The 2022 LCK Spring split is close to finishing its 1st round robin. As many predicted, T1 remains at the top of the standings so far, with Gen.G following at close second.

‘Quest’s Musings’, is a series of columns that I started in 2021 where I got to share my thoughts about the LCK and LoL Esports in general, returns for the 2022 season. This week, I’ll be talking about the controversial enchanter mid lane picks, and how COVID impacted the LCK in recent days. 

Covid creeps onto the LCK: The rise of LCK CL

Ever since the pandemic started, LCK and its teams have done a fantastic job in protecting everyone from the virus, while keeping the league operating smoothly. However, due to the Omicron variant’s higher infection rate, the virus creeped its way to players and staff from LCK teams, forcing the sick players to be benched.

With regards to any players that cannot play due to COVID, the LCK rulebook states that teams can emergency call up/send down players, and if that’s not possible, they can reschedule the match. All teams affected by COVID have decided to call up their CL players, and for the most part, they’ve performed much better than anticipated.

DRX, NS RedForce, and Gen.G all had to field their emergency subs from their CL roster to play their matches in week 4. The team that performed best with their emergency subs was DRX, as Clear-Peach-SeTab-Jun all performed phenomenally alongside Deft, and really showed why they’re currently the first place team in LCK CL. The CL players really showed up when they were needed the most, allowing DRX to take the clean 2-0 victory against KT. 

NS however, did not perform as well with their emergency subs, as they went 0-2 in week 4. Their starting bot laner, Ghost, role swapped to support, and their CL ADC, Vital, was called up to the main roster. Despite their efforts, however, they were unable to overcome Kwangdong Freecs and Fredit BRION. 

As for Gen.G, they unfortunately had to put in their emergency subs against T1, a match that was considered as the ‘Match of the Week’. Although Gen.G lost that match, seeing them almost take game 1 left fans anticipated for the rematch, which takes place on Mar 3. 

Potential Enchanter mid champs in the LCK? LCK community & players reacts to enchanters mid

The LoL Esports community was in shock when Cloud9 [in typical LS fashion] drafted Soraka and Ivern mid; C9 went 2-0 in the week, and successfully executed the unorthodox team compositions. Shortly after, we even saw some pros in the LCK practice Soraka mid in solo queue; the most notable player being T1’s Faker. As the western community praised the innovation behind C9’s drafts, the KR community wasn’t as convinced with the enchanter mids.

Unlike the followers of ‘Church9’, users in the Inven KR community commented that Soraka/Ivern mid only worked because it was in NA. Users were convinced that if such picks were in the LCK, the game would blow open very quickly for the enemy team, and that it needs to be proven on the international stage in order for such a strategy to really be proven to be good.

When I asked Faker in a post-match interview about Soraka mid, he stated,

“Soraka mid is something I thought about months ago. After watching a team in NA play her in a competitive match, I decided to experiment with it on stream. Because of the teleport nerfs, there aren’t that many champions that can influence other lanes, most notable with her ultimate. I think the biggest strength lies within her ultimate.”

However, the mid laner for DWG KIA, ShowMaker, wasn’t convinced about Soraka/Ivern mid.

“It’s disappointing. It’s not like I play mid lane to play Soraka or Ivern, right? [Laughter] However, as a pro player, if it turns out to be good, then I’ll need to learn it and be able to pull it out in a match. As far as I know, C9 Fudge is playing in the LCS tonight or tomorrow, so I’m excited to see what he plays next. I always imagine about the potential off-meta picks that I can play, so seeing picks like that gives me a lot of inspiration. As far as Soraka or Ivern being good or not… I really don’t know how I feel about it.”

The innovation is definitely there, but is it enough to convince the world that the strategy works? The LCK community is definitely not convinced.