LCK's Reasons for Failure Revealed! G2 Dominates in Scrims, Korean Teams Already Crumbled, GEN's Win Rate Only 14%

Hello to all LPL viewers and League of Legends summoners, this is World Game Hub.

The first stage of LOL competitions has concluded. In the most important global Pioneer Tournament, BLG successfully claimed the championship, while G2 became the regional hero of LEC, single-handedly sweeping two Korean teams.

Recently, G2 also disclosed their scrim results, which surprised many.

Korean Teams Already Crumbled, G2 Dominates in Scrims

In recent years, G2 often releases their scrim results after international tournaments. Initially, some viewers questioned this practice, but considering the tournaments are over and disclosing scrim results doesn’t affect anything, most viewers accept it. These results can be used to review and analyze the performances of teams at the world championship.

Previous world championships often featured teams with excellent scrim performances but poor actual tournament results. However, this year’s Pioneer Tournament was different: G2’s scrim results aligned with their final performance.

G2’s two sweeps against Korean teams in the actual tournament were not coincidental. G2 scheduled one scrim against BFX and two against GEN, almost all being dominant victories. Against BFX, they swept 3-0; against GEN, they played two BO5 scrims, winning one 3-1 and the other 3-0. Clearly, G2 dominated Korean teams in scrims.

However, G2’s scrim record against BLG was mostly losses. They played three scrims against BLG, only winning one 2-1. The other two were losses: one 0-3 and another 1-3. Overall, their record was 3-7, a 30% win rate.

LCK Strength Overestimated, Version Understanding is Key

This means Korean teams were already crumbling during the scrim phase of this Pioneer Tournament. Both Korean teams internally knew their form was off. Due to the tight schedule of the Pioneer Tournament, there was little time for adjustment, preventing them from leveraging their adaptability advantage, ultimately ending in a disastrous defeat.

This created a peculiar cognitive bias: viewers perceived Korean teams as still overwhelmingly strong, but the teams themselves knew they were doomed.

The root cause lies in version understanding. BLG and G2 better grasped the version, prioritized sidelanes more, and demonstrated stronger lane control. In contrast, Korean teams, especially GEN, stuck to their old playstyle centered absolutely around midlane, neglecting the importance of sidelanes in the current version.

The result was midlane failing to deliver, junglers lacking rhythm, and being overwhelmed by BLG and G2’s fast-paced assaults.

Additionally, LCK’s overall mentality was problematic. Even after losing scrims, the two Korean teams likely believed they had advantages in the actual tournament, stubbornly countering G2 against the version, thinking they could win with sheer skill, only to be eliminated in the most brutal manner.

When Midlane Influence Weakens, LCK Struggles

From this Pioneer Tournament’s version perspective, once midlane influence is weakened, LCK’s strength suffers significantly. GEN’s roster configuration indeed has flaws; the core issue lies in the aging team structure and considerable decline in lane control ability.

Specifically, their top and bottom lanes became G2’s biggest突破口 during the Pioneer Tournament. Lane issues arose, yet GEN continued to trust their slow-paced macro playstyle they rely on. Falling behind, they couldn’t seize opportunities, their system collapsed, and individual players lacked breakout capability. This not only affected the Pioneer Tournament but also埋下了隐患 for their future matches.

Other strong LCK teams also mostly employ midlane-centric playstyles. T1’s bot laner Peyz lacks sufficient水平, while Doran performed relatively well. BFX’s issues are more obvious: over-reliance on bot lane, with poor lane control in other lanes.

Thus, this Pioneer Tournament defeat was not偶然. It serves as a warning to the LCK region. If adjustments aren’t made properly, future world championships could face similar困境. Of course, Riot’s subsequent version adjustments are crucial. If midlane influence is enhanced, LCK could still display dominance.