The Sixth Man is a basketball term for a player who is not a starter, but is the first to be substituted in; this player often shows the same or higher level of performance compared to the starters during the game. Two common situations where the Sixth Man is substituted in are: 1) when one of the starters is exhausted or injured, and 2) when the game is not going very well and the team needs to change the flow of the game. The Sixth Man must be someone who is capable of these feats. The Sixth Man must be not only as skilled as the starters, but must also be a playmaker.

The Sixth man became a role in eSports when Head Coach Kang transferred to CJ Entus with the former members of Azubu Frost and Azubu Blaze in 2013. While transferring to a different team, Coach Kang also signed on the former members of CJ Entus to its roster, creating the first Sixth Man strategy with League of Legends. The strategy was meant to have two players in one team who play the same role but in a different style; the team could then switch between the two depending on the situation. Another goal of this strategy was to encourage improvement through competition between the two players.

Unfortunately, the strategy did not work out as expected, not even for CJ Entus. The pros had a hard time adapting to the new strategy, and the tournament rules did not allow player substitutions in the middle of a game. The strategy only left a negative impression towards the idea of the Sixth Man.

It was later in 2015 when the Sixth Man once again became the strategy for winning. As only one team per organization was allowed to participate starting that year, teams had to have more than 5 members in their rosters. In addition to that, the rule that restricted substitutions was now gone. A lot of teams entered the Season with the Sixth Man in their rosters.

Yet once again, there was little success to be found with the Sixth Man strategy. None of the teams benefitted from it, even the top teams such as Tigers, KT, and CJ. Why didn’t the strategy work out as it was supposed to work?

The answer is simple. It was almost impossible to find someone who had a suitable level of game performance, a different gameplay style, and could also work well with the other members of the team. Most teams practice with the starting members and participate in matches with those same members. The Sixth Man never actually had a chance to work with the team. Only SKT T1 was actually successful with the strategy, allowing them to achieve victory in the League of Legends World Championship. Even after the season, SKT T1 has used the Sixth Man to escape from losing or to add a boost to their momentum. The Sixth Man strategy has worked as a strong weapon for SKT T1.

◈ Faker and Easyhoon, the two Mid Laners

Faker and Easyhoon were both the best Mid Laners of 2015, with completely polar styles of gameplay. While they are both adept at almost all Mid champions, they differ in how they play them and who they prefer to play. SKT T1’s biggest strength was that the team was able to switch between the two and maximize their skills at the same time. Faker skills made him one of the best players in 2015 as well. He created many impressive plays with his fierce but flawless techniques. When Faker is one of the starters, SKT T1 focuses on attacks. Faker plays as a single Mid laner while MaRin scales in the Top lane in order to carry the game. This is a typical Mid-Top carry strategy.

While Faker and the rest of the team mostly focused on fierce attacks, Easyhoon was there to give the team some stability when the gameplay was getting too aggressive and SKT T1’s weakness was at risk of being exposed. Easyhoon is especially good at playing champions who get stronger towards the end of the game, such as Azir, Ziggs, and Karthus. It is almost impossible to stop him when he plays those champions. When Easyhoon joins the game, the team changes its strategy to Mid-ADC carry, which is a strategy that is situated more towards late game.

SKT T1 was the first team to reach victory in the League of Legends World Championship with the Sixth Man strategy. Faker was definitely the key player of the team throughout the whole tournament, but Easyhoon also largely contributed to the team’s victory by showing stable gameplay with a KDA ratio of 11.25.

Although he did not get as much attention as Faker did, fans certainly remember the name of the Sixth Man, Easyhoon. Without him, SKT T1 would not have gotten the title of “World’s best League of Legends team."

◈ The Story of Bengi and Blank

The glory of SKT T1 did not last forever however. When MaRin and Easyhoon transferred to China, SKT T1 lost its Top laner and Mid laner. More than that, the change in meta was not in the team’s favor. Bengi seemed like he was having a hard time adjusting to the new meta, while Faker was having a hard time focusing on the game, since he no longer had the same support during his games. As overpowered AD Carry champions were nerfed, Bengi could not carry the game like he used to do.

To escape from this situation, SKT T1 decided to use the rookie Jungler Blank as the new Sixth Man. However, Blank did not have satisfactory gameplay in the beginning, as he felt huge pressure being on the world’s best team and being given the task of saving the team from a losing streak. Blank made many mistakes, even during the winning games. Fans were angry with Blank’s unsatisfying performance, and it seemed like Bengi adjusting to the new meta was the only hope for SKT T1.

Nevertheless, the team trusted in Blank. Blank was a starter in the Intel Extreme Masters Season 10 World Championship, and showed dramatic improvement in game performance after winning the second round. With Blank on a sharp upturn, SKT T1 was able to defeat ROX Tigers and once again took the champion’s title.

The Sixth Man strategy once again worked for SKT T1 in the League of Legends World Championship. SKT T1 met with more performance troubles, and the two Junglers were in their worst condition. Fans were worried that they were going to see their favorite team lose. However, SKT T1 pulled through again.

During the quarterfinals with RNG, SKT T1 lost the first set when Bengi played. Blank was in for the next set, and did a great job as the Sixth Man. With Blank’s Zac, SKT T1 defeated RNG 3:1 and made it to the semifinals. The team played against its rival, ROX Tigers, and managed to win again with Bengi being the key player. With some amazing gameplay as Nidalee, Bengi delivered a most impressive Jungler carry, proving that he was back in top condition. SKT T1 achieved the third final victory in the League of Legends World Championship.

SKT T1 certainly had a dramatic year in 2016, and if it wasn’t for Bengi and Blank, the year would have ended in a tragedy. When one was not doing well, another was there for him, and sometimes they were both there for the team. They were both the Sixth Man, for the team and for each other.

◈ Is SKT T1 an expert at this? The story of Peanut and Blank 

Peanut and Huni joined the team after Bengi and Duke had left. Fans were excited to see Peanut in SKT T1, as the Jungle was the biggest weakness of the team; Peanut might just be the solution. Fans of other teams however, complained that SKT was already the best team and didn’t need Peanut due to their strength.

When the Season began, SKT T1 once again proved itself to be the best. SKT T1 was stronger in the Top lane, rather than in the Jungle. Fans had worried that Huni’s preference for aggressive plays would be detrimental, but it turns out he could actually carry the team. However, unlike Huni, Peanut’s game performance did not meet expectations. He made quite a few mistakes, some of which led to the team’s defeat.

There were moments where he carried the team, but when Peanut went up against his former teammates in the match against Longzhu Gaming, he couldn’t deliver adequate performance, allowing the opponent to win the first set. SKT T1 was an inch away from their second defeat, and it was time for them to use the Sixth Man.

SKT T1 substituted in Blank with positive results. Blank played as Kah’Zix and, despite his main focus on defense, performed impressive ganks that contributed greatly to the team’s victory. With Blank’s stable defense, the Laners were able to focus on offense. SKT T1 did not lose a single set after that and won the match 2-1.

SKT T1 has proved that they always have a Sixth Man that can play in any match. This will surely function as SKT T1’s advantage against their rival teams, Samsung and kt. Given some time, Peanut and Blank will likely become stronger together, just like Bengi and Blank did last year. With the Sixth Man in their hand, SKT T1 will surely secure their place as the best team in the world, as they always have.