This article is part of our LoL Recap series.
KT Rolster made quick work of Jin Air Green Wings in a relatively easy 2-0 victory on Tuesday in Seoul, South Korea to open up Week 3 of League of Legends Champions Korea.
Jin Air (3-2, 7-5 match record) had a clear strategy in place for Game 1 with its late-game focused team composition, but it was given no chance at all of getting to that stage of the contest. Things started off well enough for the Green Wings, picking up first blood for an early lead. KT (4-1, 8-4 match record) pushed right back with two kills in the bottom lane that led to the first turret and never looked back. KT's teamfighting was impeccable, leaving Jin Air without any way to get back into the game. KT jungler Go "Score" Dong-bin's Graves in particular was strong early on, going 3/0/2 in the first 10 minutes to get the KT snowball rolling. On top of that, top laner Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho's Renekton was a monster in every late-game teamfight on his way to a 7/2/5 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) that helped his team pick up the 29-minute win.
Jin Air tried to get an edge in the second game with the Xayah/Rakan combo for its bottom lane duo of Park "Teddy" Jin-sung and No "SnowFlower" Hoei-jong, and while the duo is normally very strong when paired together, it didn't work out in this matchup. The two only picked up one kill and two assists between them as KT once again dominated the game. Jin Air got another first blood that amounted to nothing as KT simply decided to focus on objectives rather than skirmishing for this game. Even before KT picked up the Baron in the late game, it had already razed eight towers to the two of Jin Air to amass a 7,000-gold lead. Once the Baron was secured, KT took one last fight 4-for-0 to put the finishing touches on the quick 2-0 victory with the 36-minute win.
KT will look to hand Samsung Galaxy its first loss when the two face-off on Thursday at 7 a.m. ET, while Jin Air hopes to get back on track with a contest against bbq Olivers this Friday at 7 a.m. ET.
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In a series that ended after less than an hour of in-game action, Longzhu Gaming easily took down ROX Tigers on Tuesday to close out the first day of Week 3 in League of Legends Champions Korea in Seoul, South Korea.
ROX (1-4, 4-8 match record) opened the series with the tried and true team composition centered around AD carry Kwon "Sangyoon" Sang-yoon's Kog'Maw, but it failed miserably. While Sangyoon did secure first blood thanks to the help of a gank in the bottom lane, it all went downhill from there thanks to Kwak "Bdd" Bo-seong's Galio. The Longzhu mid laner showed why the champion has quickly become one of the strongest on the current patch by being a dominant force in just about every engagement. Lonzghu (3-2, 8-5 match record) made it a point to pick on Sangyoon to prevent him from unlocking his potential while also letting Bdd run rampant across the map. There was simply no way at all for ROX to get back in the game, and they were taken down in just under 31 minutes.
Game 2 saw the teams draft more standard compositions, with no power picks to speak of on either side. Even without any power picks, Longzhu was able to come up with away with a very strong performance. Coming out the gate with two early kills onto Longzhu top laner Kim "Khan" Dong-ha, ROX looked to be poised to get back into the series. Longzhu simply wasn't going to let that happen and bounced right back with a gank in the bottom lane that led to a 3-for-0 teamfight. From then on, Longzhu proceeded to dominate every single teamfight, with Bdd's Orianna leading the way. He used pinpoint Command: Shockwaves to shut down ROX and give Longzhu a massive boost in the game. Grabbing the Baron shortly after it spawned, Longzhu marched right into ROX's base to lock up the 25-minute win. Bdd finished the game with an impeccable 9/1/8 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) to help his team to the easy win.
Longzhu will hit the stage again on Saturday with a matchup against MVP at 4 a.m. ET, while ROX will try and right the ship on Thursday against the Afreeca Freecs at 4 a.m. ET.
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SK Telecom T1 managed to overcome sloppy and silly play with a 2-0 sweep over MVP on Wednesday to kick off Week 3, Day 2 of League of Legends Champions Korea in Seoul, South Korea.
An eventful Game 1 began with a wacky draft phase as SKT gave Cassiopeia to top laner Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon while mid laner Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok was given Lucian. Huni struggled early on as MVP ganked him several times for kills, accruing a 3,000-gold lead by 10 minutes. Throughout the mid game, SKT clawed its way back, thanks largely to Faker's massive CS (creep score) lead and overall kill pressure. MVP (1-4, 2-10 match record) failed to use its early lead as SKT took over late with its hyper scaling teamfighting composition, pressuring the map through its solo lanes. Huni managed to recover from the horrendous start by flame horizoning his lane opponent at 37 minutes while Faker was a monster on the Purifier, dealing a game-high 20,800 damage while posting a 6/0/2 KDA (kills/deaths/assists). After Faker picked up a triple kill at 38 minutes, it was all but trivial for SKT to push into MVP's base to take Game 1 in 39 minutes.
