A few hours ago, Gen.G Esports pulled off a spectacular comeback against DWG KIA in the second semifinal match of LCK Spring 2022. This can be considered one of the most impressive comebacks in LCK history and across all League of Legends tournaments worldwide this Spring. Especially since Gen.G’s opponent was not a stranger but the defending champion DK, a team that rarely allows others the chance to stage a comeback.
The impression from the DK – Gen.G match is undeniable. However, at this time, with the Target Bounty feature, Riot has indirectly created opportunities for teams to make remarkable comebacks. Comparatively, when looking at the top 5 most highly regarded comebacks in League of Legends history, the DK – Gen.G match still has much to learn.
5. IG – KT Rolster (World Championship 2018)
Many might not consider this a true comeback since KT and IG maintained an almost balanced match throughout. But going back to that season in 2018, a gold difference of about 3-4k at the end of the match was quite significant, especially when the Fiora in “Shy ca”‘s hands became incredibly powerful. Not to mention, IG still had a full set of towers on both sides while KT’s base was nearly in ruins.
However, in the final base race, TheShy attacked KT’s nexus, while Smeb was the one trying to stop him. Meanwhile, the other 4 members of KT pushed straight down the mid lane, facing resistance from IG members. Nevertheless, Deft, Score, Ucal, Smeb, and Mata executed one of the most thrilling base races in League of Legends history. IG players could only lament their missed victory by a hair’s breadth. Still, IG eventually won overall and claimed the title in Seoul, becoming the first LPL team to win a World Championship, breaking the monopoly of Korean League of Legends.
4. GAM – Longzhu (World Championship 2017)
The next comeback regarded as one of the best in League of Legends history featured a team from VCS – GAM Esports. However, the VCS team was the “victim”, while the team that executed the divine comeback was a Korean team – Longzhu Gaming. This match left many regrets because if GAM had won, the dynamics of Group B that year could have been entirely different.
At the 34th minute of the match, GAM was still ahead of LZ by nearly 11k gold, as well as having more significant structures and kills, leading everyone to believe in a victory for the VCS representative. But with incredible resilience, LZ staged a truly miraculous comeback. They gradually regained each advantage, and finally, when their nexus exploded, GAM and VCS fans could only regret “holding gold but letting it slip away”.
3. SSG – SKT T1 (World Championship 2016)
Speaking of Ambition, many Faker fans and the League of Legends community will likely remember the solo kill by Faker with Nidalee against Ambition’s Kha’Zix. This was also the first kill in Faker’s illustrious career. Ambition himself was quite “proud” to be the one who “opened the score” for many of the records that his legendary junior would set later.
But personally for Ambition, unlike Ryu, he had his “revenge” on Faker while still competing. Specifically, in the 2016 World Championship final, the score was 2-0 in favor of SKT T1. However, in game 3, Ambition’s Samsung Galaxy pulled off a stunning comeback despite being behind SKT T1 from the start, initiated by Ambition’s steal of the Elder Dragon. This was also one of the longest games in World Championship history, extending over 71 minutes. Nevertheless, SSG lost in game 5 and witnessed SKT T1 become the first team to defend their World Championship title.
2. SKT T1 – EDG (World Championship 2017)
In the recently concluded World Championship 2021, there was a very interesting matchup in the group stage between T1 and EDward Gaming. As the time approached for that major China-Korea showdown, many recalled the legendary comeback in League of Legends history where SKT T1 was the protagonist and EDG was the “victim”. This comeback has been frequently mentioned in subsequent matches whenever the 10k gold milestone appears in professional League of Legends games.
At that time, SKT T1 seemed to have almost secured defeat until Wolf’s Rakan and Faker’s Orianna executed a devastating combo that completely obliterated the EDG members. A perfectly timed knock-up from Rakan combined with Orianna’s Command: Shockwave initiated SKT T1’s comeback. As seen, once again, the Koreans left the League of Legends community in awe with their extraordinary plays at critical moments.
1. CLG – RNG (MSI 2016)
Yet, while the Koreans dominated 4 out of the 5 most iconic comebacks in League of Legends history, the most thrilling comeback belongs to Counter Logic Gaming – Royal Never Give Up during MSI 2016. By the mid-game, RNG had built a lead of up to 17k gold. With a seasoned team like RNG, no one expected the “Royal Army” to be “turned over”.
However, CLG accomplished the unimaginable. They capitalized on RNG’s mistakes during pushes and team fights to gradually reclaim their advantage. Eventually, after a clean sweep in a mid-lane team fight, CLG executed the most spectacular comeback in history. Fairly speaking, this “turnaround” also involved a Korean player, the mid laner Huhi, using the highly effective team-fighting champion Azir.
