SKT

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	SKT Esports Club 46
Alias(es)	SKT; described as a “three-time champion dynasty” 23
Organization Type	Professional League of Legends esports club 23 46
Affiliation	LCK 50 115
Headquarters	Team base in Incheon, South Korea 25
Leadership	Head coach kkOma; manager Park Ji-young; team captain Faker 34 43 262
Status	Active; competing at the World Championship in the latest documented tournament appearances 331 342
First Appearance	Chapter 23, “SKT's Palace Intrigue,” in the supplied context 23

Background / History

Decline and Internal Conflict

SKT enters the new season as a three-time World Championship-winning organization and the Season 7 runner-up. Management limits investment in established players, instead promoting three youth-training players as developmental substitutes 23 50.

Untara proposes resting Faker, arguing that the previous season’s defeat has damaged his confidence and left him struggling to adapt. After substitutes are included in the vote, a majority supports the proposal. Bang and Wolf object, while kkOma permits the experiment on the condition that Faker first plays the opener against KZ 23.

The opener exposes SKT’s coordination problems: Peanut repeatedly targets Faker, while Blank concentrates on helping Untara in top lane. Faker is subsequently benched, and the team loses its next series to KDM, 1–2, leaving SKT with an opening 0–2 record 25 41 115.

Recruiting Xu Junyan

Faker privately invites his Chinese duo-queue partner, Xu Junyan, to join SKT and form a mid–top partnership. Xu initially hesitates because of the weak roster, but accepts the challenge of rebuilding the declining dynasty and confronting his former club, RNG 24.

Xu signs a six-month contract online. The initial salary is 300 million won, with Faker willing to reduce his own salary to help fund the signing. After kkOma requests greater investment and an import slot, the agreement is revised to 500 million won, paid entirely by SKT 25 34 36.

The club officially announces Silence, Xu Junyan, as its new top laner. kkOma restores Faker to the starting lineup and selects Xu for the next series against KSV, despite concern over the pressure surrounding an imported player’s debut 43 46.

Spring Resurgence and MSI

Xu’s debut against KSV immediately changes SKT’s results. His Darius dominates the opening game, while his Trundle provides early assistance to Faker in the second. The resulting series victory ends SKT’s two-match losing streak 58 61 65 66.

SKT follows this recovery with victories over KT and AFs. Its new tempo combines Xu’s rapid top-lane advantages with Faker’s mid-lane pressure, converting those leads into towers, Rift Herald control, and early base pushes 85 101 109.

The resurgence culminates in the LCK Spring Championship and an MSI berth. At MSI, Xu’s illness temporarily prevents scheduled scrims because SKT has brought only one substitute, support player Effort. The team nevertheless wins the tournament, completing the recovery Faker and Xu had set out to achieve 161 172 213.

Summer Roster Changes

Xu remains with SKT despite competing offers from other clubs. He and kkOma scout Canyon, a seventeen-year-old solo-queue prospect, who becomes the starting jungler for the Summer Split. Blank moves to the substitute position after growing complacent following the MSI victory 215 216 217.

Canyon debuts against newly promoted Griffin. SKT defeats Griffin’s unconventional Taric–Master Yi strategy, with Xu’s Irelia and Faker’s Zoe coordinating kills and objective control 218 222.

Before the Asian Games, Xu shares a farewell dinner with his SKT teammates. His national-team commitments temporarily place him on the opposite side from Faker rather than ending their club partnership 263 295.

DDoS Crisis and Summer Championship

Following the Asian Games, repeated DDoS attacks disrupt SKT’s base network. Engineers announce fixes, but attacks resume when players attempt to queue. Ranked practice and scrims become unavailable 294 295 299.

The club considers relocating practice and preparing two complete lineups. kkOma arranges to promote the second team’s bottom-lane duo, while Xu and Faker organize replay study. Faker also declares that he would leave if the club fired Xu, underscoring the team’s solidarity during the crisis 295.

