LoL shoutcaster says favorites for Worlds will get “exploited”
Twitter: @RiotVedius / RiotAndy ‘Vedius’ Day, shoutcaster for the League of Legends European Championship, took to Twitter to put the current odds-on-favorite to win LoL Worlds 2019 on blast, claiming that they “have massive holes” and are “going to get exploited.”
It’s evident that SK Telecom T1 have not had the strongest 2019, despite their current standings in the LCK. Their summer split saw them end with one of their worst records and playoff seedings that they’ve ever recorded, as they finished 11-7 after starting 1-5, and entered summer playoffs with the fourth seed.
This meant they would have to run the gauntlet to win playoffs and secure their Worlds spot. But Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok weirdly was looking forward to a tough challenge for SKT, as only Faker would.
And well, Faker was right. Since that interview, SKT went 2-1 against Afreeca, 3-0 against SANDBOX, and 3-0 against DAMWON. In those eight wins, Faker himself picked up two MVP awards.
With this impressive run, SKT has secured either the first or second seed LCK seed at the Worlds main event. SKT and Griffin meet on August 31st in the LCK Summer Playoffs finals, and the winner will claim that top seed.
But some still doubt SKT’s ability to make waves at Worlds, and most recently, LEC shoutcaster Andy ‘Vedius’ Day expressed why he thinks the Korean powerhouse isn’t going to impress at Worlds.
Just spent the last 10 minutes watching SKT aram against Damwon and not utilize any tools in their comp whatsoever. SKT have massive holes and they're not getting punished. I'm convinced they're going to get exploited at worlds. I'm not bought into the hype.
— Andy Day (@RiotVedius) August 27, 2019
It’s true that SKT did not get punished in their series against DAMWON, as it looked like they were playing down to their opponents as the series progressed.
In game one, SKT toyed with DAMWON for an extra long time, and only were able to put them away after a one-sided teamfight on top of Baron. But as the series progressed, the games only got more one-sided.
Kim ‘Clid’ Tae-min had a terrific game two in the jungle, and the entire SKT team was rolling in a game three that was never in doubt. SKT was indeed a little sloppy, but DAMWON was an absolute mess, and SKT weren’t punished for it.
Is SKT as dangerous as years past? No, but they’re doing exactly what Faker said they would do: play their way into form en route to Worlds. Their finals against Griffin is going to be very telling of exactly how dangerous they’ll be when they head to Europe.