Crown’s Malzahar as Spica suggested? The answer is no, if we consider the direct matchup and the 1vs1 skill duel. Faker’s Karma, in particular, and SKT as a whole, had a very stable early and mid-game, with a composition focused on pick-offs. In the mid lane, Faker coordinated with his teammates to take Crown down twice, helping SKT lead in towers, kills, and gold.
But saying that Faker made a mistake by not banning Malzahar is also not wrong. In reality, even though he didn’t dominate the lane against Faker, having this trump card allowed Crown and SSG to easily execute their pre-planned strategy in a game where they completely outperformed in the ban/pick phase.
Malzahar was the 4th pick for SSG, in a context where Karma had already been picked by SKT. The early pick of Karma quickly revealed SKT’s strategy; they would play with a single carry composition, and Malzahar was quickly chosen. Even if he wasn’t fed, the task of eliminating the only carry from the opponent with this champion was still too simple, not to mention SSG’s composition also included Sejuani and Varus, with their strong crowd control ultimate abilities.
Furthermore, even though he wasn’t chosen as the honorary skin, Malzahar was actually Crown’s favorite champion at that tournament. Before the finals, Crown had only used this champion 3 times throughout the tournament and had an absolute win rate. But entering the Bo5 series against SKT, he picked Malzahar in all 3 games. Experts also noted that Malzahar was a “trump card” champion that effectively countered the “carry-centric” compositions with Karma in the solo lane during the 2017 meta.
In other words, right from the ban/pick phase, SKT had put themselves in a difficult position. They did not lose the mid lane and won the top lane, but this composition needed more than that. Their task was to completely neutralize Malzahar and Cho’Gath, which meant they not only had to win their lanes but also had to win decisively. But SKT failed to do so.
Not to mention that SKT’s only carry – Tristana in Bang’s hands – lost the lane heavily and was almost ineffective for most of the match. People often mention Ruler’s Flash + R that eliminated Faker, and consider SSG’s victory as “the triumph of a moment of brilliance”. But if it weren’t for that disastrous team fight, SKT would have had very few chances to win the game, as SSG’s lineup at that point was fully stocked with resources, balanced in attack and defense, while SKT lacked the damage to finish off the opponents.
In summary, victory or defeat in League of Legends always depends on many factors, and if someone watches Spica’s stream to blame everything on Faker, it is just a one-sided perspective. The truth is that SKT reaching the finals that year was already an incredibly challenging journey, with Bang, Wolf underperforming and Blank, Peanut being extremely inconsistent. And Crown’s pick of Malzahar was simply a highlight in the story of one of the most memorable World Championships in League of Legends history.