Gen.G Can Only Blame Themselves
Remember, after Gen.G successfully recruited Kiin and Canyon, many fans of the team were extremely excited. Many opinions suggested that Gen.G had filled the weaknesses of Doran and Peanut from before. But all this roster achieved over the past year was 1 LCK trophy and 1 MSI trophy. That is simply too little.
After Gen.G was eliminated from Worlds 2024, many believed that the reigning MSI 2024 champions would struggle to maintain this “all-star” lineup. However, in reality, they shouldn’t have needed Worlds 2024 to be financially secure. Because after MSI 2024 ended, teams had the opportunity to participate in the Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, Gen.G once again “self-destructed”.
The initial total prize pool announced for this tournament for the championship alone reached $400k (nearly 560 million won). The MVP would receive an additional $50k (almost 70 million won). This amount is only slightly lower than that of Worlds. Notably, this prize pool was later increased and ultimately exceeded the prize money of a Worlds event.
Of course, Worlds will still be more important as it is Riot’s biggest official event of the year. But at least, with the prize money that Gen.G could have received, they could somewhat cover salary losses and operational costs throughout the year. And as a kind of “curse”, Gen.G continued to fail in the 2 tournaments they participated in: LCK Summer 2024 and Worlds 2024.
Gen.G Facing a Dilemma of Losing “Both the Fish and the Net”
At this moment, Gen.G is facing numerous difficulties. Deciding who to keep and who to let go is not an easy question. But when they let go of any star, finding a replacement for that position is also a tricky puzzle as the current Gen.G roster can be said to have some of the best players in each position in the Korean League of Legends scene.
Keeping players will lead to issues with operating costs and salary caps, while finding replacements may not guarantee competitive strength for titles. Gen.G is in a dilemma of advancing or retreating, a situation they have failed to capitalize on throughout the past year.