Hype vs. Trophies: The Battle of Samsungs
Riot·10/10/2014, 12:31:43 AM·1 votes·15,588 views
Written by Frank 'Riot Mirhi' Fields and Alex Manisier
"I want to prove through this World Championship that I am the better mid laner."
Samsung White's Heo "PawN" Won-seok wasn't shy about telling me his thoughts about sister team Samsung Blue -- and how White would smash through every player and team on their path to the Summoner's Cup. But how could you blame Pawn for pumping his chest a bit when his stock has never been higher? Pawn has been through a lot to get his team to be a favorite in the League of Legends 2014 World Championship.
In February 2014, Pawn was cast out from Samsung Blue, traded straight up for Samsung Ozone's Bae "Dade" Eo-jin. "When the switch first happened I was surprised, but I also felt slightly disappointed," Pawn admitted. "As a result of the switch, though, we are both doing great."
Dade also expressed his confusion over the move. "I don't know exactly why the switch happened, but after the switch, I played really well. And Blue played really well. I'm happy with the overall result."
The trade happened at a time where Pawn was on the rise and Dade was falling from glory. Dade had suffered defeat while on Samsung Ozone at Season 3 Worlds, and then lost in the Champions Final to an undefeated SK Telecom T1 K. "Last year at Worlds, Samsung Ozone was a really strong team," Dade explained. "We were beating [Western] teams all the time in scrims, so we didn't practice that hard because we thought Korean teams would dominate. But when we got to Worlds, it wasn't like that at all. I think we kind of underestimated [Western] teams."
Meanwhile, Pawn and Samsung White defeated SKT T1K at the World Cyber Games in the offseason, including a performance where the mid laner managed to crush Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok. They had established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. A top team in a region full of world-class squads.
Samsung White's jungler Choi "DanDy" In-kyu spoke to how much the trade helped both teams and admitted Dade has a lot to do with Samsung Blue's current success. "It [was] a great switch, because when we lost in the World Championship last year, a lot of fans were talking about Dade and I being contributing factors to our losses," DanDy explained. "When Dade left, it lifted the pressure off of me a little. Dade is also a great shot-caller, and going to Blue, where they didn't really have a shot-caller, is a great help to the team."
It would be Dade who eventually made the most of the swap. Despite both teams overall playing better, Samsung White has been road-blocked by Dade and Blue each time they've faced each other. Now, he's gone on to win his second Champions title. He's the only player to win a title with two different teams, and the only player to reach three championship matches. "Against Samsung White, I am able to turn the game around by making outplays that boost morale of the team," Dade said. "My shot-calling is a big part of [our success] as well."
Victim number one of those outplays was often Pawn.
Even so, Pawn believes White has the upper hand now. "It's true White has lost to Blue a few times in the past," he said. "It's not that White matches up poorly to Blue, it's that we know each other so well and we just happened to lose those two matches. Now for the World Championship, our solo laners have improved so much -- much more than the Blue solo laners -- and I think we'll be able to take out Blue this time."
While Pawn also explained that scrims between the two teams go relatively even, it's what happens on stage that matters the most.
The crucial match-up of the Samsung teamkill will be the jungle-mid pairs of DanDy and Pawn versus Lee "Spirit" Da-yoon and Dade. It's here that the tempo of the game will be controlled, and that will likely decide the outcome of the laning phase. If White is able to catapult to an early lead and keep their shot-calling in check, they should be able to choke out Blue as Fnatic and Cloud9 have already done. However, one mistimed rotation or positional error could be enough for Blue to snatch the game back.
For White, this teamkill is an opportunity to redeem last year’s failures. DanDy has been very outspoken about his team’s shock loss in the group stage at the hands of Gambit Gaming, promising to not fail again. So far, White have been making good on that promise, barely breaking a sweat against most of their competition. However, Blue will be their first real challenge and possibly their greatest challenge. There is no more room for complacency.
For Blue, a win here would solidify two things in their minds. First, by defeating White three times in a row in Best of 5 matches, Blue would establish their dominance and the superiority of their playstyle in a head-to-head clash. Second, a grand final berth for Blue would mean three consecutive grand finals at a major tournament, and an opportunity to cap off an incredibly successful year with the biggest win yet.
White appear to be the stronger team at the moment, not struggling against any of their 2014 World Championship opponents when playing at maximum capacity. Blue, on the other hand, have been made to bleed against two teams already and their mentality will be comparatively unstable compared to White’s.
"I think White is a favorite and we are the underdogs, but we're calm. We feel ready," Dade said.
DanDy mentioned that one of the ways White can get an advantage in this matchup is to camp bot lane and take advantage of their laning superiority with Imp and Mata against Deft and Lee "Heart" Gwan-hyung. Deft has added motivation thanks to his sister team's trash-talking, saying, "Imp is so busy taunting during interviews, so I am going to try really hard to destroy him."
"Our familiarity helps us and Dade's playmaking skill in the mid lane is a huge factor [in beating Samsung White]," Deft explained.
That may be because history is entirely on Blue’s side. They hold a 6-2 record over White over the last two seasons of Champions. Yet one would be remiss to simply hand the match to Blue. White are far from the same team they were in Champions Summer, looking much more sharp than before. They've also met close to zero resistance from any team since Champions Spring (bar Samsung Blue) and it may well be that Blue is the only team in the world with a chance of defeating them.
You can catch the Semifinal battle between Samsung Blue vs. Samsung White right here on Lolesports.com on October 11 at 5pm KST/1am PDT/10 pm CEST.
Miss any of the League of Legends 2014 World Championship? Our spoiler-free VODs page makes it easy to watch every game. We've also got the full schedule and bracket available. Be sure to keep checking back to Lolesports.com every day throughout the tournament for features, full match recaps, and videos on the best League of Legends teams in the world.
