This article is part of our League of Legends series.
KT Rolster silenced the naysayers when it crushed Griffin's dreams of completing the Royal Road by winning one of the tensest finals that League of Legends Champions Korea has hosted. After five grueling games that involved all manner of plays -- both heroic and foolish --- KT Rolster finally earned the right that to claim the championship trophy.
While KT Rolster had overwhelming support in the pre-series fan vote, Game 1 put a quick stop to any hopes of an easy victory.
AD carry Park "Viper" Do-hyeon, support Son "Lehends" Si-woo and top laner Choi "Sword" Sung-won all started off the series with the games of their lives, each of them outstripping their opponents. Whether it was Sword's dominant Cho'Gath that countered Aatrox or Viper's Kai'Sa that allowed the team to easily control the early game, the trio set an early tone that put KT on its back foot in a hurry.
KT Rolster didn't take the shellacking lying down and returned fire in Game 2. Gone were the plethora of jungle bans that had come out in the first game, which freed up Go "Score" Dong-bin to pick Taliyah, a pick that let him exploit the gap between him and Lee "Tarzan" Seung-yong. The results were not pretty for Griffin, who was left without much in the way of damage threats as KT easily ran over the rookie squad to tie the series.
While Griffin managed to turn things around in Game 3 with a solid performance that adhered to the meta with a cohesive team composition, everything fell apart for the team in the fateful Game 4. Despite Sword using his Malphite counterpick to tear apart Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho's Jace in the top lane early, Griffin simply crumbled under the pressure in the late game. With its inexperience on full display, it threw teamfight after teamfight, which allowed KT to storm back and force a decisive Game 5. From then on, the veteran presence of KT was the deciding factor as Griffin looked shaken to its core throughout all of the final game and KT waltzed to its first-ever LCK title with a victory that was true to form for the scrappy team.
While KT Rolster's ticket to Worlds was punched long ago, this only solidifies the team's position as one of the strongest teams heading into the event. Afreeca Freecs will be joining KT as the first two teams locked in to represent Korea at Worlds this Fall.
For Griffin, the loss took away its only hope at a guaranteed spot at Worlds. The team will now be forced to prepare for the Gauntlet, where it will battle it out with Kingzone DragonX, Gen.G and SK Telecom T1 for the final Worlds seed.
