OGN Finals Preview
Riot·5/22/2014, 10:29:02 PM·0 votes·2,318 views
In a season that saw the back-to-back reigning champions SK Telecom T1 K get knocked out in the quarterfinals, we are left with an OGN Grand Finals with two newcomers making their first journey to the final stage. For NaJin White Shield, it's been a long road, playing since the inaugural Champions season, and never making it to the semifinals before last season. Rejuvenating their roster by bringing in rookie Ggoong into the mid lane and sending their former mid Save up into the top position, the two have created a stellar solo lane duo, causing havoc throughout the Spring season against their opponents.
Samsung Galaxy Blue, recognized as the 'little brothers' to the twice finalist Ozone, have always been highly regarded during the offseason, doing their best when the bright lights of the OGN studios were off. They’ve never been able to transfer their online glory into success, but the addition of Dade from Samsung Ozone has been the key into turning Blue from a pretender into being one series away from becoming the champions of Korea.
The addition of Ggoong and Save to Shield’s roster has managed to change their tendency to get eliminated during – or before – the semifinals. Known for being one of the hardest workers in solo queue, Ggoong's rookie season showed promise - he had the raw skill to keep even with some of the better mids in Korea, but lacked the overall game knowledge to really lead his team anywhere other than the quarterfinals. Ggoong's constant practice has paid off with his first Grand Finals appearance. He was called upon in two straight playoff series to play a mirror match on his signature LeBlanc - he came through, leaving the KT Bullets and CJ Blaze in his wake.
Save, the player that replaced Ggoong in the top lane, has followed his predecessor’s suit by helping out each and every position in his new role. While not always having the prettiest stats or racking up kills in lane, Save's talent comes in his incredible ability to pressure the map at all times. Liberal with both Teleport and wanderings around the map, Save is always pressing the action. Getting towers, grabbing objects or giving his team the perfect flank to start a fight, there is no player in Korea better than Save at having an overall presence on the map from the first second to the last.
Heading into his third Grand Final, the world awaits the answer to Korea's most pressing question: will we see the Dade that destroyed Blaze and won Spring MVP last year, or will we see the Dade that wilted under the pressure against Faker during last season's final – a performance that resulted in him being traded over from Ozone to Blue. With the return of Twisted Fate to competitive play, his newfound love and mastery of Yasuo, and the rise of Soraka in the mid lane (albeit nerfed in the recent 4.7 patch), Dade has returned to the form that made him the one of the most feared players, along with Faker, during the middle of 2013. Having handled both Coco and Pawn in the first two rounds, he will still have his toughest test yet against Ggoong in the finals.
The other star player on Blue comes out of the bottom lane with their AD Carry, Deft. Heralded as one of the strongest ADC rookies a few seasons ago, Deft has only improved from his early days, holding the top spot in Korea's solo queue and improving his all-around play. While his laning phase wouldn't be classified as his strongest attribute, he truly shines in the part of the game that Blue excels at: team fighting. His positioning is second to none during 5-on-5 brawls, weaving in and out at the perfect time to deal enough damage to his enemies and gain the upper hand for the Blue squad. Not to be left out, Deft's partner Heart has been possibly the most improved player of the Spring season, finally giving Deft a stable partner to let him become one of the best AD Carries in Korea.
Unlike most finals, this one doesn't have a clear favorite heading into it. One of Blue's strongest points has been their ability to adapt, beating the other Korean teams to the punch when it came to incoming patches, and being able to play a plethora of different styles. Shield, once seen as a solely a poke composition team, centered around Ggoong's proficiency on Nidalee and Zefa's small champion pool - consisting primarily of Caitlyn and Lucian - they've turned it around lately. Zefa has widened his arsenal by bringing Twitch into the mix, and the rest of Shield has shown the capability to run pick compositions.