SK Telecom (4-1, 10-4 match record) took over Game 2 after picking up first blood and first tower gold, leading to a 3,000-gold lead at 19 minutes. MVP stayed strong, however, using its pick/siege composition to find occasional kills and chain that into towers while SKT's splitpushing/pick comp couldn't do much in response. MVP's grasp of the game wasn't complete, however, as despite several Baron secures, SKT consistently collapsed for follow-up kills. MVP pulled ahead with a Baron secure around 26 minutes, but it couldn't do enough to keep SKT from pulling it back late. With split-pushing from substitute top laner Park "Untara" Ui-jin's Fiora, SKT forced MVP into difficult decisions, including a fateful Baron call that gave MVP its third Baron kill at 41 minutes. Despite giving up the Baron to MVP, SKT went for broke, picking up four kills before marching into MVP's base and closing out a sloppy and silly 42-minute win for the 2-0 sweep.
Assuming coach Kim "kkOma" Jeong-gyun lets the team leave the house this week after the sloppy performance, SK Telecom takes on the Afreeca Freecs at 4 a.m. ET on Sunday, while MVP face Longzhu Gaming on Saturday at 4 a.m. ET.
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bbq Olivers picked up its first win of the 2017 League of Legends Champions Korea summer split with a scrappy 2-1 series over Ever8 Winners on Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea.
In this battle of low-tier teams, Ever8 (1-4, 4-8 match record) drafted a lethal pick composition that got rolling early on with first blood and first tower gold around 12 minutes in. EEW certainly wasn't unstoppable, as several mistakes gave bbq Olivers free kills, but EEW's objective control more than made up for it. EEW used the threat of a Baron in the mid-game to bait bbq into countless deaths while securing a 25-minute Baron to pad its lead. Two Mountain Drakes, a Cloud Drake, and an Infernal Drake gave EEW the buffs needed to secure a second Baron at 33 minutes and effectively put the game to rest. EEW AD carry Kim "Deul" Deul's Ashe was untouchable in teamfights, posting a 5/0/6 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) as EEW steamrolled bbq in 34 minutes.
After a disappointing Game 1 performance, bbq Olivers (1-4, 4-9 match record) had a dream draft phase, picking up the hotly contested Galio for mid laner Kang "Tempt" Myung-gu and giving AD carry Jang "Ghost" Yong-jun Twitch. Ghost was huge for bbq early on, as the quad-tank front line allowed him to stay safe while pumping out massive damage. Earning a 3,000-gold lead at 20 minutes, bbq looked to close the game with a 26-minute Baron, but EEW turned the tides by stealing the Baron. The buff allowed EEW to claw back into the game with a 4-for-1 teamfight at 35 minutes on the back of Deul's Kalista, earning its first gold lead of the game. In the end, Ghost couldn't be denied as he carried a massive 5-for-2 late game teamfight, giving bbq a hard-fought 47-minute win.
Surging into Game 3, bbq Oliver's superior draft not only led winning matchups in every lane, but also granted great tools to deal with EEW's pick composition. With Tempt's Taliyah getting ahead early on, bbq out-rotated EEW with ease, picking on EEW top laner Kwon "Helper" Yeong-jae's Shen for several kills. After taking several towers and a 24-minute Baron, bbq Olivers secured a 7,400-gold lead and never looked back. EEW tried its best to stop the bbq push, but the unorthodox Taric pick for support Eun "Totoro" Jong-seop denied several potential kills with well placed Dazzles and Cosmic Radiances, helping bbq take all of Ever8's inhibitors before 30 minutes. With the snowball in full effect, bbq picked up its first series win of the split with a 31-minute thumping of Ever8.
bbq Olivers will try to maintain its momentum when it faces Jin Air Green Wings on Saturday at 7 a.m. ET, while Ever8 Winners brace for a tough match against Samsung GALAXY at 7 a.m. ET on Sunday.
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The Afreeca Freecs overcame some drafting struggles to lock up a 2-1 victory over the ROX Tigers on Thursday in Seoul, South Korea during Week 3 of League of Legends Champions Korea.
