It's time for the ESPN esports end-of-year acknowledgments. In 2016, esports pushed the envelope far beyond expectation as millions of fans entered the space for the first time, investment grew like never before and the bar for skill raised to new levels across all games.
But, at the end of the day, winning -- championships, rivalries and climactic matches -- are what separate the good, even great teams, from the best teams of the year. Today, we look over the clubs that made it rain gold in 2016, and the one team that stood above all the rest to win ESPN's Esports Team of the Year.
Nominees
ROX Tigers
The ROX Tigers of 2016 will go down as one of the best teams to play League of Legends and, if it were in a world where SKT T1 didn't exist, could have been the best of all time. A team full of personality, the Tigers were a club that balanced style and skill, winning games in quick succession with its eye-pleasing quick-tempo way of playing.
Over the course of the year, the Tigers took home two championships, first with the summer season of League Champions Korea and then the offseason competition KeSPA Cup, which came in between the 2016 World Championships and free agency. The KeSPA Cup would be the final time the Tigers would stand together, as the team splintered in a frenzy of an offseason; when the signings were complete, the five starters of the team had joined four different teams in the LCK, and only the bottom lane stayed together. - Tyler Erzberger
SK Gaming
SK Gaming, previously under the Luminosity Gaming banner, were the kings of Counter-Strike in 2016. While they ended the year in a tight bind and some controversial roster changes, the team won both of the major tournaments -- MLG Columbus and ESL Cologne -- in April and July, respectively. SK Gaming also won other tournaments and clearly cemented itself as one of the best lineups in CS:GO's history and certainly the best team in the world in 2016.
Under the leadership of 25-year-old veteran Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo and the firepower of Marcelo "coldzera" David, each of whom deserve solo awards on their own, the five Brazilian players performed consistently above all of their peers. For that, they deserve a nomination for team of the year. - Jacob Wolf
SK Telecom T1
SK Telecom T1's logo might be red, yellow and white, but I'm pretty sure the color gold is what represents the organization nowadays. Of the three major international tournaments it appeared in -- "The Triple Crown" of IEM Katowice, Mid-Season Invitational, and the World Championship -- SKT T1 won all three, and its record in the finals of those tournaments was a remarkable 9-2, only dropping a pair of games to Samsung Galaxy in the World Finals at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Domestically, the team was almost as dominant, winning the spring season to extend its South Korean reign to a three-peat; the only blemish on SKT T1's record for the year came in the summer, where the team failed in the semifinals versus KT Rolster in a reverse-sweep to end the bid for four straight titles in the world's most competitive region.
And, lest we forget, SK Telecom T1's roster includes the "Unkillable Demon King:" Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok. - Tyler Erzberger
Team Liquid
Unlike our other nominations, Team Liquid enters this list not because of their success in one game, but their success in multiple games. The team had tons of success in fighting games, with its Super Smash Bros. Melee player Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma winning Evo and its Street Fighter V player Du "NuckleDu" Dang winning Capcom Cup. In addition, the team saw good results in certain Counter-Strike events in comparison to its North American peers, namely MLG Columbus and ESL One Cologne.
Liquid's success was met by one of esports largest investments to date as well, with investment group aXiomatic, comprised of Hollywood producer and Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber, Washington Wizards and Capitals co-owner Ted Leonsis and NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson buying the majority share of the company while keeping its existing management. Team Liquid, on all fronts, had a successful 2016. - Jacob Wolf
Wings Gaming
Winning the the biggest in prize purse ever in an esports tournament would earn almost any team a spot on this list, but China's Wings Gaming's dominance in Dota 2 around the summer of 2016 makes them especially qualified.
The team was consistently among the top of China for a majority of the year, an incredibly stacked and difficult region in Dota 2, and took home a total of nearly $9.14 million as a result at The International 6 alone. In addition to their TI win, which is not to be taken lightly, the team won The Summit 5 in July and took numerous top-8 finishes at other tournaments. - Jacob Wolf
And the winner is: SK Telecom T1
Excerpted from 2016 ESPN Esports Awards: Why SKT T1 is team of the year:
SKT T1 was not perfect in 2016. Yet, the small slipups for SKT T1 throughout the year, for how rare they were, solidify the greatness of the club as a whole. After failing to find traction in the first week of the Mid-Season Invitational, SKT T1 returned better than ever in the best-of-five stage of the tournament, losing the first game of the semifinals against the host nation's Royal Never Give Up before blowing out the Chinese spring champion in straight sets.
The final game, a perfect game (the act of giving up no kills or objectives to the opposing team), was the lasting message of superiority between not only SKT T1 and Royal Never Give Up, but also South Korea as a region and the rest of the world. In the final, a far-less-heated affair, SKT T1 took care of North America's scrappy Counter Logic Gaming in a 3-0 sweep, making it the second straight international event where SKT T1 took little time smashing the hopes and dreams of the western world.