OGN Champions Spring Top 5 Storylines
Riot·3/29/2014, 12:34:24 AM·0 votes·434 views
Several of the marquee organizations in Korea have experienced roster turnover since last season. How the new players meld with established veterans will be critical to securing coveted Circuit Points. While several established teams will come together, new teams such as PRIME Optimus and Midas FIO will look to make their own mark on the tournament. Can any team, old or new, challenge the stranglehold that SK Telecom T1 K has held on the top of Korean League of Legends?
- The SKT Dynasty
- New Kids on the Block Two new teams jump into OGN Champions Spring in the form of Midas FIO and PRIME Optimus. Midas FIO beat a Jin Air Green Wings Stealths team that has looked impressive throughout LoL Masters in the qualifiers. Of the two new teams, Midas FIO probably has the best shot at getting out of the group stage. They've been placed into Group B alongside CJ Entus Frost, Incredible Miracle #1 and Samsung Galaxy Ozone. While Ozone is the favorite to win the group, CJ Frost still hasn't rounded back into form, and Incredible Miracle #1 is not considered a top tier team in Korea. Second place looks to be a battle in this group, and Midas FIO has a solid shot. PRIME Optimus got into OGN Champions Spring 2014 even more impressively than Midas FIO did. They beat the KT Rolster Arrows to secure their spot. The Arrows did manage to score the second spot from that qualifying group. Unfortunately for PRIME Optimus, the group draw did them no favors. The placement in Group A, one of theone of the strongest's group heading into the tournament, puts their backs against the wall to try and advance.
- Bullets Firing Blanks
- Is Frost's Bite Back?
- NaJin e-mFire Looking to Build on Winter Success
The superlatives that have been used to describe SK Telecom T1 K throughout their championship run extend for miles. They are the unquestioned best League of Legends team in the world. Any game that T1 K loses will be their first loss of 2014 in professional play. While it is true that support player PoohManDu decided to step away from health reasons, his replacement Casper has performed at a high level throughout the SK Telecom LTE-A LoL Masters tournament.
The big question surrounding T1 K? Who, if anyone, is going to challenge them? They've been placed into Group A with sister team SK Telecom T1 S as well as KT Rolster Arrows and PRIME Optimus. All three of these teams have been trending upwards in Korea recently, and should provide a decent test for an SK Telecom T1 K squad looking for a nearly unthinkable three-peat in OGN Champions.
The KT Rolster Bullets have long been considered the best team to never win a championship in Korea. Their unique style which utilized unorthodox Baron calls and uncanny on-the-fly innovation, had earned a third place finish in PANDORA.TV Champions Winter 2013-2014 after a pair of second places to SK Telecom T1 K in the Korea Regional Finals and HOT6iX Champions Summer 2013.
Following their most recent third place, the KT Rolster organization decided to swap players around between the Bullets and their sister team the KT Rolster Arrows. The Bullets jungler KaKAO moved to the Arrows to replace departed Lira, while Arrows mid laner Zero moved into the jungle for the Bullets. Zero vacating the Arrow's middle lane opened up a spot for the sixteen year old phenom, Rookie.
The initial returns for the Bullets were a disaster. The things that made KT Rolster Bullets great suddenly disappeared. They dropped games to NaJin Black Sword, and Incredible Miracle #2 in the SK Telecom LTE-A LoL Masters tournament while trying to puzzle out their new roster.
Entering Champions Spring, the puzzle still hasn't been solved. Zero's failure in the jungle led to KT Rolster moving 2013 Korean All-Star jungler inSec back into that role after a stint in the top lane. He was replaced by Leopard who saw spot duty for the Bullets during Champions Winter. Can inSec reorient himself to his old stomping ground? He certainly has the mechanical skill, but the jungle is a different animal from when he left it months ago. InSec's learning curve will be truncated since the Bullets have been placed in Group C, the group of death in Champions Spring.
While CJ Entus Frost hasn't fallen as fast as the KT Rolster Bullets, both teams have suffered similar setbacks. Frost's failure to make it into the semifinals during Champions Winter 2013-2014 was the first time they hadn't earned a top four finish in a Champions tournament. The CJ Entus organization responded with a serious housecleaning. Two of the three Frost mid laners, MakNooN, and Ganked by Mom were released. The third, RapidStar, retired. On top of that, jungler Helios was not retained.
In their place, Frost acquired Coco, formerly of Xenics Storm, to play the middle lane and Lira, formerly of KT Arrows, to man the jungle. Coco is considered one of the strongest Kassadin players in Korea, even earning the honorific "Cocodin" for his play on that champion. Coco was a key cog in Xenics Storm's push into the quarterfinals of Champions Winter, and it was hoped that he would stabilize the revolving door that had been the CJ Frost mid lane. Lira was envisioned in much the same role for Frost's jungle.
The proving ground for the new CJ Frost roster has primarily been the NiceGameTV Battle Royal and the SK Telecom LTE-A Masters LoL tournament. While Frost did lose both of its games in LoL Masters, Coco has certainly not the issue. Lira, though, had some stumbles and ended up losing his jungle position to Swift. The addition of Swift has set Frost back on the path to Korean superpower status. In the past three weeks, they knocked the Jin Air Green Wings Stealths aside in Battle Royal, and they maintain their spot as king for the tournament.
CJ Entus Frost enters Champions Spring as a member of Group B. They'll be competing against Samsung Galaxy Ozone, Incredible Miracle #1 and Midas FIO during the group stage. Expect Frost to compete for the No. 1 seed in Group B behind newcomers Swift and Coco, coupled of stalwarts MadLife, Shy and Space.
One of the most surprising to come out of Champions Winter was NaJin White Shield's fourth place finish. They'll be looking to continue their ascension into the top echelon of Korean LoL, but one stumbling block Shield may have to deal with is a rebuilt NaJin Black Sword. The NaJin e-mFire organization was not immune to the roster turnover that overran Korea, but both teams enter Champions Spring with fewer questions surrounding them than many other teams.
NaJin White Shield did lose one of the best junglers in Korea when NoFe decided to retire, but NaJin responded by moving Watch over from Black Sword. The organization replaced Watch with Helios after he was released by CJ Entus. NaJin Sword's top laner Expession also decided to take a sabbatical, and Limit took his place.
The early reviews from the new rosters have been mixed. Shield earned a split with KT Rolster Arrows when the two organizations faced off during week 2 of LoL Masters. Unfortunately, NaJin Black Sword's win over the KT Rolster Bullets loses value every time the Bullets take to the Rift, but top laner Limit showed a penchant for roaming that Sword had lacked since the departure of MakNooN nearly a year ago.
NaJin Black Sword's horrid luck of the draw continued in Champions Spring. They earned a spot in Group C, the group of death, alongside the KT Rolster Bullets, Samsung Galaxy Blue and the Jin Air Green Wings Falcons. Any of those four teams could come out on top. On the other hand, NaJin White Shield got placed in the weaker Group D with Xenics Storm, Incredible Miracle #2 and CJ Entus Blaze. Shield and Blaze will be heavily favored to advance through to the bracket stage.