Utilizing an early-game focused team composition, Afreeca (3-2, 8-7 match record) executed its strategy well to build up a decent lead going into the midgame. Despite the deficit, ROX came out of nowhere with two kills that led to a 24-minute Baron, flipping the game on its head. This allowed ROX's scaling composition to gain some steam, amassing a lead of its own. In particular, mid laner Sun "Mickey" Yong-min's Orianna was on point with perfect Command: Shockwaves, giving ROX immediate edges in teamfights. Despite picking up a second Baron, ROX started to see its lead slip away thanks in large part to Afreeca Freecs AD carry, Ha "Kramer" Jong-hun's Caitlyn, who simply became a beast in the late game. Kramer silenced ROX's advantages, finishing with a Game 1 9/2/4 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) as Afreeca cut through multiple teamfights to lock up the 51-minute comeback win.
Game 2 was an example of a game that was lost in the pick-ban phase, with Afreeca inexplicably leaving up both Galio and Zac, which ROX (1-6, 5-10 match record) immediately snatched up for mid laner Mickey and jungler Kim "Mightybear" Min-soo. Between Galio's Heroic Entrance and Zac's Let's Bounce, members of Afreeca were being knocked into the air and picked off with relative ease, showing the world why these champions should always be banned. To its credit, Afreeca managed to prolong the game to 39 minutes with some late-game picks of its own. In the end, ROX AD carry Kwon "Sangyoon" Sang-yoon's Kog'Maw brought the damage in the late game while putting together a 11/1/10 KDA to lock up the game and force Game 3.
Seemingly not fazed by Mightybear's performance on Zac in Game 2, Afreeca allowed the ROX jungler to draft the champion again in the final game. This decision was nearly Afreeca's downfall in what was another close tilt. The pivotal contest was pretty even early on, with both teams trading kills early. A 22-minute Baron kill seemed to give Afreeca the edge, but the buff was all but negated after the team pushed too far, allowing Mightybear to help ROX secure an ace to start a comeback attempt. He continued to own Afreeca in teamfights all throughout the late game before Afreeca mid laner Lee "KurO" Seo-haeng's Viktor helped shut things down with a 3-for-0 in favor of Afreeca, locking up the 38-minute win.
The Afreeca Freecs have a tough task ahead with a matchup against SK Telecom T1 on Sunday at 4 a.m. ET, while the ROX Tigers are off for a week, facing off against SKT next Thursday at 7 a.m. ET.
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In the second hard-fought series Thursday, KT Rolster picked up a 2-1 victory over Samsung Galaxy in Seoul, South Korea, during Week 3 of League of Legends Champions Korea.
KT (5-1, 10-5 match record) started off with a clear goal of pinching the champion pool of Samsung mid laner Lee "Crown" Min-ho, using three of its five bans on mid lane champions. The strategy certainly worked, as Crown was unable to be effective with Orianna, while KT mid laner Heo "PawN" Won-seok was electric on LeBlanc.
The early game was a bit slow, with both teams trading a few kills back and forth before trying to get the items necessary to start teamfighting. Once the midgame hit, KT started an incredible snowball with near constant picks across the map. This culminated in a 4-for-0 teamfight and 25-minute Baron. The buff allowed KT to continue dominating seemingly every aspect of the game, with PawN and his 9/2/5 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) leading the way. One last Baron at the 34-minute mark was all KT needed to lock up the Game 1 win.
For all the positives in Game 1, KT Rolster put together a boatload of negatives in Game 2. Samsung (4-1, 9-4 match record) drafted a heavy pick composition that gave KT fits the entire game, and it started with two kills in the top lane from Samsung at 10 minutes. While KT fired back with two kills of its own within a couple minutes, it was two of just three kills for KT in the entire game.
Simply put, Samsung played a flawless macro game and owned every corner of the map. This allowed it to get constant picks seemingly at will, which gave KT no avenue for a comeback. Everything came to a head with a Samsung 4-for-0 teamfight win around the Baron, allowing it to secure the 34-minute win.
Spurred by the poor performance in Game 2, KT came out with something to prove in the final game of the series. KT got things kicked off when AD carry Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu picked up the first blood with his Varus. That was all KT needed to get its swagger back in what turned into a massive snowball.
