Tonight, or tomorrow depending on your timezone, the entire competitive gaming world will have its eyes on the so-called Mecca of esports, South Korea: three large events will take over the country over the course of a few hours.
After the craziest offseason in professional League of Legends history, the premier league in the world, League Champions Korea, will return with a double-header featuring the debut of a dream team. Elsewhere, the second season of OGN's Overwatch league, APEX, will kick off its competition with defending champion and consensus best team in the world, Team EnVyUs. Finally, in a rivalry that has almost spanned a decade, two of the biggest stars in South Korean esports history will face off for first time in a major match in over five years for the right to make the StarCraft: Brood War Afreeca Starleague Season 2 Finals.
League Champions Korea 2017 Begins! Debut of Super KT Rolster!
Time: 12 PM PST/3 AM EST
Matches: KT Rolster vs. ROX Tigers, Longzhu Gaming vs. Samsung Galaxy
Broadcaster: SPO TV
After months of rumors and crazy deals, we finally see the start of the most hyped season of LCK since it switched to a league-format in 2015. The headliner for the night will be KT Rolster, rolling out its behemoth of a team consisting of some of the biggest stars in the world. The team not only boasts the back-to-back reigning MVP of the league Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho, but the return of of one of the best offensive talents in the world with Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu. If those two weren't enough, the Super KT Rolster starting five will also reintroduce former Worlds MVP Cho "Mata" Se-hyeong to his home audience. KT's opponents, ROX, are a different story entirely; its entire starting five of last year, including Smeb, went to different teams in the LCK, and it rebuilt from spare pieces around the league, fielding a team that could be in danger of relegation after the organization has been in three of the last four LCK finals.
In other action, Longzhu Gaming will show off its new roster, including two of those ROX Tigers that moved teams: Kim "PraY" Jong-in and newly appointed captain Kang "GorillA" Beom-hyeon. Longzhu was a mess last season, failing to deliver on any of its preseason promises, and it'll hope it can get off to a quick start in 2017 to change opinions on the ineffective organization. In its way will be Samsung Galaxy, the runners-up of last year's World Championship, returning with the same starting five that almost dethroned SKT T1 to win the Summoner's Cup in an improbable reverse-sweep comeback.
Second Season of OGN APEX Kicks Off! Team EnVyUs vs. The World!
Time: 2 AM PST/5 AM EST
Matches: Team EnVyUs vs. MVP Infinity, LW Blue vs. Misfits
Broadcaster: OGN
There is Team EnVyus, and then there is the rest of the world. The defending APEX champion will return to South Korea to defend its crown in the second season of the wildly successful Overwatch league. Last season ended with NV having its way with South Korean club Afreeca Freecs Blue in the final, and it'll be up to the rest of the Korean sides, plus the three other foreign competitors throwing their hats into the ring, to upend them from repeating as champions. NV won't have the most difficult opponents to start out with, going up against MVP Infinity, a newly promoted team from the Challenger circuit.
While Afreeca Freecs Red, another former minor league team, could have possibly caused problems for NV, MVP Infinity might be the weakest of the teams coming up from the Challenger competition, staggering in over Rhinos Gaming Titan to receive its spot. In a group with generally inexperienced teams, don't expect NV to have too much trouble making its way to the bracket stages; that's where the real tournament should begin for the champion.
The second match, Misfits vs. LW Blue, should be more competitive. Misfits, a majority-French squad, could have its hands filled with its South Korean opposition. LW Blue, which should be called LW Purple for its mixing of its Red and Blue teams, is an upgraded side from last split. The team will be using the same roster it used under the LW Red brand to win the IEM Gyeonggi in dominant fashion, bringing over one of the best DPS players in the world, Hwang "Fl0w3R" Yeon-oh, from the Red team to join the solid core from the Blue team to create a possible titan in the making. If Team EnVyUs are to be stopped this season, Misfits and "LW Purple" will need to be part of the resistance.
The Ultimate Weapon vs. The Tyrant: Flash vs. Jaedong! Afreeca Starleague Semifinals!
Time: 2 AM PST/5 AM EST
Match: Flash vs. Jaedong (Best-of-five)
Broadcaster: Afreeca
While the other two events might feature the two biggest competitive titles currently in South Korea with star-studded clubs headlining, this will be the hottest esports ticket in town on Tuesday. Without Lee "Flash" Young-ho and Lee "Jaedong" Jae-dong, we might not even be talking about LCK or OGN Apex today. The two greats have gone through an odyssey together since leaving the world of Brood War for StarCraft II and eventually returning to the game they love. Ever since Flash and Jaedong returned to the thriving amateur Brood War scene in South Korea, the numbers of viewers and attraction towards events have skyrocketed, bringing a feeling of almost an almost renaissance on the horizon if things continue the way they are.
Although it's not a final, the battleground the two are accustomed to meeting each other, the semifinal between the two will see which one gets the honor of being the first one to say they're truly back in the world of Brood War. For Flash, he enters as the heavy favorite, having been back in the scene longer than the just returning Jaedong, and having a better overall record online over the past few months. Jaedong, though, has said he has been giving it everything he has to return to the form that gave him the nickname "The Tyrant" and created the historic rivalry between the Terran and Zerg.
Flash, overall, has a 25 to 24 map score advantage over Jaedong. If Jaedong can pull off the upset, he won't only be heading to the Afreeca Starleague Finals against Yum "Sea" Bo-sung, but also have ultimate bragging rights over "The Ultimate Weapon." Well, at least until they might again. And by how many people are packing into the Afreeca studios these days to see the rebirth of Brood War and its former stars, there will be an again.