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SK Gaming’s Fall from Grace
Strife and organizational changes leave former top dog SK struggling in the summer split
SK falls to Copenhagen Wolves in Week 1
© LoL eSports
After four weeks, the EU LCS has shifted into a clear top three teams and seven other teams that can't seem to find a groove. Among those grooveless teams is last split’s darling, SK Gaming. With six losses in their first three weeks, SK has far surpassed the only three losses they gave up last spring and earned themselves a spot on the bottom of the EU LCS.
Organizational Changes
After star ADC Forgiven left the organization in May, SK Gaming picked back up CandyPanda, who has played with the team on and off since 2012. Despite his experience with the team, CandyPanda has an uphill battle this season in taking the place of arguably the best ADC in Europe. Further, CandyPanda has not played at a professional level in seven months.
SK veteran CandyPanda returned this split
© LoL eSports
As it turns out, the change at the coaching position may well be what has upended SK so far. Earlier last month, SK managing coach Joe “InnerFlame” Elouassi stepped down from his position with SK to join Challenger Series’ Gamers2 as team manager. Elouassi has always considered himself more of a manager than a coach, but it was internal issues with SK that ultimately led to his departure.
“The stubbornness and personal differences escalated to a point where it wasn't possible to practice efficiently which ultimately led to the bad preparation you saw in playoffs,” Elouassi said in a reddit AMA last month. “It was happening in the regular season, however the severity was overshadowed by the fact we had such a good record and we were on top of LCS.”
Lacking Synergy
Stepping in to fill Elouassi’s shoes was SK’s sports psychologist, Lukas Schenke, who has no prior experience as a drafting coach. Though Schenke studied professional League of Legends while obtaining his master’s degree, he joined the team last season to focus on improving team training and performance – a far cry from drafting.
Schenke has worked with the team on picks and bans since he joined SK, but he admitted in an interview last September, “I don’t know as much about the game as the players and that will never change.” Losing both a coach and a manager in Elouassi, SK seems to be struggling internally and with an inexperienced coach, they’re likely making most of their decisions at the player level. Indeed, in that same interview, Schenke discussed his more passive approach to coaching.
SK Support nRated in Week 1
© LoL eSports
If this is the case, it could explain why SK has struggled in picks and bans so far this split. In Week 1, SK picked a squishy team composition—including jungle Nidalee—into Fnatic’s triple tank team and the next week allowed Giants Gaming's Werlyb to lock in Jax – a champ he is famously dominant with. The Nidalee pick is especially poignant as it displays a disconnect with the current jungle meta-game, which greatly favors tanky junglers.
Despite their early struggles, SK managed to stay positive and pick up two big wins, putting them at 2-6. A win over a 2-6 ROCCAT was much needed, but SK's biggest victory so far was their scrappy win over Unicorns of Love - the team that knocked them out of last split's playoffs.
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