Week 7 Snapshot: SK Gaming

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

The story so far

With a surprising second place playoff finish and an eyebrow-raising strategic execution to take first place during the regular season, SK Gaming caught many experts and fans off guard. Housing a questionable constellation of players at first, the mix demonstrated a trait which many unsuccessfully tried to achieve – consistency. Their well-thought, calculated style earned them not only victories against multiple competitors, but also the nickname “the European Cloud9”. However, many were questioning whether the team’s success was in part due to Alliance’s struggle to find their identity and Fnatic’s “mid split crisis”. While both behemoths were awkwardly losing games left and right, the SK squad was easily dispatching enemies with superior strategy and execution and rarely, flashy mechanical outplays. Everything pointed towards the Summer Split as the answer to the SK riddle.

Interestingly enough, half of that question disappeared completely – Alliance immediately assumed the European throne by obliterating all in their path and looked superior to everyone in the region. And while Fnatic had a rough start to the summer split affair, SK continued their “slow and steady” style. Out of the last 7 weeks, the squad has had 5 weeks with a 50% win rate (1-1 in weeks 2,4,5,6 and 2-2 in super week 7). On paper that is far from a perfect plan however, it was enough to put SK only one win behind Alliance. Things went sour after two losses to Froggen’s team and two additional disappointing defeats to an ambitious Millenium and a very hungry Supa Hot Crew. The last two have set their sights on the upper part of the table not once or twice and are proving to be more than a threat when underestimated.

An epic clash this way comes

The true problem of SK however, is the rise of the eternal enemy – Fnatic. Once out of their “questionable” period, Fnatic have again entered the state where they are undisputedly a top 3 team in Europe, regardless of meta or any external factors. What is even worse is how quickly they bounced back and took advantage of the “slow and steady” SK approach to tie them at 11-7 and potentially steal the second place. With that in mind, week 8 is a key moment in the campaign of SK Gaming. With a match against Fnatic, they should do all in their power to put a hold to the winning streak which started in Super Week. The best case scenario before the SK line-up is winning both matches, thus creating the much-needed breathing space in the next two weeks. With a simple glance over the schedule, Fnatic has a tough draw for next week, a factor which can potentially help SK in the battle for second place. The worst case scenario is giving up the second place and hoping for Fnatic to beat Alliance and fall to the unpredictable Millenium/SHC in the weeks just before Super Week 11. All-in-all, SK Gaming has a do or die week and we should expect a relentless battle between the pair in another exciting edition of the ‘El Classico’.

Week 7 starts for SK Gaming on Thursday when they will play the opening match of the week against Polish pride ROCCAT. Despite the latter struggling to regain momentum and ground, they are a foe never to be underestimated as we know from the Spring Season. In the closing match SK and Fnatic will determine the standings in the top 3 after week 8. You can catch all the action at lolesports.com and for more news, interviews and features make sure to check onGamers.com.