SK Gaming’s ascension continues in the 2023 LEC Spring Split. After an already surprising top-four finish in the Winter Split, the young squad continued its rampage in the first week of the Spring Split’s best-of-one stage and jumped to first place with a 3-0 score. Top laner Joël “Irrelevant” Scharoll is happy with the result, but sees plenty of room for improvement.
After SK’s second win of the split, Irrelevant spoke to Em Dash about the lessons from the Winter Split and what SK’s focus is for the Spring Split. He also discussed why LEC teams struggle to play with top lane carries and why LCK and LPL teams are so far ahead.
Irrelevant’s lessons from the Winter Split
Congrats on the great start to the Spring Split, Irrelevant! Before we get into that, though, let’s go back a few weeks. SK ended the Winter Split in fourth place—higher than many anticipated. How did you reflect on that split and the team’s growth?
We had very good results in scrims before we even went into that split. We were beating pretty much everyone, except G2. Against them, we were struggling a bit. After the first week, where we were mega-inting. We were pretty crushed, actually. But we sat down as a team, talked about all of the issues, and after that we played really well.
I felt pretty bad after the best-of-five against MAD Lions. I think I didn’t play well in the fifth game. I felt like my champion pool was kind of lacking for the series, and that it was one of the reasons we lost. So, in the one-weekend break, I took a few days off and then I tried to pick up a few more champions.
“We know that we always can come back in the game, but it’s not a good way to win. You should dominate from the beginning.”
Which champions did you try to pick up?
I can’t really say which ones specifically, but it’s mostly carry champions.
So SK can play through the top lane more?
Yeah, exactly.
People spoke pretty highly about your individual performance in the Winter Split, especially considering it’s only your second year in the league. How do you look back on your performance?
I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied. I think I don’t play that well on stage. Honestly, in scrims, I play a lot better. I hope that, when I get to play more games on the stage, I can start playing as I do in scrims at some point. Maybe then I’ll be satisfied.
Everyone plays worse on the stage. That’s just a fact. It’s just that, being on the stage with the crowd cheering, white noise on the headset… It’s not that easy to play.
Tackling SK’s lackluster early game
Heading into this split, what did SK try to tackle or address in order to get a better start this time around?
Coming into this week of scrims, we just went over the basics again. We did that last split and we just refreshed it. After that, we really focused on our early games. Our early games are really bad. [Laughs] We know that we always can come back in the game, but it’s not a good way to win. You should dominate from the beginning.
If you’re a team that always comes back in a game, people don’t really see you as a threat. It was the same in Misfits last year. We always came back in the best-of-ones, but then we completely failed in the best-of-fives.
“EU mid laners are pretty good and I think there are a lot of good bot laners. But in the top lane, everyone is bad.”
It’s an interesting comparison to draw. Misfits also performed better than expected, with relatively young players on the lineup as well. Do you see more parallels?
There are parallels for sure. The biggest difference is that, on Misfits, we didn’t really try to play carries in the top lane. Coming into this year with SK, I thought that I would only play tanks. After a week, the coaches sat down with me and made it very clear that we are going to play top carries at some point. They said I would not be someone who would only play tanks. I think that’s a pretty big positive, especially for best-of-fives.
The LEC’s eternal struggle with top lane carries
It’s great to see more LEC teams trying to play through top. At international tournaments, it always becomes painfully clear how far ahead the LCK and LPL are with playing top lane carries. Why do you think LEC teams are so reluctant about playing through the top lane?
I feel that, in general, EU top laners are just worse. Worse than in other roles. EU mid laners are pretty good and I think there are a lot of good bot laners. But in the top lane, everyone is bad. I’m bad, Photon is bad, Chasy is bad, Broken Blade is bad… We’re just all bad.
Can you elaborate a bit more on why you think all top laners are bad? Is it wave management, matchup knowledge, or a bit of everything…
I would say that, in the top lane, there are so many small things you can do. Placing your wards, trading, your movement, punishing the wave, spotting the enemy junglers… There are so many things you can do. Eastern top laners do way more stuff in-lane than EU top laners. I feel like EU top laners don’t do that much. That’s why they’re bad.
“If you play heavily through top, also with split-push champions like Fiora and Jax, you have to have good side-laning, good vision, and good macro. It’s a lot harder to execute.”
Do you think that this situation keeps itself in place? As in: EU top laners aren’t good, so teams don’t play through them. But because teams don’t play through them the top laners also don’t improve.
It’s just harder to play through top. It’s harder to execute. In EU, and also a bit in NA, you see that scaling compositions are really good. I think mid laners and bot laners scale better than top laners. It’s just an easier game plan to execute when you play through mid and bot.
So, you can afford more if you lean back and rely on the scaling qualities from mid and bot.
Yeah. For example, when you’re really ahead in the mid lane and bot lane, you can just teamfight. But if you play heavily through top, also with split-push champions like Fiora and Jax, you have to have good side-laning, good vision, and good macro. It’s a lot harder to execute.
SK Gaming’s Spring Split goals
Very interesting! Thanks for that perspective. To round up, let’s combine it all and look at the rest of the Spring Spit. SK is going to focus on fixing its early game and we will see you more on carries. When are we going to see SK on a higher level?
At the beginning of the year, it was a long-term plan to play top lane carries. But after this Winter Split, we set our expectations high for the Spring Split.
“I think no one was satisfied with top four. Everyone felt pretty bad after we lost. For this split, the goal is to make it to the finals.”
What does high mean, in this context? You already reached the top four. [Laughs]
Honestly, I think no one was satisfied with top four. Everyone felt pretty bad after we lost. For this split, the goal is to make it to the finals. It’s really hard, for sure. Other teams also got better this split. But if we can continue to improve and be more flexible, but also consistent, then I think it’s possible.
Ambitious, I like it. Is there anything you’d like to say to the SK fans?
I receive a lot of nice messages on Twitter. It’s nice to read and it makes me happy. So, thanks to all the fans. I appreciate it.
SK Gaming plays its next game on Saturday, March 18th, at 9 PM CET against Team Vitality. You can watch the game live on the official LoL Esports site.