Despite the disruption—and an entire month without Xu scrimming alongside his SKT teammates—the club wins the Summer Finals against AFs. Its first-game comeback centers on Xu’s Rumble, with teammates sacrificing resources and drawing attention to help him reach twenty-five Mejai’s Soulstealer stacks. SKT then completes a 3–0 sweep 299 304 305.

World Championship Campaign

SKT’s opening World Championship performance draws severe criticism and prompts claims that its once-dominant top lane has lost confidence. Later performances reverse that perception, including a heavily praised Akali carry from Xu and rapid victories over 100T and GRX 320 331 342.

When Xu’s relationship with Bae Joo-hyun becomes public during the tournament, kkOma, Faker, and the other players express concern but support his continued focus on competition 342.

Members and Staff

Member	Position	Documented Role or Change
Faker	Mid laner; captain	Temporarily benched during the opening slump; recruits Xu and returns to the starting lineup against KSV 24 43 115.
Xu Junyan / Silence	Top laner	Chinese import whose arrival drives the team’s resurgence; also takes on shot-calling responsibilities 46 117.
Canyon	Jungler	Scouted by Xu and kkOma; becomes the Summer Split starter and debuts against Griffin 216 217.
Blank	Jungler	Spring starter; moves to the substitute role after MSI 108 216.
Bang	AD carry	Veteran damage dealer; credits Xu with helping him rediscover his professional motivation 83 213.
Wolf	Support	Veteran who opposes Faker’s benching and later openly supports Xu during the DDoS crisis 23 83 295.
Effort	Substitute support	SKT’s only substitute taken to MSI 172.
Untara	Top laner	Initiates the vote to bench Faker; plays in the unsuccessful opening lineup 23 25.
Thal	Top laner	Part of the roster Xu considers when evaluating SKT’s early-season weakness 24.
Pirean	Substitute mid laner	Supports the benching proposal and replaces Faker during the loss to KDM 23 42 43.
kkOma	Head coach	Oversees recruitment, lineup decisions, drafting, and the club’s competitive recovery 23 34 43.
Park Ji-young	Manager	Approves the increased investment in Xu after discussions with kkOma 34 36.

Competitive Record

Competition / Milestone	Result	Details
Historical World Championships	Three titles	Establishes SKT’s reputation as a championship dynasty 23 331.
Season 7 World Championship	Runner-up	Defeated by Samsung SSG, later renamed KSV 43 50.
Spring recovery series vs. KSV	2–0	First series win of the season; ends the opening losing streak 65 66.
Spring series vs. KT	2–0	Second victory of the split; the closing game ends at 24:51 85.
Spring series vs. AFs	2–0	Closing game lasts approximately 17.5 minutes and is described as the fastest match in LCK history at that point 109 110.
Spring first-round standings	7–2; second place	Finishes behind undefeated KZ 115.
Spring regular-season streak	16 consecutive wins	Ties SKT’s Season 6 record; Xu remains undefeated since debut and earns twenty-three MVP awards 133.
LCK Spring Championship	Champion	Defeats KZ with a record-setting 15:57 closing game; qualifies for MSI 161.
MSI	Champion	Adds an international title to the Spring championship 213.
Summer opener vs. Griffin	2–0	Wins Canyon’s professional debut series 216 222.
Summer regular-season standings	First place	Secures the defending position in the playoff schedule 294.
World Championship qualification	Qualified	AFs’ semifinal victory over KT confirms SKT’s qualification 297.
LCK Summer Finals vs. AFs	3–0; champion	Wins despite DDoS-related training disruption 299 305.
World Championship matches vs. 100T and GRX	Two victories	Wins in eighteen and seventeen minutes respectively 342.

Playstyle and Strategy

Mid–Top Coordination

• Primary competitive core: Faker’s mid-lane pressure and Xu’s top-lane advantages drive SKT’s recovery and give the team an unusually high ceiling, according to Roaring Emperor 101 116.
• Cross-lane assistance: Xu’s level-two Trundle roam helps Faker secure First Blood against Crown 61.
• Fast counter-rotations: Faker’s Corki arrives to support Xu’s Jayce, turning AFs’ three-player attack into a losing fight 108.
• Shared initiation: The pair coordinate Camille and Taliyah to begin the decisive fight in the Spring championship’s closing game 161.

