Faker hasn’t sweat like this in a while
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The Misfits squad was considered to have the worst luck in the playoffs stage as they got seeded into a bo5 series against SK Telecom T1 in the Worlds 2017 quarterfinals. Many were expecting SKT to make quick work of EU’s 2nd seed as they continued their journey towards a 4th Summoner’s Cup.
Imagine EU’s back-up team versus the three-time world champions and undisputed strongest team in the world.
It turns out that the Misfits aren’t your ordinary band of mavericks. These plucky heroes looked into the face of the Demon King and almost took out the world’s best team.
Tipping Point
It’s the third game in the series and SKT is down 5 kills at 35 minutes primarily due to MSF Support IgNar‘s accurate picks on Leona. In addition to the kill deficit, SKT faced a 5k gold deficit, and triple dragon buffed Misfits. Things were not looking good for the defending champions as they looked to swiftly secure the baron.
SKT’s mid laner Faker on Taliyah made use of his stone weaver ultimate to block Misfits’ path into the baron pit. The Korean squad managed to get Baron Nashor down to 5k HP before the Misfits decided to make their move.
MSF top laner Alphari on the Jarvan IV pick used his ‘flag and drag’ combo to get past the stone wall then immediately used his Cataclysm ultimate to disrupt SKT’s baron take. This move gave the rest of the Misfits squad enough time to walk through the now-dispelled wall.
SKT scatter out of the pit as they flee from the surging Jarvan and the rest of Misfits. Only SKT carry Bang and jungler Blank remain in the baron pit as they looked to secure the objective. The key player in the clash was MSF jungler Maxlore on the Ivern pick who chose to make the patient play.
Maxlore didn’t dive into the pit like the rest of his teammates because he knew that half of SKT were already on the run. Instead, Maxlore kept a close eye on the baron’s HP bar. He burned his flash at just the right moment to steal baron from SKT and close the curtains on the defending world champions.
Blank and Bang were left in the pit with no objective and an bloodthirsty team rushing in. Bang escaped with a quick Vayne tumble out of the back side, but Blank had nowhere else to go.
The back end of the team fight saw SKT top laner Huni arriving late to the fight from their base. Huni managed to take out Misfits carry Hans Sama before succumbing to the chain crowd control from the rest of the EU squad.
The team fight extended into a chase on Faker in the top lane where he was corralled by three Misfits. When all was said and done, MSF came out on top with a 3 for 2 exchange, a stolen baron, and a demoralized SKT.
The Misfits closed out the third game to take SKT to match point. MSF has the distinction of being the only western team to bring SKT to the brink of elimination at Worlds (or even, ever). The only other teams that nearly defeated SKT were Samsung Galaxy and the 2016 ROX Tigers, both from the Korean league.
MSF may have ultimately lost the series in a 2-3 defeat, but they have captured the hearts of millions of fans. Besides forcing a fifth game against SKT, a historic feat in itself, the Misfits broke away from the ardent censer meta and forced the return of the play making Supports.
SK Telecom T1 move on to the Semifinals, battered and bruised. Misfits, on the other hand, return to their home region with their heads held high.
