SK Gaming

Despite the criticisms they garnered, the team performed decently last season, making it all the way to the LAN finals, despite taking the last place. Who can forget the finals where Deadman performed his legendary kicking fist which benched him from the team?

This season, SK Gaming will shy away from controversy and just focus on the task at hand. With their newest recruits – ReMinD, SoJu and Lyn along with their European talents, SK has the best roster this season with a deep reserve. Bouncing back from being the team in trouble, they became a force to be reckoned with – the team to beat.

SK Gaming’s Solo Matches

Lyn, fresh from his MGC victory where he won against Moon in the Finals, is in amazing shape. Lyn took down Sweet, SaSe and Satiini – although he did lose to Susiria and suhO.

Online performance is going to be completely different from offline – while their statistics doesn’t show dominance, they’re expected to fare better in Germany.

The rest of the team aren’t too shabby either. SoJu joined later compared to his Korean teammates, and only had two matches to play for himself. But on these matches, he defeated Lucifer – he’s known to be an Undead killer, a definite asset to the team.

Young German XlorD’s performance appears lackluster with 3 wins and 5 losses, but little Ixi is learning. He defeated Soccer, nilknarf and Southsea and lost to players such as ToD, Moon and Showbu. As the only Undead in the team, he can be indispensable when the lineups require his talent.

Insomnia is the quiet storm. The former WCG champion doesn’t play as often as the others, and is supposedly a shadow of his former self. But last season final, Insomnia was the one who managed to get the big wins for his team.

SK Gaming's 2v2 Matches

SK’s 2v2 teams are rocky even if they won most matches. They need to focus on two glaring losses – against Lucifer/Susiria and Sweet/FoV. These two will be their potential opponents in the LAN finals.

ReMinD and SoJu has played 2v2 together for a long time, but somehow, MYM’s 2v2 (Lucifer, Susiria or Moon combination) is pretty hard to beat. BET’s new 2v2 with Sweet and FoV appears to be a good combination as well. SK can certainly take 3 points on the solo matches – but if they falter, the 2v2 might tip away from their favor.

HoT and XlorD met relative successs with their 2v2, taking 3 wins and only 1 loss for themselves. While they didn't defeat anyone they'll meet in the offline finals, they're still a potential reserve team for SK.

Final Outlook

Strengths: SK's current roster is nothing short of incredible. When SK was "struggling", they managed to qualify for the finals with purely European talent. Now that they're superboostered up with Koreans, they've become the team to beat. They're the epitome of being in shape – Lyn recently defeated Moon 4-0, SoJu won ESWC and ReMinD has always placed top ranks in tournaments.

Their Europeans, while overshadowed by the Asians, are certainly capable as well. Insomnia has always been an indispensable player for the team, performing well during offline events. XlorD is Germany's next generation – he's young with a huge potential. And don't forget about HoT – winner of ENC and 2nd place in the Extreme Masters, and took 3rd place in last year's WCG.

Weaknesses: I can’t think of any real weaknesses with SK’s revamped roster. Players can be inconsistent – but that's human nature. That doesn't mean they're any less likely to win games.

Prediction: SK Gaming’s roster is supercharged with last year’s champions on top of capable Europeans. This is their season to lose – anything else than 1st place will be a disappointment for this team.