After fnatic set the bar high on day 1 of the competition, SK Gaming were not to be left behind with them matching their EU rivals with a 3-0 score-line of their own.


Before the tournament started it was unsure whether SK would have their full line-up. Adrian 'Candy Panda' Wübbelmann was having passport issues prior to the event so it looked as if SK would be forced to use a stand-in. However Candy Panda arrived in New York with just a couple of hours to go before the first match for SK.

Many thought that CandyPanda may be off his game in the first matches after his 9 hour flight and the jet lag incurred, however Sleepy Panda performs best when he is tired it seems. Some stunning performances in the group by him soon quashed the doubters.

Game 1

SK's first game was up against Team Curse . SK put on a dominant show and despite some out-of-character face checking from Patrick 'Nyph' Funke which gave the enemy Veigar a few one-shot kills, the victory was secured without too much difficulty.

The stand out performance was that of Mike 'Wickd' Petersen who went 4-0-7 in mid lane with Talon.

Game 2 vs Team Sypher

Game 2 was the all European clash of the Group, both teams had won their first matches so a win for either team would almost guarantee their place in the knockout stages.

The game started fairly evenly with SK switching their 2 vs 1 lane so we saw top and bottom lanes as 2 vs 1 scenarios. At first this switch proved beneficial for Sypher as they had the early dominance over Galio at bottom with their Tristana and Sona lane, they eventually got the bottom tower down although they could have done it earlier if they had been more aggressive after securing first blood.

The situation was similar at the top lane apart from Candy playing Kog'Maw was focusing more on farm than on securing the kill on the enemy Nasus.

Once mid to late game came however Candy left Sypher to regret not banning Kog'Maw as Candy literally tore the enemy team to pieces.

Candy ended up with a score of 10-0-6 with SK securing a total of 19 kills to Sypher’s 9. In true hard carry style Sypher couldn't deal with a fed Panda and the game was SK's.

Willy 'Skyyart' Dias was interviewed post-game and admitted to their oversight in picks and bans:



Game 3 vs v8esports

SK's last game of the group was against v8 who had lost their previous 2 games and were already eliminated from the tournament, a win for SK ensured they would finish top of Group B.

Unfortunately SK's third and final match wasn't streamed due to ESL not wanting to allow for the possibility of any result influencing other teams performances.

SK surprised the casters and anyone who haven't watched SK play recently by throwing out Jungle Blitzcrank by Stephen 'Snoopeh' Ellis. SK continued their previous form to beat v8 and secure 1st place in the group.

SK Gaming will face the always strong Counter Logic Gaming in the Semi-Final a re-run of the Semi-Final at IEM Guangzhou just 2 weeks ago.



Photo Source - Riot Games