The level of play in the region has seen a very tangible experience, with the region finally being regarded as a consistent threat, but it was not always so. Representing South Korea at the Season 8 APAC LAN Finals in Tokyo, Japan, will be Mantis FPS (formerly Element Mystic) and New Life.
Back in Season 6, the perennially strong team of Mantis FPS was one of the eight to take part and, together with a very different New Life, made it to the inaugural APAC LAN. Mantis would then go on to make an appearance at the Global Pro League Finals, but would suffer a 10-2 loss to PENTA Sports (now G2 Esports).
The subregion’s debut strength would soon be eclipsed by the other three regions, with Team CryptiK (now Aerowolf) from Southeast Asia and Mindfreak (now Fnatic) from Australia-New Zealand knocking Mantis FPS out at the 2018 Six Invitational APAC LAN. In the Season 7 APAC Finals, the Koreans from Team Latency would be trounced by Team CryptiK, while the ANZ team ViewSonic.DarkSided would knock down Element Mystic.
Questions would be raised about the Koreans’ strength, but Element Mystic would silence everyone up when July and August rolled around. Going to the Six Major Paris Qualifiers LAN, they would twice defeat Aerowolf in the double-elimination bracket and book a slot at the Major itself. There, they would take down the then-first placed Latin American team of Immortals on the backs of their excellent roam game that Aerowolf had suffered hugely against.
This season, things are looking up for Korea. Mantis FPS went through the season without dropping a single point, a feat not even the titanic G2 Esports achieved, while New Life only lost one map outside of their 0-2 loss to Mantis FPS. New Life would avenge that loss when they would defeat Mantis in the playoffs to establish themselves as the first seed from Korea at the Tokyo LAN.
The APAC LAN event will be far from easy, but there is no doubt that both teams can stake a strong claim to the tickets on offer to the Global Finals in Rio de Janeiro. New Life will begin their attempt with a match against the fearsome NORA-Rengo, and if successful, will face the almost equally strong Athletico Esports or Aerowolf. Mantis FPS, on the other side of the bracket, will go up against Xavier Esports, but if successful will then come up against the incredibly strong Fnatic, or Sengoku Gaming Extasy.
To say that a non-qualification for the region to the global Finals is a failure would be harsh when considering the opposition they are set to face, but it will no doubt be a disappointment nonetheless. The question thus just remains -- are the Koreans up for it?
