Both Azubu teams made it out of their groups to show that
Korea will continue to be a force during season 3. Frost and Blaze both powered through in the
group stage of the tournament going 3-0 showing that they are going to continue
to be scary teams during season 3. The
Korean teams continue to show they are very strong and will be favorites in
international play. Although neither team won they both played well throughout the tournament.
Gambit gaming formally M5 won and proved why they will
continue to be one of the best teams in Europe and considered one of the best
teams in the world. After going 1-2 in
the group stage and making it to the bracket stage because of the time tiebreaker
they had play spoiler if they wanted to win and face-off against Korean
Powerhouse Azubu Frost. They beat Frost
2-0 and moved onto the finals against Frost’s sister team Blaze who took out
Fnatic 2-1 in the other series of the bracket stage. Gambit took the momentum gained into the
finals against Frost’s sister team Blaze.
To the surprise of many they won 2-0 and took the tournament. Some people had thought that Gambit, formally
M5, wouldn’t be able to compete at the same level they had in the past but that
was proven not to be the case. Gambit is
alive and will continue to have a huge impact in the scene during season three.
Although these things happened and added to the growing list
of reasons why Season 3 is setting up to be the best yet. The more important thing that happened was
arguably one of the best if not the best examples of sportsmanship in the LoL E-sports
and possible the E-sports scene as a whole to date.
After SK holds off a push from Fnatic to save the nexus, Fnatic's Xpeke
teleports back in and takes the nexus while dodging Olaf axes. This was an understandably heartbreaking loss
as the winner of this game would’ve gone onto the bracket stage. Although that was an exceptional play, what
we witnessed during the postgame interview was the important part. During the interview we saw Ocelote talk
about SK Gaming and wanting to show they are a top team and he is a top
player. He felt like they failed the
fans and failed himself, but someone very important disagreed and that someone
was Fnatic’s Xpeke. With this quote I feel like
Xpeke showed the true spirit of sportsmanship and the meaning of respect
and set an example for the entire E-sports community, "the way you played
today, you are definitely a top team in the world.”
Even though neither of these teams won the tournament they
continued to raise the bar for conduct and play. What Xpeke said to Ocelote not only is
touching and shows the great character of these teams but also provides a
beacon of hope for the scene. When you
have players that conduct themselves in this manner it proves how much they
care about this as a career. In the
light of the recent suspensions of players that would otherwise be playing in
season three Xpeke and Ocelote showed that the scene isn’t just negativity. It contains
not only outstanding players but outstanding men who are shining examples of E-sports can become. With players like this taking part in some of
the most exciting events in the scene and being watched by hundreds of
thousands on streams globally, the future is bright in E-sports and everyone
should take notice. I hope SK, Fnatic,
and Riot are all proud of the great examples that these players set at IEM
Katowice and that they continue to put this great conduct on display for the world.
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