exceL vs SK Gaming

For our second match of the day we have a fairly fascinating clash between Excel Esports and SK Gaming. Well, maybe "fascinating" isn't the best term here, but there's still more than enough reason to tune in. In essence, this is a clash between a mid-tier gatekeeper (who has a solid enough change of reaching the playoffs), and a bottom-tier dweller that has yet to show anything worthy of mentioning.

This has been the case with Excel and SK Gaming ever since they stepped foot on stage in 2020. Excel, to their credit, has been steadily improving and have shown great potential over their last six outings. They're not exactly a titan in the making, but they're deceptively strong and more than talented enough (both individually as well as a five-man unit) to contest for a spot in the Top 6.

They are, however, prone to making egregious mistakes (a sign of inexperience and lack of cohesion) which sets them back more often than not. Still, they've solidified their spot as a mid-tier gatekeeper and have already won against most of the LEC bottom five. SK Gaming is next in line, and fortunately for Excel, they shouldn't present much of a challenge.

It feels like everyone's been talking about SK ad nauseam. They're not exactly abysmal (two wins on the board is two more than Schalke and Vitality have), but they're far from even mediocre. The thing that's hindering them the most is the lack of proactive play and any semblance of synergy. They look like a bunch of solo queue randoms and have shown nothing particularly impressive on the Summoner's Rift over the last three weeks. The amount of passivity is baffling, really. They draft what feels like the exact same team comp game after game and never manage to execute it. They have engage, they have scaling, and yet they don't do anything -- they rarely use the tools which are at their disposal.

They try to set things up once, or perhaps (at best) twice before simply rolling over and giving up everything on the map. Is is a sign of mediocrity, diverging philosophies and ideas on how the game should be played? Or just a painfully evident lack of cohesion between their players? To make matters even worse, they've been making huge individual blunders both in the laning phase as well as in team fights. There's just not a lot to get excited about.

In the end, we have to side with Excel on this one. They've shown more over the last three weeks, they're much more flexible and aggressive, and they can actually fight even when they're playing from a deficit. They're also stronger lane for lane and should, therefore, have no trouble outclassing a sub-par SK Gaming.