A new era begins: G-Star Champions Qualifiers
Riot·11/21/2014, 1:05:48 AM·0 votes·8,847 views
Welcome to the new era of Korean League of Legends.
This season, Champions is switching things up and it will now resemble the LCS leagues. The premiere Korean league will feature two splits (Spring and Summer) and get rid of sister teams, cutting the number of competing teams from sixteen to eight per split. With six spots already decided -- KT, SKT, CJ, Jin Air, NaJin and Samsung -- there are only two spots left to fill out the inaugural OGN Champions Spring Split. Huya, Incredible Miracle, Prime and Xenics will battle it out to fill those spots this weekend.
Top: Lilac
Jungler: Wisdom
Mid: Frozen
ADC: Sonstar
Support: Tusin
Six of the seven KeSPA teams that competed in OGN Masters got a guaranteed spot into the Champions Spring Split. The team left out? Incredible Miracle due to disappointing results in 2014. The black sheep of the KeSPA teams group, Incredible Miracle has been around longer than half of them, but it hasn't seen nearly as much success. Neither IM #1 or IM #2 ever made it to a semifinal of Champions in the previous era, with both teams holding win-rates of under 50%. Making quick work in the online round over amateur team Pangs 2-0, this is their chance to prove a point they belong in Champions.
Incredible Miracle's chances of making it to Champions fall on the shoulders of their mid laner Kim “Frozen” Tae-il. Frozen is one of the rising stars at his position in Korea, being one of the only bright spots for Incredible Miracle during their run in Champions Summer 2014. He played one of the best Lux games in OGN history, upsetting Samsung Blue in the group stages with a 7/1/6 score against Dade.
On the other hand, their top laner, Jeon "a Lilac" Ho-jin, is the most tortured player in Korean League history. He's played all five positions professionally for IM and never made it to a single semifinal in his career. The rest of the roster is made up of solid players who showed promise for IM #2 during last season, such as their jungler Bul “Wisdom” Le-tin and AD carry Son “Sonstar” Seung-Ik.
Incredible Miracle has a strong foundation to do some damage at G-Star, but they’ve always been the team with lots of potential that have never fully met expectations.
Top: Zest
Jungle: Smurph
Mid: Thy
ADC: Bory
Support: Habom
The underdogs of the tournament, Prime is made up of three Incredible Miracle #1 castoffs looking for some revenge. Their team includes two rookies they hope can make an impact: Park “Zest” Jongil and Seok “Habom” Jun-kim.
Though the player to watch and the one who could reverse Prime’s fortunes is mid laner Son "Thy" Seung-young. He is strong on utility mid laners like Orianna and Lulu, so don’t expect him to carry Prime to victory. Rather, he offers more of a helping hand that pushes his ADC and top laner into a lead. While he held a respectable 3.3 KDA on a bottom of the table team IM #1, Incredible Miracle decided to stick with Frozen and let him go during the offseason. Will they regret it?
Lee "Bory" Seong-yun and Lee "Smurph" Tae-gyeong fill the last two spots on Prime. They will need to up their game from OGN Summer if they want Prime to have any shot of advancing to Champions 2015.
Top: Sky
Jungle: Drizzle
Mid: Raphael
ADC: Nika
Support: Road
A team of five rookies have become known as terrors online. From leaked scrims against Cloud 9 and rumors they’ve beaten top KeSPA teams in scrims, Modslook has the potential to be the most exciting new team Champions since Piglet and Faker broke onto the scene with SK Telecom T1 K almost two years ago.
Xenics have always been the team to find talent in solo queue, bring them up through NLB, then have them poached after a single season in Champions. Names like Impact, Swift, ohq, Bang, and Arrow have all made their names on Xenics and left for more money. Now, with their talent roster once again depleted by KeSPA teams, Xenics brings their most hyped roster in history.
The entire team should be on your list of things to be excited about, but the two standouts you need to watch are top laner Ha “Sky” Neul in top and mid laner Jae “Raphael” Kyun-ko. Sky, the shotcaller of the team, is regarded as the future of the top lane in Korea. Strong on Akali, Irelia and Nidalee, he has recently been experimenting with AD (yes, AD) Kassadin in the top lane, going Muramana, Triforce, and Frozen Heart. Raphael has a diverse champion pool as well, but watch out for his Lulu (his most played champion in solo queue) and Jayce.
The Tigers are the team people know most about coming into the weekend, but Modslook are the ones everyone should be glued to their screens watching this weekend. The four teams will take it to a Rift for two straight days of games, all vying to mark their mark in Champions.
Will it be the Chinese back favorites Huya, the longstanding Incredible Miracle, the out for revenge underdogs from Prime, or the golden generation of rookies from Xenics who stand tall when G-Star drops the curtain?
