After SK Telecom T1 suffered its unprecedented fourth loss in a row, support player Lee “Wolf” Jae-wan tweeted an apology for SKT’s recent performance.
SKT has endured unexpected losses before, but the current stretch of form could be the worst in the history of the team. Longzhu Gaming defeated the reigning world champions 2-0 on Thursday, SKT’s fourth loss in a row — all of them 2-0. Wolf said his lack of practice is apparently catching up with him.
“I think there are many factors (for the bad performances), but I have definitely practiced less than the other players, and I think that is just starting to surface,” he wrote. “I’m embarrassed, humiliated, frustrated, and angry. I’m very angry and frustrated at myself.”
Wolf continued by saying he agrees with the sentiment that his personal performance has faltered since the Rift Rivals tournament, and that he thought he was “lacking in practice” compared to some of his teammates and players on other teams.
“I intend to go back to how I was in 2015, 14, and 13 and work hard again,” he continued. “These are words that are so embarrassing and sorry to say.”
Wolf thanked those fans who have been supported the team, wrote that he hopes the fans continue to do so despite SKT’s recent performance, and said that the “whole team will be going back to the days” of when they were practicing as hard as they can.
The League of Legends community has criticized SKT for a the lack of practice, saying that the players have been distracted with games, particularly PLAYERS UNKNOWN BATTLEGROUNDS. SKT is currently in fourth place in the LCK with a record of 9-5 and will play Ever8 Winners on Wednesday.
The fact that Wolf felt the need to apologize on Twitter for a losing streak speaks to the extremely high standard to which SKT is held. Every team goes through down swings, but this is unlike anything has seen from SKT. The only three time world champion in League of Legends history has always had an aura of invincibility. It’s still entirely possible SKT rebounds to win another world title, but any cracks in SKT’s armor have never been more revealing — to the point even one of the players acknowledged the struggles in public.
Cover photo courtesy of Riot Games