Griffin has been eliminated from the LCK after losing 2-0 to Sandbox Gaming today in the lower bracket of the league’s summer promotion series.
The Korean League of Legends team underwent a major roster reshuffle in the 2019 offseason, replacing two of its players along with its coaching staff. Top laner Sword, jungler Tarvan, and ADC Viper stood as the three remaining players on the lineup, while Doran, Chovy, and Lehends moved elsewhere.
Tarzan breaks down into tears as Griffin is relegated back to the CK
This is the talented man that was, less than 12 months ago, touted as the best jungler in the world pic.twitter.com/PmrgoCGHXI
— Ashley Kang (@AshleyKang) April 29, 2020
Griffin finished dead last in this year’s LCK Spring Split with a 5-13 record. In the summer promotion tournament, they lost back-to-back best-of-three series to Korea Challenger team Seorabeol Gaming and LCK ninth-place team Sandbox.
In previous years, Griffin had consistently placed first and second in the league and were often considered one of the best teams in the world. But following the controversy at the end of last year involving coach Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho, and his eventual departure from the organization, the team plummeted in the standing. The controversy involved the former head coach reportedly verbally abusing some players and a situation with a contract proposal for former Griffin player Kanavi.
Another contributing factor to the team’s failure was mid laner Chovy’s move to Gen.G. Griffin were best known for their dominant jungle and mid synergy, with Tarzan and Chovy often carrying the team. But Son “Ucal” Woo-hyeon, Chovy’s replacement, didn’t live up to expectations.
Chovy and former substitute players Doran and Kanavi, meanwhile, have seen success with their new teams. Chovy placed second in this year’s LCK playoffs and Doran came in third. Kanavi, though, reached MVP status in the LPL and is now set to play Top Esports in the grand finals of the Chinese league.
In the end, today’s matchup between Griffin and Sandbox came down to mechanics. Griffin had a solid pick and draft phase, but they simply failed to execute.
With this win, Sandbox secured a second chance to remain in League Champions Korea.
While Griffin had a wonderful run last year, this year they collapsed after all the drama surrounding them. They will most likely never be seen again LCK since with Summer Split Korea will franchise their region and will only accept teams who have a solid infrastructure and have money for a spot. Considering Griffin’s past it’s unlikely they’ll get accepted since their reputation has been tarnished in the entire world.
Sandbox while having good individual players do not have good teamplay, they’ll need to regroup to be able to withstand the upcoming competition in LCK Summer Split if they remain.
