Following SK Gaming’s 0-2 defeat to G2 Esports in the LEC Summer 2025, LOLNOW sat down with German AD Carry Tim “Keduii” Willers to reflect on the season. In a candid interview, Keduii offered insights into the LEC’s evolving structure, the internal state of SK Gaming, and the challenges of competing against Europe’s best. At the time, SK was still contending for a playoff spot, but after BDS fell to Team Heretics, their postseason hopes were dashed. What remained was a brutally short split and a series of hard lessons.
The LEC Format: Promising Changes and Harsh Realities
The revamped LEC format remained front of mind for Keduii throughout the interview. While the shift to longer series brought potential benefits for players and fans alike, the new structure has not been without criticism, particularly during this summer split.
Each of the three 2025 splits introduced format revisions, yet the biggest discussion has centered on the reduced number of games. For players on teams like SK Gaming, the difference is significant – with just nine games played in the summer, every match carries enormous consequences.
“Back then [in the LFL], I did not worry about last place, because I was usually first in ERL. Now I know how it feels when your season can be over very fast if you finish last.”
Keduii acknowledged that while this structure may deliver more dramatic, high-stakes playoffs for top-tier teams, it leaves little room for error or growth among bottom-ranked squads:
“You probably get very hype playoffs, and you see less of last-place teams, which is good for viewership. I just hope you do not see less of SK Gaming because of it.”
One widely welcomed change this split was the move away from single best-of-one matches in favor of best-of-threes. Keduii supported this adjustment, noting it gives lower-ranked teams more meaningful opportunities to compete.
“I like best of threes, because if you are a bottom tier team in best of ones, you might never reach playoffs, so you would never play best of fives or best of threes. That would be boring.”
However, for teams that do not qualify for playoffs, the shortened split can feel abrupt. As the final split usually leads into the World Championship for some, others are left with limited games, minimal exposure, and little time to develop throughout the season.
Inside SK Gaming: A Shifting Team Dynamic
Despite the early elimination, Keduii described an improved team environment compared to previous splits. During spring, internal issues impacted performance and morale, eventually resulting in three roster changes. Summer, while still challenging, felt more cohesive from a player experience standpoint.
“Last split, before we changed three players, it felt depressing, people were very negative.”
Now having completed his second LEC split, Keduii feels more confident in his ability to compete at the highest level. However, internal growing pains, limited stage time, and team struggles remain a barrier to steady progress.
“Last split was my first time in the LEC, and I had to learn a lot. Now I feel comfortable with myself, but there is a lot going wrong in the team.”
In total, SK Gaming played just four best-of-threes in the summer split – a meager nine games. Keduii contrasted this with his previous experience in the LFL, where the format featured 18 regular-season matches:
“I usually like a long regular season, because you need time to work as a team and to practice.”
Confronting G2: Exposing the Gaps
G2 Esports has been a benchmark of competitive excellence in the LEC for years. Going up against them revealed the distance SK Gaming still needs to travel. Keduii and his teammates showed early promise in Game 1, but a single misstep snowballed into a swift defeat under G2’s unforgiving playstyle.
“They [G2] are a really good team, so any small thing you give them, they punish very hard. We are not such a good team right now, so our mistakes get punished more, because we do not adapt well to our own mistakes.”
Game 2 showed brief flashes of coordination from SK, but overall, the team struggled to generate any sustained control or pressure.
“In game two we did some things well, but a lot of the time we were not doing anything. It felt really hard to win. There was a very low chance we would win either game.”
With their postseason destiny uncertain after the loss, all eyes turned to the Heretics vs. BDS series. A victory by BDS would have kept SK alive – but Heretics’ 2-1 triumph meant SK’s season came to an end.
“If we get into playoffs, we will play a best of five against a team from the other group, and if we play like we are playing now, we will lose for sure.”
Assessing the Format: Why SK Struggled to Find Their Footing
The 2025 Summer Split featured a two-group system: five teams per group, round-robin best-of-threes, with only the top four from each group advancing to playoffs. Teams that finished last had their season cut short in under two weeks. For SK, it marked the third elimination at this stage in 2025 – a troubling trend that raises questions about the effectiveness of the format for developing teams.
By contrast, dominant squads like G2 have adapted seamlessly to the structure, using every match to sharpen their performance and exploit opponents’ missteps with surgical precision. For fans and players on the outside looking in, the barrier to closing that gap is growing.
You can explore full match highlights and LEC Summer 2025 replays on EpicSkillshot’s YouTube channel and the LEC’s official YouTube.
Track SK Gaming’s full performance this year on their 2025 statistics page via GOL.gg.
Header photo credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games