In a season that has seen a ton of series going into the deciding blind pick matchup, the fifth game could be the deciding factor in which team wins their first OGN championship. Having already rolled both their opponents in the blind pick during the first two rounds, Shield is a team that cannot be given their comfort picks. With Save on Shyvana and Ggoong on LeBlanc, the chances of winning for the opposing team rapidly drops. This might not be the final that people dreamed of when the season started, but White Shield vs. Blue have all the makings of playing one of the greatest finals in OGN history.
We predict that NaJin White Shield will win 3-2 over Samsung Galaxy Blue.
NaJin White Shield
Ace Player(s): Ggoong and Save
The addition of Ggoong and Save to Shield’s roster has managed to change their tendency to get eliminated during – or before – the semifinals. Known for being one of the hardest workers in solo queue, Ggoong's rookie season showed promise - he had the raw skill to keep even with some of the better mids in Korea, but lacked the overall game knowledge to really lead his team anywhere other than the quarterfinals. Ggoong's constant practice has paid off with his first Grand Finals appearance. He was called upon in two straight playoff series to play a mirror match on his signature LeBlanc - he came through, leaving the KT Bullets and CJ Blaze in his wake.
Save, the player that replaced Ggoong in the top lane, has followed his predecessor’s suit by helping out each and every position in his new role. While not always having the prettiest stats or racking up kills in lane, Save's talent comes in his incredible ability to pressure the map at all times. Liberal with both Teleport and wanderings around the map, Save is always pressing the action. Getting towers, grabbing objects or giving his team the perfect flank to start a fight, there is no player in Korea better than Save at having an overall presence on the map from the first second to the last.
Samsung Galaxy Blue
Ace Players(s): Dade and Deft
Heading into his third Grand Final, the world awaits the answer to Korea's most pressing question: will we see the Dade that destroyed Blaze and won Spring MVP last year, or will we see the Dade that wilted under the pressure against Faker during last season's final – a performance that resulted in him being traded over from Ozone to Blue. With the return of Twisted Fate to competitive play, his newfound love and mastery of Yasuo, and the rise of Soraka in the mid lane (albeit nerfed in the recent 4.7 patch), Dade has returned to the form that made him the one of the most feared players, along with Faker, during the middle of 2013. Having handled both Coco and Pawn in the first two rounds, he will still have his toughest test yet against Ggoong in the finals.
The other star player on Blue comes out of the bottom lane with their AD Carry, Deft. Heralded as one of the strongest ADC rookies a few seasons ago, Deft has only improved from his early days, holding the top spot in Korea's solo queue and improving his all-around play. While his laning phase wouldn't be classified as his strongest attribute, he truly shines in the part of the game that Blue excels at: team fighting. His positioning is second to none during 5-on-5 brawls, weaving in and out at the perfect time to deal enough damage to his enemies and gain the upper hand for the Blue squad. Not to be left out, Deft's partner Heart has been possibly the most improved player of the Spring season, finally giving Deft a stable partner to let him become one of the best AD Carries in Korea.
Prediction
Unlike most finals, this one doesn't have a clear favorite heading into it. One of Blue's strongest points has been their ability to adapt, beating the other Korean teams to the punch when it came to incoming patches, and being able to play a plethora of different styles. Shield, once seen as a solely a poke composition team, centered around Ggoong's proficiency on Nidalee and Zefa's small champion pool - consisting primarily of Caitlyn and Lucian - they've turned it around lately. Zefa has widened his arsenal by bringing Twitch into the mix, and the rest of Shield has shown the capability to run pick compositions.
In a season that has seen a ton of series going into the deciding blind pick matchup, the fifth game could be the deciding factor in which team wins their first OGN championship. Having already rolled both their opponents in the blind pick during the first two rounds, Shield is a team that cannot be given their comfort picks. With Save on Shyvana and Ggoong on LeBlanc, the chances of winning for the opposing team rapidly drops. This might not be the final that people dreamed of when the season started, but White Shield vs. Blue have all the makings of playing one of the greatest finals in OGN history.
We predict that NaJin White Shield will win 3-2 over Samsung Galaxy Blue.
