SK Telecom LoL Masters Preview and Recap
Riot·5/30/2014, 9:54:43 PM·1 votes·727 views
After CJ Entus managed to circle the wagons and pulled off a come from behind victory against NaJin e-mFire in the first round of the SK Telecom LTE-A LoL Masters Tournament playoffs, it was thought that they could push Samsung Galaxy in the second round. Unfortunately, that was not to be, as Samsung Galaxy proved they are superior to CJ by sweeping all four games that the teams played during round 2 of the playoffs. CJ Frost and CJ Blaze could not stand up to a Samsung Galaxy organization that now has their sights set on SK Telecom in the finals of the tournament.
Chae "Piglet" Gwang-jin
The damage dealing half of SK Telecom T1 K's bottom lane has been a consistent force for T1 K, even while the team was in a slump before they dominated All-Star 2014. While he is most known for playing a roaming hunter-killer style Vayne, he has also shown excellent Twitch play, particularly when combined with Faker's Twisted Fate. Piglet's consistency will be put to the test since both Ozone and Blue have excellent bottom lanes, and T1 K will need a strong performance from Piglet to carry them to a win.
Choi "Acorn" Cheon-ju
The top laner for Samsung Blue has taken the lane by storm throughout the spring season. He holds the highest KDA for top laners in both OGN Champions Spring and Masters this year. He has shown excellent bruiser play - a prerequisite for top lane - but also a solid Ryze and Lulu. Most importantly, Acorn has a deep understanding of the current 2v1 meta, and how his role can change at the drop of a hat. That flexibility was key to Blue's recent string of victories.
Samsung dismantles CJ Entus
The Samsung Blue victory over CJ Frost in the first game of the series set the tone for the next three when it introduced a new strategic take on lane swaps that might percolate through other leagues. Acorn decided to take Lulu into the top lane against Shy's Dr. Mundo, and Frost smartly swapped away from that lane matchup since Dr. Mundo would have almost certainly crumbled under continuous harassment from the early bully that is Lulu. Blue responded by rotating Acorn into the middle to face Coco's Kayle, while dade's Yasuo followed Spirit's Lee Sin in the jungle and later engaged Shy in the top lane. The key to Blue's response is the fluidity that it brought. By keeping Acorn's Lulu relevant, they could always respond concisely to whatever lane assignments that Frost decided upon while maintaining their desired power curve. Lulu's early and mid game power was preserved, and even when her damage fell off late, the team had a Kog'Maw and a Yasuo to take over being the primary engines for the team. The other three games in this series can be boiled down to one simple strategy: Samsung finding a little CJ mistake, and building advantage off of it. A catch on Blaze's top laner Flame would turn into an objective, or deeper vision. In almost every case, Samsung was simply a step ahead of CJ. It was League of Legends by-the-numbers.
SK Telecom on deck
SK Telecom has been enjoying a break from professional League of Legends after SK Telecom T1 K took third in NLB right on May 14th. Their sister team, SK Telecom T1 S, was knocked out of that tournament in late April. The layover between SK Telecom games is noteworthy, particularly in comparison to how much time Samsung Galaxy has spent on the Rift. Samsung teams have played in three best-of-fives since T1 S saw action, on top of the second round of the Masters playoffs. Will SK Telecom be rusty after a long layoff? Will the lack of recent tape on SKT hinder Samsung's preparation? The most recent Masters series between these two organizations, held on April 24th, resulted in a 2-1 victory for SK T, with T1 S beating Samsung Ozone and Samsung Blue taking a match off T1 K before SK Telecom secured the clinching victory in the Masters Match. It was during this series that Blue debuted a variation of the "Protect the Kog'Maw" composition that has become a major piece of the Samsung machine.Players to watch
Chae "Piglet" Gwang-jin
The damage dealing half of SK Telecom T1 K's bottom lane has been a consistent force for T1 K, even while the team was in a slump before they dominated All-Star 2014. While he is most known for playing a roaming hunter-killer style Vayne, he has also shown excellent Twitch play, particularly when combined with Faker's Twisted Fate. Piglet's consistency will be put to the test since both Ozone and Blue have excellent bottom lanes, and T1 K will need a strong performance from Piglet to carry them to a win.
Choi "Acorn" Cheon-ju
The top laner for Samsung Blue has taken the lane by storm throughout the spring season. He holds the highest KDA for top laners in both OGN Champions Spring and Masters this year. He has shown excellent bruiser play - a prerequisite for top lane - but also a solid Ryze and Lulu. Most importantly, Acorn has a deep understanding of the current 2v1 meta, and how his role can change at the drop of a hat. That flexibility was key to Blue's recent string of victories.
