2011 was a successful year for SK Gaming . There were many high points such as winning the ESL Major Series in Cologne and being one of the most consistent teams in the IEM events with 3 appearances in Cologne, Guangzhou and New York and placing top 3 in two of them. These performances have also ensured SK Gaming will be at the IEM World Championships in Hannover later in 2012.

However 2011 was not all a rose-tinted affair.

SK were bitterly disappointed to miss out on qualifying for the Season 1 championships held at Dreamhack Summer, an event they felt they had earned their place at.

2011 also saw various line-up changes, some which were chosen by the team, some which were beyond our control.

Mike 'Wickd' Petersen

October saw the first of the undesirable line-up changes. Mike 'Wickd' Petersen chose to leave SK, citing differences in opinion with some of the other players and unfriendliness towards another individual.

This was a big loss for SK, Wickd was known as possibly the strongest top laner in Europe, he had also been a part of SK for a very long time.

It was also very disappointing to see him join Counter Logic Gaming .EU (formerly AbsoluteLegends) the very same day, showing that talks had been happening whilst he was in SK.

Maik 'MoMa' Wallus

The SK team though their line-up issue was fixed when they signed Maik 'MoMa' Wallus to replace Wickd. Although MoMa had traditionally been an AP mid player, he had expressed an interest in playing solo top for us. It was planned that SK would play a double AP setup whilst MoMa trained bruisers. Fnatic had won the S1 championship playing double AP and it was though this may be a strong choice to go forward with.

After only two weeks, MoMa stated that he couldn't dedicate the time he needed to be a part of a competitive team at the top of the game. He also expressed his lack of experience playing top as a reason why he was uncomfortable with the position.

It had also come apparent that double AP was not as strong as previously though in the current meta. With this, MoMa left, and the quest for a 5th began once more.

The Quest for a Fifth

With the quick turnaround of MoMa it reflected badly on SK. It gave the impression that SK were having internal issues which was not the case.

However, it was the consensus of the team that to find a 5th now, we should take our time. The next event wasn't too close so we decided we would be patient. A list was drawn up and many players were identified as possible candidates for the top lane.

Firstly the search began for players with offline lan experience who could play in the top lane. There were very few of these, even less who it was thought would fit well within SK.

Therefore the search switched to established players from the Solo Queue ladder. A few people were outlined for trial here. With 2-3 considered very strong candidates.

Rumble in the Jungle

With the search for a 5th in full flow, SK were hit with a second blow in December. The team's jungler announced that he was to leave and join Wickd in CLG.eu. Stephen 'Snoopeh' Ellis announced his departure with the reasoning that he wanted to ensure he had a team he could focus on s2 with.

This came as a surprise considering SK has already confirmed their place at the IEM World Championships and CLG.eu have not currently.

This meant that SK finished 2011 with just 3 core members, albeit, very strong core members.

SK Line-up

Carlos 'ocelote' Rodríguez Santiago
Adrian 'Candy Panda' Wübbelmann
Patrick 'Nyph' Funke

The Future

So what does 2012 hold for SK and what are the plans? Of course the first priority is to confirm our 5 players.

Many of you have seen from the streams that we have had some potentials for our new line-up, we are taking our time completing the line-up to ensure we get the 2 players we feel can help to continue as one of the top teams in Europe.

Many of you are wondering who and when we will announce our new players, all I can say is that it will be soon...

Once we have a confirmed team we will of course shall be participating on all fronts both online and offline.

Currently the calendar for online events will see us competing in the Semi-Final of the ClanBase EuroCup, The ESL Major Series Group Stages and the Go4LoL's.

The goal for the year is of course to win the IEM World Championships in Hannover, and to qualify for the Season 2 Finals.

We look forward to a successful 2012 and wish you all the best for the New Year.