Huya Tigers: A Roar from the Past
Top: Smeb Jungle: Lee Mid: Kuro ADC: Pray Support: Gorilla Coached by former NaJin jungler Jeong “NoFe” No-chul, the Huya Tigers are big favorites to power through the qualifiers and make it into Champions. With a roster full of former NaJin heroes, the Tigers aim is to make their former organization regret the decision of letting them go. Backed by giant Chinese streaming site YY, the Huya Tigers are the most well-known team heading to Busan this weekend. Highlighted by World Championship participants Kim "PraY" Jong-in and Kang "GorillA" Beom-hyeon, the Tigers’ bottom lane has the potential to be one of the best in Korea. Gorilla was a breakout star during 2014 Worlds, making big play after big play on his signature champion, Thresh. While the bottom lane is a possible strong spot for the Tigers, the rest of the roster will need to be solid if they wish to qualify. Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho is no stranger to Champions from his time on Incredible Miracle, but being a top lane force has never been his calling card. He is strong mechanically and does well in solo queue, but it has yet to lead to any success in professional play. The aptly nicknamed Lee "Lee" Ho-Jin specializes in Lee Sin, playing 11 of his 27 pro games on the champion. The ace in the hole for the Tigers will be their mid laner Lee "kurO" Seo-haeng, a player who has consistently been able to keep up with anyone in lane from Faker to Dade.Incredible Miracle: A Three Year Odyssey
Top: Lilac
Jungler: Wisdom
Mid: Frozen
ADC: Sonstar
Support: Tusin
Six of the seven KeSPA teams that competed in OGN Masters got a guaranteed spot into the Champions Spring Split. The team left out? Incredible Miracle due to disappointing results in 2014. The black sheep of the KeSPA teams group, Incredible Miracle has been around longer than half of them, but it hasn't seen nearly as much success. Neither IM #1 or IM #2 ever made it to a semifinal of Champions in the previous era, with both teams holding win-rates of under 50%. Making quick work in the online round over amateur team Pangs 2-0, this is their chance to prove a point they belong in Champions.
Incredible Miracle's chances of making it to Champions fall on the shoulders of their mid laner Kim “Frozen” Tae-il. Frozen is one of the rising stars at his position in Korea, being one of the only bright spots for Incredible Miracle during their run in Champions Summer 2014. He played one of the best Lux games in OGN history, upsetting Samsung Blue in the group stages with a 7/1/6 score against Dade.
On the other hand, their top laner, Jeon "a Lilac" Ho-jin, is the most tortured player in Korean League history. He's played all five positions professionally for IM and never made it to a single semifinal in his career. The rest of the roster is made up of solid players who showed promise for IM #2 during last season, such as their jungler Bul “Wisdom” Le-tin and AD carry Son “Sonstar” Seung-Ik.
Incredible Miracle has a strong foundation to do some damage at G-Star, but they’ve always been the team with lots of potential that have never fully met expectations.
Prime ITENJOY: The Incredible Avengers
Top: Zest
Jungle: Smurph
Mid: Thy
ADC: Bory
Support: Habom
The underdogs of the tournament, Prime is made up of three Incredible Miracle #1 castoffs looking for some revenge. Their team includes two rookies they hope can make an impact: Park “Zest” Jongil and Seok “Habom” Jun-kim.
Though the player to watch and the one who could reverse Prime’s fortunes is mid laner Son "Thy" Seung-young. He is strong on utility mid laners like Orianna and Lulu, so don’t expect him to carry Prime to victory. Rather, he offers more of a helping hand that pushes his ADC and top laner into a lead. While he held a respectable 3.3 KDA on a bottom of the table team IM #1, Incredible Miracle decided to stick with Frozen and let him go during the offseason. Will they regret it?
Lee "Bory" Seong-yun and Lee "Smurph" Tae-gyeong fill the last two spots on Prime. They will need to up their game from OGN Summer if they want Prime to have any shot of advancing to Champions 2015.
Xenics Modslook: The Golden Rookies of a New Generation
Top: Sky
Jungle: Drizzle
Mid: Raphael
ADC: Nika
Support: Road
A team of five rookies have become known as terrors online. From leaked scrims against Cloud 9 and rumors they’ve beaten top KeSPA teams in scrims, Modslook has the potential to be the most exciting new team Champions since Piglet and Faker broke onto the scene with SK Telecom T1 K almost two years ago.
Xenics have always been the team to find talent in solo queue, bring them up through NLB, then have them poached after a single season in Champions. Names like Impact, Swift, ohq, Bang, and Arrow have all made their names on Xenics and left for more money. Now, with their talent roster once again depleted by KeSPA teams, Xenics brings their most hyped roster in history.
The entire team should be on your list of things to be excited about, but the two standouts you need to watch are top laner Ha “Sky” Neul in top and mid laner Jae “Raphael” Kyun-ko. Sky, the shotcaller of the team, is regarded as the future of the top lane in Korea. Strong on Akali, Irelia and Nidalee, he has recently been experimenting with AD (yes, AD) Kassadin in the top lane, going Muramana, Triforce, and Frozen Heart. Raphael has a diverse champion pool as well, but watch out for his Lulu (his most played champion in solo queue) and Jayce.
The Tigers are the team people know most about coming into the weekend, but Modslook are the ones everyone should be glued to their screens watching this weekend. The four teams will take it to a Rift for two straight days of games, all vying to mark their mark in Champions.
Will it be the Chinese back favorites Huya, the longstanding Incredible Miracle, the out for revenge underdogs from Prime, or the golden generation of rookies from Xenics who stand tall when G-Star drops the curtain?
