SK Gaming, one of esports’ oldest organizations, confirms their return to competitive League of Legends. The team locked in their roster in order to participate in the upcoming German Premier Tour.
Their lineup will consist of:
- Top Lane – Daniel “Scarface” Aitbelkacem
- Jungler – Gerrit “Phrenic” Stukemeier
- Mid Lane – Hicham “SozPurefect” Tazrhini
- AD Carry – Tim “Keduii” Willers
- Support – Mads “Doss” Schwartz
The team is relatively unknown in the western League scene. Scarface, SozPurefect, and Doss all played in the LVP Superliga, which is one of the biggest Spanish esports competitions. AD Carry Keduii last played for ALTERNATE aTTax, a team in the ESL Meisterschaft, until April 1. Phrenic helped EURONICS Gaming win the ESL Meisterschaft last season. Also, he went to the European Masters tournament where EURONICS went 0-3 in the Round Robin and was eliminated.
What is the German Premier Tour?
The German Premier Tour is Riot Games’ newest tournament that will take place in Europe. All teams within the DACH countries, which consists of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, can participate. The tour will have the same setup as other LoL leagues, where seasons will be split into two, Summer Season (May-August) and Winter Season (October-March). Each season will have four “Stops” where each Stop represents a full tournament. It would include an online Open Qualifier, a Closed Qualifier, which goes into the Semifinals and the Finals. The top 4 teams of each tournament will win an amount of prize money, which has not been disclosed yet. Additionally, all top 8 teams will win Premier Tour Points. The two teams with the most Premium Tour Points will qualify for the European Masters.
SK Gaming’s history with competitive LoL
SK Gaming has been a part of the esports community since 1997 and is one of the most established esports teams in the world. The team was able to win second place during the 2014 European League of Legends Championship Series (EULCS) Spring Split and third place in the 2014 Summer Split. SK dominated the EULCS in the 2015 Spring Split, earning the top spot going into the Playoffs with a 15-3 record. Unfortunately, they were upset by H2K Gaming in the Playoffs and finished fourth.
SK has also been in its share of controversy over the years. For example, in 2015, the team went in a freefall in the league standings after losing star AD Carry Konstantinos “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou. SK Gaming decides to kick Christoph “nRated” Seitz, their support player at the time. SK Gaming told players that it was fining them for poor performance and for failing to deliver on PR obligations, like interviews with the media. Also, reports of payment issues and players being unhappy with the team house set-up surfaced.
As a result of all the problems within the team, the rest of the lineup decided to sit out the remainder of the season. At the end of the 2015 year, SK would cut and replace every other member of the team. The 2016 year would be the last year that SK Gaming would be in the pro League of Legends scene.
Not to mention, many fans connect SK Gaming with one of the most iconic moments in League of Legends history:
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Published: Jun 11, 2018 11:49 am