This article is part of our LoL Recap series.
Longzhu vs. MVP
In the first series of Week 6, Day 1 in League of Legends Champions Korea, Longzhu Gaming overcame MVP in a close 2-1 series on Tuesday in Seoul, South Korea.
In an early game focused on junglers, MVP jungler Kim "Beyond" Kyu-seok used his Rengar to take away Longzhu's blue buff in the opening moments to take an early advantage. Unfazed by this early play, Longzhu jungler Lee "Crash" Dong-woo's Graves started to get his team ahead through strong teamfighting, tallying a 3/1/1 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) by the 20-minute mark. For all the good he did, though, a missed smite from Crash on Baron allowed MVP mid laner Ahn "Ian" Joon-hyung's Syndra to steal it away. With momentum suddenly in MVP's favor, they capitalized with an eventual 32-minute win after securing a clean ace to break into Longzhu's base.
Game 2 was significantly more bloody than the first, with a whopping 44 kills overall compared to the 17 of Game 1 as Longzhu ended up mounting a sizable comeback to force a Game 3. Junglers were again a big focus, mostly since Beyond had amassed a stellar 6/1/5 KDA on Graves by the 20-minute mark after a poorly initiated fight from Longzhu led to an ace in favor of MVP. Longzhu somehow weathered this potential haymaker by picking up a 3-for-1 teamfight and a Baron kill just a couple minutes after that, securing a lasting lead that was never relinquished on the way to a decisive Game 3.
While the first two games were close, Game 3 was a one-sided trouncing that saw Longzhu dominate MVP with strong early teamfighting, securing a 6-to-1 kill lead by 20 minutes. While MVP kept things close by taking down some early towers, it was curtains for MVP once Longzhu also started taking down towers. Longzhu took control of the gold lead at 22 minutes and snowballed hard, picking up a swift 31-minute win.
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Afreeca vs. Kongdoo Monster
The Afreeca Freecs came close to dropping a game to Kongdoo Monster during a volatile 2-0 sweep Tuesday in Seoul, South Korea, during Week 6, Day 1 in League of Legends Champions Korea.
The first game of this series was one of the oddest to take place in the LCK this season as Afreeca (3-5, 8-12 match record) got out to an early game lead with some kills and very strong objective control. Despite being seemingly shut out without much of an avenue back into the game, Kongdoo (1-7, 4-15 match record) pushed through this rough patch on the back of their own strong teamfighting, which led to a Baron kill and a late-game lead.
Kongdoo looked poised to take a second Baron and lock up the victory when everyone inexplicably peeled off a Baron attempt halfway through, allowing Afreeca to easily secure the buff. Afreeca then picked up a clean ace and came away with an improbable 45-minute win.
In another back-and-forth game, Afreeca outlasted Kongdoo to pick up the series sweep. Kongdoo took the first tower and tallied a few early kills. Not wanting to drop a game to the last place team in the LCK, Afreeca AD carry Jong-Hoon "Kramer" Ha used Ashe's Enchanted Crystal Arrows with impunity, picking off members of Kongdoo at will to slowly get back into the game.
Despite getting the lead 22 minutes in on the back of these strong initiations, Afreeca lost a ton of ground when Kongdoo stole a Baron kill and almost pushed all the way to Afreeca's Nexus. Afreeca held off this furious push and outlasted the surging Kongdoo with a Baron kill of its own to wrap up this series with a 44-minute win.
Continuing the week of rematches in the LCK, Kongdoo and Afreecs will meet again later this week on Sunday at 6 a.m.
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ROX vs. Jin Air
Opening up Week 6, Day 2 of League of Legends Champions Korea, ROX Tigers decimated Jin Air Green Wings in a quick 2-0 series win Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea.
The first game of this series was a true back-and-forth affair that didn't see either team take a big lead until late into the game. JAGW took the first lead about six minutes in after support No "SnowFlower" Hoi-jong's Karma picked up two kills in the bottom lane. Once the mid game hit however, it was the story of two mid laners. By 20 minutes, JAGW mid laner Lee "Kuzan" Seong-hyuk's Corki had a 3/1/1 KDA (kills/deaths/assists), while ROX mid laner Son "Mickey" Young-min's Ahri had a 4/1/2 KDA. Shortly after, ROX picked up the first of two Barons to push out to a sizable gold lead, one it would never relinquish. It was Mickey's 9/3/6 KDA that proved to be the difference in late game teamfights as ROX wrapped up a 33-minute win.