Objective Control and Tempo

• Accelerated snowballing: Top-lane pressure creates opportunities elsewhere, followed by Rift Herald acquisition and pushes toward the enemy base 101.
• Aggressive tower trading: Against KT, Faker and Xu continue their own push rather than returning to defend, using Azir, attack-speed Gnar, and Rift Herald to outpace KT’s four-player group 83.
• Controlled macro: SKT can also favor slower, reliable objective accumulation, demonstrated by its Baron-and-Elder finish against KSV and thirty-six-minute victory over KZ 65 155.

Drafting and Deception

• Flexible pacing: SKT uses apparent passivity to bait KZ into an unsuccessful top-lane attack rather than contesting every objective directly 152.
• Early-game traps: Coordinated level-one setups punish Kiin’s Gangplank and disrupt KZ’s jungle invasion 104 117 118.
• Unconventional builds: Xu’s attack-speed Gnar, Ghostblade Camille, and Spellthief’s Edge Karma force opponents to respond to unfamiliar threats 84 121 261.
• Draft pressure: By the Summer Finals, opponents routinely ban Aatrox, Gangplank, and Jayce because of Xu’s demonstrated strength on those champions 299.

Documented Weaknesses

• Spring jungle vulnerability: Roaring Emperor identifies jungle skirmishing as SKT’s recurring weakness, with Faker and Xu often needing to help Blank recover 116.
• Dependence on the starting five at MSI: Xu’s illness leaves the traveling roster unable to field a full scrim lineup because its sole substitute is a support 172.
• Training infrastructure exposure: Repeated network attacks prevent both ranked play and scrims before the Summer Finals 295 299.

Rivalries and External Relationships

• KSV / Samsung SSG — The reigning world champion that defeated SKT in Season 7; becomes the opponent in SKT’s first successful recovery series 43 65.
• KT Rolster — A heavily funded rival. Smeb previously declines SKT’s offer because he wants to defeat the club instead 73.
• KZ — Wins the season opener against SKT, then becomes its principal Spring title rival and championship opponent 115 142 161.
• AFs — Repeatedly challenges SKT with Kiin in top lane; loses both the documented Spring series and the Summer Finals 109 305.
• Griffin / GRF — Newly promoted Summer opponent whose solo-queue reputation and unusual strategy attract supporters hoping to displace SKT 217 218 222.
• RNG — Xu’s former club and the focus of his personal revenge campaign; hostility between RNG supporters and Xu intensifies their matches against SKT 24 176.

Public Image and Supporters

• Large established fanbase: SKT’s dynasty status attracts substantial audiences, including a packed Spring semifinal venue 50 134.
• Import controversy: Some spectators initially protest Xu’s signing; a group of female fans visibly switches from protest signs to cheering for him at his debut 50.
• Nationalist hostility: Extreme LCK fans attack SKT as a “mixed-blood team” because of its Chinese top laner, even as the team continues winning 133 217.
• Cyberattack reaction: Extreme LCK fans and RNG’s “Royal Hooligans” publicly celebrate the disruption of SKT’s base network 294.
• Celebrity support: Actress Park Bo-young is introduced as a loyal SKT fan and presents flowers to the players 262 263.
• Team branding: Xu places an SKT sticker on Bae Joo-hyun’s cheek during a public appearance, symbolically welcoming her into the club’s supporter community 343.

Notable Quotes

“I have to say, SKT really is a team full of miracles. They always bring us very different surprises.”
— Kim Dong-jun 73

“Compared to KZ, SKT is certainly not a well-rounded team. However, in my eyes, they are very likely the team with the highest ceiling in the LCK right now!”
— Roaring Emperor 116