Before last of the Spring Split regular season, the Liiv SANDBOX were not favorites for this Summer Split, either in the eyes of the spectators or that of the analysts. Yet the team is today fourth in the LCK with 7 wins and 3 losses. They succeed little by little in establishing themselves as a rising formationwhich could well give a hard time for league leaders at the end of the season. To analyse.
Team presentation
If the team is not really made up of rookies, most players have little experience on the main stages. The main exception is Dovethe former midlaner by SANDBOX Gaming (the name of the structure before the rebranding) which had succeeded in participating in the Worlds with her. Nevertheless, Dove had to change positions at the start of the season, going from midlane to top lane. Even if he is not really a rookie, we can consider that this season is a new start for him.
The other players were able to gain experience in the lower divisions but never had the opportunity to play at the top level until the 2022 season. Prince was spotted a long time ago, to the point that he was a replacing DAMWON in 2018, although he was not a threat to the incumbents at the time. Kael the support cut its teeth in theGen.G academic team. As for crocodilehe also played korean division 2before the year 2021 where he joined SANDBOX as jungler holder.
the current mid laner Clozer hits the headlines. He was the faker lining for almost a year at T1, and even had a few opportunities, particularly during the Spring Split 2021 where he played almost as much as him in the regular season. Nevertheless from the playoffs the star of the team was preferred to him, and we did not see him again during the Summer Split. His talent is undeniable and today some T1 fans blame Faker for having him blocked the way, and not knowing when to give up. Objectively, this judgment is harsh, Faker not particularly unworthy this season, it is above all Clozer that explodes everything. Choosing him at the time would have been more of a bet on the future only obvious.
Gameplay style
The team has a fairly classic style of play. Three of them often have the role of tanks/engage (support/top/jungle)while the two carries are here to make big damage in teamfight. The team is not not very aggressive at the start of the gamepreferring to wait for the first groups to start your snowball. For a team with so many victories their stats of first blood (54%), first tower (59%) and gold advantage at 15 mn (-417) are relatively low. This could be a problem for them in the playoffs against more aggressive teams, but given their Spring Split, the progression is obvious.
Nevertheless, the team tries to sometimes go off the beaten track. crocodile can possibly play carriesand Dove go on more aggressive toplaners. The former midlaner has also released a Azir top, which was very successful (win with 11 from KDA). If they are not yet among the favorites to go to the Worldsthey are clearly theteam to watch during this second half of the season. They will play tomorrow (Friday 7/22) at 10 a.m. against Gen.G. the current leader of the ranking.
esport-lol
For some time, Faker has been the target of many more or less virulent criticisms. The player and his T1 organization decided to take the matter to court and filed a lawsuit against toxic fans in an effort to “create a healthy esports culture”.