Game 2 was all ROX Tigers from start to finish, with JAGW looking completely lost. ROX jungler Yun "SeongHwan" Seong-hwan's Rengar was a force early on, helping his teammate top laner Heo "Lindarang" Man-heung's Shen get ahead in a monstrous way. By the time 15 minutes had passed, ROX had an almost 4,000 gold lead due to multiple kills and the first tower gold. From there, Mickey put himself back in the narrative, using Syndra to cut down JAGW at every turn on the way to a 9/1/5 KDA. This all added up to a Baron at 25 minutes that put ROX up by over 10,000 gold. One final ace in the final moments of the game allowed ROX to lock up the 30-minute win to finish the 2-0 sweep.
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Samsung vs. bbq Olivers
In a battle of mid-tier teams in League of Legends Champions Korea during Week 6, Day 2, Samsung Galaxy (6-3/13-9 match record) took down bbq Olivers (4-5/10-11 match record) in a close 2-1 victory on Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea.
The first game of the series was a tug-of-war, with both teams trading gold leads in the early game. Samsung took the lead first due to strong pressure in the top lane before bbq battled back with the first tower and dragon secures. While Samsung managed to take down a couple more towers for yet another lead, it was bbq's decisive Baron play at the 22-minute mark that netted the team a 3-for-0 kill advantage and led to a massive snowball that eventually allowed it to take the game in 35 minutes. Olivers AD carry Jang "Ghost" Yong-jun's Ashe was the hero of the game, finishing with a 8/0/4 KDA (kills/deaths/assists).
Going into Game 2, Samsung once again got things started with more pressure from Haru in the top lane, but bbq weathered the early pressure to keep it even with CS leads in every position during the laning phase. Once this phase ended, though, Samsung started knocking down towers to begin a snowball. A 23-minute Baron turned that snowball into an avalanche that resulted in a base-breaking blitz and 25-minute win for Samsung.
The final game started off extremely slow, as there were no kills until eight minutes in and only two total kills heading towards the 20-minute mark. Samsung took a small lead after a 2-for-1 trade and first tower in the bottom lane. While bbq took back the lead after securing the Baron at 27 minutes, the team wasn't able to fully capitalize on the buff. Samsung proceeded to secure the second Baron at 35 minutes after winning a 3-for-0 teamfight. The team used the buff to turn its 1,600 gold deficit into an 8,000 gold surplus and eventually broke into bbq's base for the 44-minute series winning victory.
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MVP vs. Longzhu
In the final match of Week 6, Day 3 of League of Legends Champions Korea, MVP (6-4, 14-11 match record) swept Longzhu Gaming (6-4, 14-11 match record) to put up an important series win Thursday in Seoul, South Korea.
Longzhu started Game 1 with a lead, keeping it through the majority of the drawn out, 53-minute contest. Two early kills gave Longzhu a 2,000 gold lead just a few minutes into the contest, and as the game progressed, the lead only grew. However, in the late game, a series of Baron steals ended up being the deciding factor. The first came from Longzhu jungler Lee "Crash" Dong-woo's Rengar, allowing Longzhu to nearly shut MVP out of the game. Despite falling behind by close to 10,000 gold as a result of this play, MVP slowly chipped away at the lead, creeping back into the contest. It took two Baron steals from MVP jungler Kim "Beyond" Kyu-seok's Graves, but MVP managed to completely flip the situation on its heels, coming all the way back to lock up the 53-minute Game 1 win.
Despite the close nature of Game 1, the second game was a complete trouncing by MVP. Starting off with two kills before the eight-minute mark, it was clear that MVP was ready to end this one in a hurry. While it did give up the first dragon, first tower and a couple early kills, MVP still owned an almost 3,000 gold by the 15-minute thanks to its 6-1 lead in kills. The next two dragons and Baron both went over to MVP as it kept trudging towards the finish line. The Baron buff was the final piece that MVP needed to break into Longzhu's base and finish off the Nexus, securing the 31-minute win to finish up the 2-0 sweep. By the end of the game, MVP was up 19-6 in kills, 9-2 in towers, 2-1 in dragons and 1-0 in Barons.
MVP will hit the Rift again next Tuesday when it takes on bbq Olivers at 6 AM EST, while Longzhu Gaming will have to wait until Thursday to face off against Jin Air Green Wings at 6 AM EST.
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SKT vs. KT
The 2017 edition of the Telecom Wars got off to an electric start in Week 6, Day 3 of League of Legends Champions Korea, with SK Telecom T1 (8-1, 16-4 match record) emerging with a razor-thin 2-1 victory over KT Rolster (7-2, 15-5 match record) on Thursday in Seoul, South Korea.
KT struck first in Game 1, picking up early kills and towers to amass a 2,000 gold lead going into the mid-late game. SKT weathered the early haymaker attempts, responding with one of its own 33 minutes in to the tune of a 4-for-2 teamfight that resulted in a Baron kill on the back of AD carry Bae "Bang" Jun-sik's Ezreal. Using the buff, SKT flipped a 2,000 gold deficit into a 5,000 gold lead, eventually pushing for the big Game 1 win. Bang finished with a 4/0/9 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) while also picking up his 1,000th kill of his LCK career.