Frank 'Riot Mirhi' Fields is a Senior Web Content Coordinator for Riot Games. You'll find him in solo queue on Ahri trying to DFG charm his way up the Diamond ladder, or on Twitter where he'd love to talk to you about esports.
Everything to prove
In February 2014, Pawn was cast out from Samsung Blue, traded straight up for Samsung Ozone's Bae "Dade" Eo-jin. "When the switch first happened I was surprised, but I also felt slightly disappointed," Pawn admitted. "As a result of the switch, though, we are both doing great."
Dade also expressed his confusion over the move. "I don't know exactly why the switch happened, but after the switch, I played really well. And Blue played really well. I'm happy with the overall result."
The trade happened at a time where Pawn was on the rise and Dade was falling from glory. Dade had suffered defeat while on Samsung Ozone at Season 3 Worlds, and then lost in the Champions Final to an undefeated SK Telecom T1 K. "Last year at Worlds, Samsung Ozone was a really strong team," Dade explained. "We were beating [Western] teams all the time in scrims, so we didn't practice that hard because we thought Korean teams would dominate. But when we got to Worlds, it wasn't like that at all. I think we kind of underestimated [Western] teams."
Meanwhile, Pawn and Samsung White defeated SKT T1K at the World Cyber Games in the offseason, including a performance where the mid laner managed to crush Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok. They had established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. A top team in a region full of world-class squads.
Redemption for the fallen idol
Samsung White's jungler Choi "DanDy" In-kyu spoke to how much the trade helped both teams and admitted Dade has a lot to do with Samsung Blue's current success. "It [was] a great switch, because when we lost in the World Championship last year, a lot of fans were talking about Dade and I being contributing factors to our losses," DanDy explained. "When Dade left, it lifted the pressure off of me a little. Dade is also a great shot-caller, and going to Blue, where they didn't really have a shot-caller, is a great help to the team."
It would be Dade who eventually made the most of the swap. Despite both teams overall playing better, Samsung White has been road-blocked by Dade and Blue each time they've faced each other. Now, he's gone on to win his second Champions title. He's the only player to win a title with two different teams, and the only player to reach three championship matches. "Against Samsung White, I am able to turn the game around by making outplays that boost morale of the team," Dade said. "My shot-calling is a big part of [our success] as well."
Victim number one of those outplays was often Pawn.
Even so, Pawn believes White has the upper hand now. "It's true White has lost to Blue a few times in the past," he said. "It's not that White matches up poorly to Blue, it's that we know each other so well and we just happened to lose those two matches. Now for the World Championship, our solo laners have improved so much -- much more than the Blue solo laners -- and I think we'll be able to take out Blue this time."
While Pawn also explained that scrims between the two teams go relatively even, it's what happens on stage that matters the most.
The crucial match-up of the Samsung teamkill will be the jungle-mid pairs of DanDy and Pawn versus Lee "Spirit" Da-yoon and Dade. It's here that the tempo of the game will be controlled, and that will likely decide the outcome of the laning phase. If White is able to catapult to an early lead and keep their shot-calling in check, they should be able to choke out Blue as Fnatic and Cloud9 have already done. However, one mistimed rotation or positional error could be enough for Blue to snatch the game back.
For White, this teamkill is an opportunity to redeem last year’s failures. DanDy has been very outspoken about his team’s shock loss in the group stage at the hands of Gambit Gaming, promising to not fail again. So far, White have been making good on that promise, barely breaking a sweat against most of their competition. However, Blue will be their first real challenge and possibly their greatest challenge. There is no more room for complacency.
For Blue, a win here would solidify two things in their minds. First, by defeating White three times in a row in Best of 5 matches, Blue would establish their dominance and the superiority of their playstyle in a head-to-head clash. Second, a grand final berth for Blue would mean three consecutive grand finals at a major tournament, and an opportunity to cap off an incredibly successful year with the biggest win yet.
Still the best -- put up or shut up
White appear to be the stronger team at the moment, not struggling against any of their 2014 World Championship opponents when playing at maximum capacity. Blue, on the other hand, have been made to bleed against two teams already and their mentality will be comparatively unstable compared to White’s.
"I think White is a favorite and we are the underdogs, but we're calm. We feel ready," Dade said.
DanDy mentioned that one of the ways White can get an advantage in this matchup is to camp bot lane and take advantage of their laning superiority with Imp and Mata against Deft and Lee "Heart" Gwan-hyung. Deft has added motivation thanks to his sister team's trash-talking, saying, "Imp is so busy taunting during interviews, so I am going to try really hard to destroy him."
"Our familiarity helps us and Dade's playmaking skill in the mid lane is a huge factor [in beating Samsung White]," Deft explained.
That may be because history is entirely on Blue’s side. They hold a 6-2 record over White over the last two seasons of Champions. Yet one would be remiss to simply hand the match to Blue. White are far from the same team they were in Champions Summer, looking much more sharp than before. They've also met close to zero resistance from any team since Champions Spring (bar Samsung Blue) and it may well be that Blue is the only team in the world with a chance of defeating them.
You can catch the Semifinal battle between Samsung Blue vs. Samsung White right here on Lolesports.com on October 11 at 5pm KST/1am PDT/10 pm CEST.
Miss any of the League of Legends 2014 World Championship? Our spoiler-free VODs page makes it easy to watch every game. We've also got the full schedule and bracket available. Be sure to keep checking back to Lolesports.com every day throughout the tournament for features, full match recaps, and videos on the best League of Legends teams in the world.
Frank 'Riot Mirhi' Fields is a Senior Web Content Coordinator for Riot Games. You'll find him in solo queue on Ahri trying to DFG charm his way up the Diamond ladder, or on Twitter where he'd love to talk to you about esports.
skills
End of story.
ed!