This article is part of our The Big Game series.
Can you hear that? Way in the distance. That faint noise you hear is the sound of Korea getting ready for the next iteration of the Telecom Wars between SK Telecom T1 and KT Rolster. These two teams in League of Legends Champions Korea have a storied history dating back to the early 2000s when StarCraft: Brood War ruled the esports world.
While KT may have dominated the Brood War landscape, when it comes to League of Legends and the LCK, it is largely been SKT's world. Since the LCK's official inception for the 2015 season, SKT holds a regular season head-to-head record of 9-1 and a 3-1 record in the playoffs (all three wins were sweeps). That one playoffs loss was quite the shocker, however, as KT managed to pull off a reverse sweep in the Summer 2016 playoffs. The beast does bleed, but not very often.
In their current states, however, it just seems as though SKT can't be stopped by the likes of KT's roster. Sure, SKT took a loss to Samsung Galaxy in their first game of the Summer Split, but it was just coming back from the Mid-Season Invitational and the meta was completely different than what was being played in Brazil. Not to mention that Samsung was the runner-up at last year's World Championship, and currently sits at the top of the LCK standing.
KT, on the other hand, lost to Longzhu Gaming in their first game, as well. While Longzhu is certainly a new and improved team this Split with the likes of Kim "Khan" Dong-ha in the top lane and Moon "Cuzz" Woo-chan in the bottom lane, they're a step down from KT, SKT, and Samsung. KT also doesn't have the excuse of being at MSI, either. So what I'm saying is that KT's loss was worse than SKT's. (You guys can't see the SKT hat I'm wearing right now, right? Okay, good.)
Previous records and head-to-head records aside, this is still a matchup between two juggernauts. Two of the most storied teams in Korean esports history. Regardless of the outcome, they will surely put on quite a show for the fans.
But let's be real, SKT is definitely taking this series 2-1. You can take that to the bank. The game will kick off at 7 a.m. ET this Tuesday, and you won't want to miss it.
