On February 3rd, which was the 29th day of the Chinese New Year, SKT would face their last opponent before the Chinese New Year, Hanwha's HLE.
Speaking of HLE, many domestic players weren't familiar with them. However, speaking of their once glorious name, it was believed that many people had been shocked by them before. ROX Tigers.
Unlike SKT and Samsung's glorious dynasty, the old ROX team was formed at the end of 2014 by a group of players who did not have a team. They were Smeb, Lee, Kuro, Pray, and Gorilla.
These frustrated players from the former Najin and IM teams, as well as Rat King Pray, who had disappeared from the public eye for a year, formed a new team, HUYATigers.
Since the sponsor was Huya Streaming, the team was nicknamed "Little Huya" by China players.
Most of these players were now famous players. At that time, other than the former White Shield support Gorilla, the rest of the players weren't favored by others. It could be said that when Tiger Fang was first established, it was just a ragtag team to the outside world.
Although the outside world saw it as a weird team, these players quickly merged and became the runner-up of the 2015 LCK Spring Season.
Halfway through the 2015 Summer Season, China's sponsor suddenly withdrew their funding.
The ROX players continued to compete without any pay! In the hot summer, due to the lack of money, they could not afford air conditioning. Training matches and Rank matches were all sweaty. The temperature difference between day and night was huge, and the players fell sick one after another … ROX players received tickets to the S5 League of Legends finals under such circumstances.
However, they did not have the money to compete overseas! The Korean eSports Association extended an olive branch to the ROX team, sponsoring their expenses during the S5 League, including flight tickets, food, internet cafes, and training grounds.
This team was not favored by the media and players since the S5 group stage. However, they fought their way to the finals through beautiful matches. Unfortunately, they met the top team, SKT. In the end, ROX became the runner-up of the S5 League of Legends finals!
In 2016, the team officially changed their name to ROX Tigers. Peanut joined the team and formed a dream lineup with Smeb, Kuro, Pray, and Gorilla. They fought for the team's first championship trophy.
In the S6 Spring Season, ROX, who had entered the playoffs as the top team in the regular season, was defeated by SKT in the finals and became the runner-up.
ROX performed superbly in the summer regular season and was guaranteed a spot in the playoffs as the top team in the regular season.
However, this time, SKT, ROX's biggest victim, was defeated by KT in the semifinals. ROX did not disappoint as they defeated KT and picked up their first ever League Championship trophy.
During the S5 and S6 era, ROX was already one of the top teams in the world. Unfortunately, SKT was at its peak.
After losing in the S5 finals, ROX in the S6 season once again faced SKT in the international competition.
Finally, ROX stood in New York's Madison Square Garden, infinitely close to toppling the invincible SKT in the World Championship.
But in the end, they still lost 2: 3.
However, this BO5 match was one of the most exciting matches in the history of the game. It gave birth to many god-like operations.
Pray's arrow interrupted Duke's teleportation, Smeb's Rambo barbecued SKT, Little Peanut Spider's 100% escape from Li Ge's Clockwork Ultimate, Faker's desperate escape from being ganked by four people, and so on.
Perhaps the reason why the Little Tigers left such a deep impression on the audience was not because of how strong they used to be, but because of the team atmosphere and the spirit of unity and optimism displayed by ROX, which deeply infected everyone.
Unlike LGD, who was ridiculed by the audience for being optimistic, ROX was a team that would never forget to smile.
When they won a match, they would have the same celebratory gesture, raising both hands into fists and laughing without restraint, no matter how exaggerated the celebratory gesture was.
When they lost a match, they would encourage each other. Regardless of whether they were depressed or not, there would always be someone who would make the disappointed team members laugh behind their backs.
They played in bunny costumes and sang before the game started, just like ordinary people playing games at home. However, they did so in front of thousands of foreign spectators.
They laughed together, fought together, roared angrily, and grieved together. Just like every young person who loved life.
In the professional arena, there was no other team that could stand shoulder to shoulder with SKT. However, when you were laughing and cursing with your friends in voice chat, you might be reminded of the ROX team of the past.
At the end of 2016, in the Kespa Cup, ROX finally defeated SKT for the first time and became the champion of the Kespa Cup.
However, the finals of the Kespa Cup was the last match of this legendary team.
After the end of the S6 season, due to the lack of sponsors and the disagreement among the team members, the starting five of the team left one after another. When Gorilla left the team, he said regretfully, "There won't be another team like ROX in the future."
From then on, the former ROX Tigers became history. Although the reorganized ROX retained the team name, their performance in the LCK competition was not at all as domineering as the old ROX.
Due to the lack of individual ability and experience in decision-making, the brand new ROX was only in the lower middle of the entire LCK league. They did not even enter the playoffs once in two years.
In 2018, the second largest insurance company in Korea, Hanwha Life Insurance, entered the eSports industry and acquired the ROX Tigers team. The team was officially renamed to Hanwha LifeEsports, which was the current HLE team.
• • • • •
As SKT's match was the finale of the third week, it was held late at night. SKT's entire team would only arrive at the venue after 7 pm.
However, Li Xu and Li Ge had already arrived at LOLPARK at 4: 30 pm. They entered the venue and sat in the spectator seats like normal spectators, waiting for the match to begin.
The first match was between KZ and GEN G. The highlight of this match was the bottom lane. This was the duel between the two best orphans of the season, Chi Di and Mr. Dai.
The current Deft had abandoned his original conservative playstyle. His desire to attack had become very strong. He tried to find an opportunity to attack his opponent. When he found an opportunity, he would even send an ADC to initiate a team battle.
However, due to this aggressive playstyle, Mr. Dai would often inexplicably kill a wave of players while maximizing his damage output, allowing his opponent to find an opportunity to attack him.
Ruler, on the other hand, was more stable. He paid attention to his own protection when dealing damage. Chi Di was also the first player to use cloth armor shoes as an ADC's equipment.
Li Ge's interest was piqued. "Who do you think will win between these two teams?"
Li Xu replied, "At the start of the season, these two teams looked like they were on the verge of death. However, they have already won two matches in a row. It's hard to say who will win, but I'm sure they will fight for a long time."
Just as Li Xu had predicted, GEN G's match was still a familiar feeling. Both teams dilly-dallied for three full matches.
In the end, Mr. Dai had the last laugh. After his sudden death in the first match, he felt ashamed and led his team to turn the tables and defeat GEN G in two consecutive matches.
Originally, Li Xu had wanted to stay and watch Mr. Dai's post-match interview. However, the hungry Li Ge was impatient and forcefully dragged Li Xu away.
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