SK Gaming Trick will reportedly be ineligible for Worlds 2020

The SK Gaming veteran jungler Kim “Trick” Gang-yun won’t be able to participate at the 2020 World Championship in Shanghai if the team manages to qualify, according to a report from ESPN. 

Trick will not be able to participate in the upcoming World Championship due to passport issues. Riot reached out to all LEC teams for copies of their passports to begin the visa process for players and staff participating in the tournament. Riot noticed that Tricks’ passport will expire within the next six months, which is not enough time to have his visa approved. Rules state that a passport has to have six months or more remaining to be eligible for a Chinese visa. 

This means that Trick won’t be able to travel with his team to Shanghai if SK manages to secure a Worlds spot.

Trick is the first player to run into visa issues, but he might not be the last. Western players in particular are expected to have some difficulty obtaining Chinese visas this year, which is why Riot is starting the process early. 

Trick will be finishing the remainder of the 2020 LEC Summer Split with SK Gaming, who will meet Schalke 04 in its first playoffs match. The team advanced from the regular split as the fifth seed, which means that the team must now go all the way through the lower bracket. SK Gaming has to reach the top 4 if they want a spot in Shanghai, but the journey will be long. 

If SK Gaming manages to make worlds, newly signed jungle talent Marc “Canee” Behrend would have to make his debut on the international stage. Canee has previously played in the German Prime League under OP innogy.

Trick has been a part of SK Gaming since December 2019, when he replaced star jungler Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek who went to Fnatic. Trick is an LEC veteran at this point, but the team did not get off to a good start in placing ninth in the spring. In the summer split, SK Gaming has been doing much better after the addition of Dirk “ZaZee” Mallner to the mid lane and Janik “Jenax” Bartels up top.  

SK Gaming will play against Schalke 04 in their first playoffs match on Friday, August 21.