At the forefront of the snowball was top laner Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho's Renekton and his flawless play. He had great initiations to set up strong fights for his team, which gave KT the wherewithal to keep Samsung at bay. Smeb's 9/0/4 KDA was more than enough to keep KT rolling right along in every phase of the game to finish with a 19-to-3 kill advantage in the 32-minute win.
KT will be back at it next Thursday to take on Ever8 Winners at 4 a.m. ET. Samsung will also next face Ever8 Winners on Sunday at 7 a.m. ET.
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Longzhu Gaming made quick work of MVP with a 2-0 sweep on Saturday in Seoul, South Korea to open up Day 4 of Week 3 in League of Legends Champions Korea.
In a battle of power picks, Longzhu (4-2, 10-5 match record) got the upperhand in the draft phase as jungler Moon "Cuzz" Woo-chan got his hands on Zac, despite MVP (1-5, 2-11 match record) picking up Galio for mid laner An "Ian" Jun-hyeong. With an extremely slow early game filled with farming, Longzhu finally found an early advantage to start scaling up and unlocking its potential. Action finally broke out 14 minutes in with three kills across the map for Longzhu, including a double from top laner Kim "Khan" Dong-ha's Rumble. While MVP picked up a couple kills and the Rift Herald a few minutes later, Longzhu simply shrugged it off with a Baron kill at the 22-minute mark, pushing towards a win. From then on, Cuzz used picture perfect Let's Bounces to serve up easy kills for his team, namely mid laner Kwak "Bdd" Bo-seong''s Lucian, who finished with a 6/0/4 KDA (kills/deaths/assists). MVP simply had no chance at a comeback as Longzhu teamfought its way to a swift 29-minute victory.
Both teams decided to leave the power picks at home for the second game of the series but that didn't stop Longzhu from dominating. Cuzz''s Lee Sin kicked off the slaughter with a gank in the mid lane to set up the first blood. Shortly after, Longzhu kicked off an incredible snowball with three kills all over the map to help set up a Rift Herald secure as well as two towers. Sensing that the game was slipping away, Ian somehow came up with an improbable Baron steal as Orianna to try and kickstart a comeback. It looked to be working with two quick kills for MVP, but it soon went south when Longzhu easily took a 4-for-0 teamfight in the bot lane to start setting up for the final push. Longzhu pushed every lane towards the base before picking up another big teamfight win to knock down all three Inhibitors to clear the way for a 37-minute win.
MVP will next hit the stage on Wednesday to try and break out of its slump in a matchup with the Afreeca Freecs at 7 a.m. ET, while Longzhu will face Ever8 Winners on Tuesday at 7 a.m. ET.
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Jin Air Green Wings continue to impress with a dominant sweep of bbq Olivers in Seoul, South Korea on Saturday to finish up Day 4 of Week 3 in League of Legends Champions Korea.
While bbq (1-5, 4-11 match record) drafted an early game composition in Game 1, things went catastrophically wrong as AD carry Jang "Ghost" Yong-jun's Xayah got caught out by himself for an easy first blood for Jin Air just over a minute in. That set the tone for what ended up being a completely one-sided affair. In a low-kill game, most of the kills that did occur were set up by Jin Air support No "SnowFlower" Hoei-jong's Rakan, who was consistently in the right place at the right time with clutch Grand Entrances to set up bbq members for easy pickings. These setups allowed AD carry Park "Teddy" Jin-sung's Kalista to run rampant in teamfights, doling out tons of damage on his way to a 5/1/2 KDA (kills/deaths/assists). With such dominance in fights and across the map, bbq simply had no way into the game as it was reduced to watching Jin Air take an easy 36-minute win.
Despite drafting a late game scaling composition, Jin Air (4-2, 9-5 match record) took control of the game from the very start. Jungler Um "UmTi" Sung-hyeon's Lee Sin gave an early first blood to mid laner Lee "Kuzan" Seong-hyuk, beginning the snowball. While bbq managed to get some early kills to try and keep things even, all it served to do was delay the game long enough for Jin Air to become even stronger. In the late game teamfights, it was an all-around effort from Jin Air to shut bbq down, starting with killer Equalizers from top laner Jeon "ikssu" Ik-soo's Rumble to lock down bbq members for UmTi and Teddy to easily pick apart. There was simply no room for bbq to gain any traction in the face of Jin Air's relentless teamfighting in what ended up as a 38-minute win for the Green Wings.
