BERLIN -- As the nexus of Invictus Gaming broke down, Jang "Nuguri" Ha-gwon, top laner of Damwon Gaming, stood up from his seat. The lanky, bespectacled young man sipped on the water bottle one more time before walking over to his opponents, Invictus Gaming. His teammates, Kim "Canyon" Gun-bu and Sin "Nuclear" Jeong-hyeon, solemnly shook hands with Yu "JackeyLove" Wen-Bo, the young prodigy of Invictus Gaming, and Gao "Ning" Zhen-Ning, the MVP of last year's League of Legends World Championship. The five young men of Damwon then huddled to the front of the stage and bowed to the audience of Verti Music Hall in Berlin.
Damwon Gaming had just finished in first place in their group by defeating the defending worlds champion Invictus Gaming last weekend. The organization, promoted to the LCK only at the spring split earlier this year, had punched its ticket to the worlds quarterfinals.
The LCK has had the most successful tournament so far out of all the major regions, with all of its three teams -- SK Telecom T1, Damwon Gaming and Griffin -- qualifying to the quarterfinals as the first seeds of their respective groups. It is important to note that two of the LCK representatives came from Challengers Korea. Both Damwon Gaming and Griffin have been promoted to the LCK within the last two years, and none of their players had worlds experience before this year.
Nuguri, the top laner of Damwon Gaming and touted as the latest successor in the long lineage of successful South Korean top laners, had never played for a major international tournament prior to this one. Canyon, the Damwon jungler and currently ranked first in the EU solo queue, only debuted at the end of the 2018 season at last year's KeSPA Cup. Griffin's two carry lanes, mid-laner Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon, 18, and AD carry Park "Viper" Do-hyeon, 19, are both young talents plucked straight from the South Korean solo queue onto the team.
The heavy representation of young talent on the LCK teams is a stark contrast to last year. At last year's world championship, the LCK sent three teams consisting of veteran rosters. Gen.G, formerly Samsung Galaxy, had brought back their 2017 worlds-winning roster of Lee "CuVee" Seong-jin, Kang "Haru" Min-seung, Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong, Lee "Crown" Min-ho, Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk and Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in. KT Rolster and Afreeca Freecs were also led by veterans such as Go "Score" Dong-bin, Lee "Kuro" Seo-haeng, Cho "Mata" Se-hyeong and Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho. That was not a successful tournament for the region, however, with none of the three teams making it out of the quarterfinals.
This year was a time of growing pains for the region. Two new teams, Sandbox Gaming and Damwon Gaming, were promoted. Teams entered the offseason with a newfound responsibility of restoring the glory of the decorated region.
Organizations drew from domestic roots with an abundance of talent in the solo queue. Afreeca Freecs and Gen.G invested in new players such as Lee "Dread" Jin-hyeok, Park "Senan" Hee-seok and Kim "Life" Jeong-min. SK Telecom T1 promoted the organization's support trainee, Lee "Effort" Sang-ho, to the starting lineup. We saw more new players enter the league than ever, and the cream of the crop is now competing on the worlds stage.
It would be premature to predict a title winner. Last year, both KT Rolster and Afreeca Freecs made it to the quarterfinals as the top seed and neither team advanced to the next stage. Nonetheless, seeing younger players of the LCK perform well so far at the worlds stage is inspiring. The success of relatively new, solo queue-fresh talents at the international stage has sustainable and long-term implications for the region as a whole.
In 2013, the LCK sent a team consisting of solo queue rookies and amateurs as the third seed of the region. The team was called SK Telecom T1 and would win the championship, beginning a long dominance of the LCK at worlds. This year, the LCK has gone back to the roots of its early success -- developing young, local talent. As a result, the region is now sending three formidable teams to Madrid.
It is in the roots, not the branches, that a tree's greatest strength lies.