Gen.G has lost the “Golden Road”
In the history of League of Legends, many teams and players have won every possible title. However, the concept of “Golden Road” is something no team has achieved. The simple reason: to win a series of at least 4 titles (2 domestic, 2 international) in one year is extremely difficult. Many have come close, such as SKT T1, G2 Esports, or JD Gaming. In the 2024 season, Gen.G, with its dominant performance, was expected to be the team to achieve Golden Road, especially after they completely crushed their “arch-rival” T1 and won their first MSI championship in the team’s history.
However, all that has come to an end and the Golden Road will only remain a memory of 2024, even if Gen.G wins the Worlds 2024. Recently, Gen.G’s consecutive LCK championship streak was halted by an unexpected opponent. That opponent is Hanwha Life Esports – the team that, until now, had only one BO5 victory against Gen.G with Chovy, which was in the LCK Summer 2024 finals.
HLE is perhaps Gen.G’s most unpredictable opponent right now
In fact, before the finals began, Gen.G was expected to face difficulties. However, HLE had been Gen.G’s nemesis for a long time, and for those who may not know, since Chovy left HLE, the team nicknamed “Orange Gen.G” had their first victory over HLE and also claimed their first title despite HLE’s long-standing “star-studded” roster building policy.
In the finals, HLE displayed a perfect performance. The “Orange Gen.G” macro was flawless and played very boldly, especially in Game 1. Meanwhile, in the deciding match, individuals like Chovy and Peyz were not themselves and were frequently “found” by HLE. In Game 5, Peyz and Chovy even failed to secure a single kill despite being the two players who farmed the most on the map.
With this defeat, Gen.G effectively says goodbye to their ambition of becoming the first team in League of Legends history to complete the Golden Road, as well as the first team in LCK history to win 5 consecutive championships. At this point, perhaps they should focus on regrouping for Worlds 2024.