While Game 1 was a close contest, Game 2 was the complete opposite. KT controlled this one from the start, picking up three early kills on their opposition's star mid laner Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok's Orianna. From there, KT dominated every single lane on its way to a massive 10-to-1 kill lead and 9,000 gold lead by 20 minutes. While a big Command: Shockwave from Faker netted SKT a 5-for-1 ace, the team wasn't able to parlay the highlight into much of anything. KT stabilized to pick up the 37-minute win, forcing a decisive Game 3.
These teams certainly saved the best for last, as Game 3 was by far the closest of the series. KT again threw the first punch, earning another sizable gold lead in the early game. While SKT started piling on the kills to take a lead of its own, KT controlled the objectives, taking two of the ensuing three Barons to keep things somewhat even. By the 50-minute mark, both bases had been nearly decimated with each team playing for one last deciding teamfight. In the final hectic moments, SKT showed why it's the defending World Champion, picking up a 5-for-2 ace that finally locked up the 52-minute win to take the series 2-1.
Fans won't have to wait long to see these teams battle again, as the Telecom Wars will reignite once again this Sunday at 3 AM EST.
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Samsung vs. bbq Olivers
Samsung Galaxy (7-3, 15-9 match record) kicked off Week 6, Day 4 in League of Legends Champions Korea with an incredibly dominant 2-0 win over bbq Olivers (4-6, 10-13 match record) on Saturday in Seoul, South Korea.
Despite controlling the early and mid game, bbq allowed Samsung to slowly crawl its way back into Game 1 to steal a win. bbq Olivers had a 2,000 gold lead after 26 minutes on the back of superior teamfighting and objective control, but Samsung fired back soon afterward. While bbq denied the initial push with a 2-vs-5 ace after Samsung took the first Baron at 26 minutes, Samsung was undeterred and continued chipping away at bbq. It took two more Baron kills, but Samsung methodically dissected bbq Olivers over the final portion of the game to eventually take a 1-0 lead after the 26-minute win.
In stark contrast to Game 1, Samsung came into Game 2 firing on all cylinders. Securing first blood, first tower kill, and all-around strong map presence, Samsung amassed an almost 5,000 gold lead by 15 minutes. bbq tried to get back into it by engaging a teamfight 21 minutes in, but it couldn't convert on the initiation and only came out with a single kill. Samsung countered with more body blows that eventually leveled bbq Olivers, allowing Samsung to easily waltz into bbq's base to pick up the 27-minute win.
Samsung Galaxy will look to continue its recent surge next Wednesday at 3 a.m. against the Afreeca Freecs, while bbq Olivers hopes to try to end its recent skid with a matchup with MVP next Tuesday at 6 a.m.
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Jin Air Green Wings vs. ROX Tigers
ROX Tigers (4-6, 11-15 match record) closed out Week 6, Day 4 in League of Legends Champions Korea with a close 2-1 win over Jin Air Green Wings (1-9, 6-18 match record) on Saturday in Seoul, South Korea.
ROX had a great start to Game 1, due to early pressure from top laner Heo "Lindarang" Man-heung's Maokai. This pressure was certainly a contributing factor in the close to 6,000 gold lead that ROX racked up by the 20-minute mark. ROX then secured the first Baron 24 minutes in to balloon its gold lead over 10,000 by the time the buff expired. A second Baron at the 31-minute mark was enough for ROX to break into the JAGW base to finish up the first game in 34 minutes.
The second game of the series was just as one-sided, but this time it was Jin Air in the driver's seat. It all started with a double kill just under four minutes in, when jungler Um "Umti" Sung-hyeon punished an overextension from ROX in the top lane. This started a snowball that continued for the entirety of the game, where ROX was unable to find a way back into the game due to the throttling objective control from JAGW. By the end of the 38-minute win, JAGW was up 25-to-6 in kills, 10-to-3 in towers, 3-to-0 in inhibitors, 3-to-0 in dragons, 2-to-0 in Barons and 1-to-0 in Elder Dragons.
ROX set the tone early on in Game 3 with first blood and first tower gold just under seven minutes into the game. The Tigers used this to grow its lead to around 2,000 at the 15-minute mark. While ROX held a lead over Jin Air for the rest of the game, it struggled to put the game away since Jin Air hung in there by picking up kills periodically to throw off the ROX's rhythm. Due to the pesky nature of JAGW, it took three Barons and an Elder Dragon for ROX to finally lock up the 46-minute win and take the series 2-1.
Jin Air Green Wings will next hit the Rift on Tuesday at 3 a.m., when it takes on SK Telecom T1, while ROX Tigers sees its next action on Wednesday against Kongdoo Monster at 6 a.m.