Jin Air will have its work cut out with a showdown with SK Telecom T1 on Tuesday at 4 a.m. ET, while bbq hopes to get something going against Samsung Galaxy on Wednesday at 4 a.m. ET.
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The Afreeca Freecs made a valiant effort on Sunday, but SK Telecom T1 came out on top with a 2-1 victory in Seoul, Korea to open up the final day of Week 3 of League of Legends Champions Korea.
Despite getting Galio for mid laner Lee "Faker" Seong-hyu, SKT (5-1, 10-4 match record) looked extremely out of sorts as it was unable to do much of anything for the vast majority of Game 1. Afreeca (3-3, 9-9 match record) mid laner Lee "KurO" Seo-haeng got his hands on the Malzahar, becoming a monster as he helped pick up three kills on Faker by the time 14 minutes had passed. When the 24-minute mark had rolled around, Afreeca had picked up its first Baron while enjoying being up 8-to-0 in kills and a 7,000-gold advantage. While SKT showed some semblance of life when Faker landed back-to-back four-man taunts pick up an ace at 32 minutes, the play only served to delay an inevitable 42-minute victory for Afreeca.
With SKT subbing in jungler Kang "Blank" Sun-gu and top laner Ui "Untara" Jin-Park for Game 2, there was a renewed sense of vigor from the SKT squad after the rough Game 1 loss. SKT seemed to compose itself by taking first blood, but Afreeca grabbed the first tower to even things up. As the game progressed, Afreeca looked to snowball ahead after taking the first Baron, but SKT didn't allow it. Blank showed off his great technical prowess on Lee Sin to keep SKT within striking distance with picks across the map, while Faker's Karma was performing extremely well as compared to Game 1, giving his team tons of shields and speed with Inspire/Defiance while still picking up kills. These advantages allowed SKT to easily pick up the second Baron of the game and an Elder Dragon, setting up for the 44-minute victory to force Game 3.
With all of the fireworks in the first two games of the series, it was only fitting that Game 3 started off incredibly slow. After farming through the entire early game with no kills coming from either side, Afreeca came up with the first blood that was followed immediately by kills across all three lanes to take a lead over SKT. Unfortunately, Afreeca was never able to build on the lead, which allowed SKT to come inching back into the game. SKT managed to pick up a few kills to give it some space to go for a decisive Baron at 28 minutes that went uncontested due to a lack of vision for Afreeca. The Baron was all SKT needed to make a final push into the base, as it easily wrapped up the 32-minute win just as the Baron buff was expiring to take the series 2-1.
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In a fairly sloppy series, Samsung Galaxy edged out Ever8 Winners in a 2-0 sweep on Sunday in Seoul, South Korea to close out Week 3 of League of Legends Champions Korea.
After drafting a teamfight-focused composition, Ever8 (1-5, 4-10 match record) quickly opened up Game 1 with a 3-for-0 about 10 minutes into the game for an early advantage. Ever8 settled into a lull in the midgame, though, which spelled bad news against Samsung's late scaling composition. While Ever8 finally started to push ahead with a couple Barons, Samsung AD carry Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk's Caitlyn had already started growing into a beast. Ruler picked up kills all across the map, leading to a sneaky 42-minute Baron that completely flipped the game. Ruler simply pumped out too much damage for Ever8 to handle, finishing with 58,900 damage done to champions as Samsung (5-1, 11-4 match record) used the Baron buff to finish up the Game 1 win in 44 minutes.
Ever8, feeling like it needed extra firepower, went with Lucian in the mid lane for Park "Cepted" Wi-rim in a double AD carry composition. In the early game, that firepower wasn't even needed since it managed to dominate Samsung top laner Lee "CuVee" Seong-jin's Kled to the tune of three kills before 10 minutes. Once again, however, Ever8 didn't actually press for any further advantages, simply opting to slowly try and chip away at Samsung. This allowed Samsung to start picking up occasional kills to stick with Ever8 the entire way. Desperately trying to stay ahead, Ever8 picked up a 32-minute Baron, but lost two members in the ensuing fight, limiting the effectiveness of the buff. While Ever8 secured the next Baron as well, Samsung hung in the Baron pit and expertly waded through the teamfight to come out with a clutch 5-for-2 ace. Rather than try and push for small advantages, Samsung went for broke and pushed right into Ever8's base, focusing solely on trying to destroy the Nexus. Ever8 tried to stop the push after respawning, but Samsung had too much momentum, ending the 42-minute win to secure the series sweep.
