Skip to content
Boards›Esports

Battle for the Cup: Samsung White vs. Star Horn Royal Club

Riot··0 votes·40,325 views
Two juggernauts will collide on October 19. Samsung White and Star Horn Royal Club have battled through the best League of Legends around the globe to make it to the World Championship Final. Only one team will walk away with the Summoner's Cup trophy and all the glory. Let's take a look at our final competitors.

Samsung White

Samsung White (SSW) has been regarded as the most deadly team competing at the League of Legends 2014 World Championship from the start. The Koreans, who failed to even make it past the Group Stage in 2013, showed up in full form this year with dominant team fighting prowess, excellent strategic thinking, and amazing technique, making their journey to the Final seem easy. The team is more than just a tight knit group -- they are a dedicated squad with one goal: to win the Summoner's Cup. A devastating bottom lane duo of the flashy Pentakiller Gu "imp" Seung-bin and his patient support Cho "Mata" Se-hyoung, coupled with the brainpower, vision control, and shot calling of Choi "DanDy" In-kyu, Star Horn Royal Club definitely has their work cut out for them against a team that has a lot to prove on their home soil. A True Dream Team: Samsung White’s Roster Top: Jang "Looper" Hyeong-seok - Looper is known as a mechanical genius and is highly regarded for his ability to play a wide variety of Champions. Jungle: Choi "DanDy" In-kyu - DanDy's nickname is "The Prince of Thieves" thanks to his incredibly ability to steal objectives. He's the eyes of Samsung White with his uncanny control of the jungle. Mid:Heo "PawN" Won-seok - PawN is a player who makes well calculated decisions when playing any of his favored assassins. When it's time to go aggressive, especially if he's on Fizz or Jayce, his opponents better watch out. AD Carry: Gu "imp" Seung-bin - imp knows he's one of the best AD carries in the world. His flashy style and confident plays, thanks in part to the help of his lane buddy Mata, often result in great success for his team. Support: Cho "Mata" Se-hyoung - As the leader of SSW, Mata has great control over both his team and the support champions he plays. He helps DanDy with shot calling and places more aggressive wards than any other player at Worlds. Winning It All: Samsung White Worlds Facts
  • Since last year's World Championship where Samsung White failed to get out of the Group Stage, they've made top four or better in their past four major tournaments: OGN Winter (2nd), OGN Spring (3rd), OGN Summer (3rd), 2014 World Championship (1st or 2nd).
  • Looper has played nine different champions (Ryzex2, Singed, Dr. Mundo, Kayle x2, Akali, Maokai x3, Kassadin, Rumble, and Alistar) in 13 games -- the most varied player at Worlds 2014.
  • Samsung White had the shortest average game time in each stage of the World Championship.
  • PawN did a whopping 35.29% of his team's damage in the Semifinals, more than any other single player in any position.
Samsung White Articles Samsung White routs Samsung Blue in the Semifinal Samsung White’s Group Domination Hype vs. Trophies: The Battle of Samsungs Samsung White's Sewer Rat: Imp's Twitch at Worlds Samsung’s Galaxy: The Emerging Empire

Star Horn Royal Club

Star Horn Royal Club (SHRC) had a long road to the 2014 World Championship Final. The Chinese team started off the year poorly, barely avoiding relegation in the LPL. In the offseason, the organization made some huge changes and brought on two Korean pro players, Choi “inSec” Inseok and Yoon “Zero” Kyungsup, to buffer the roster, leaving Jian “Uzi” Zihao as the only permanent member. Even though the teammates had trouble communicating, the roster swap worked as intended and a rejuvenated SHRC took the second Chinese seed for Worlds. Throughout their games on the Worlds stage, SHRC delivered many exciting performances. They're the only team to have played through a full five games in both the Quarterfinals and Semifinals, against their Chinese rivals Edward Gaming and OMG, respectively. With one Best of 5 left, all eyes are on star AD carry Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao, the only player to ever make it to the Finals twice, to outperform against Samsung White's Gu "imp" Seung-bin to take home the Summoner's Cup. Back for More: Star Horn Royal Club’s Roster Top: Jiang "Cola" Nan - Cola stands strong in the top of the map for SHRC, but hasn't been too flashy during Worlds. Recently he’s been improving on champions like Dr. Mundo and Maokai. Jungle: Choi "inSec" In-seok - InSec is well-known for his immaculate play of a variety of jungle champions. Once he gets ahead, he's able to help his teammates carry any match. Mid: Lei "corn" Wen - Corn is amazing at initiating fights and works well with InSec to do work against his competitors. His champion pool may be shallow, but he's dangerous with champions like Fizz, Orianna, and Yasuo. AD Carry: Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao- Uzi is the star of SHRC, and for good reason. He uses entertaining strategies and amazing mechanics to decimate opponents. He's the only competitor in the entire tournament to make it to the Finals twice. Support: Yoon "Zero" Kyung-sub - Zero is the back bone is SHRC, providing amazing support play for Uzi and the rest of the team. He plays exceptionally well with the other Korean on the team, InSec, and together they are able dish out aggressive tactics. They Don't Mess Around: SHRC Worlds Facts
  • Royal Club is the first team in Worlds history to make it to back-to-back World Championship Finals.
  • Uzi is the only ADC to pick Caitlyn throughout Worlds.
  • Despite having an 11-5 record through Worlds, SHRC has a negative overall gold differential.
  • InSec has drawn 14 bans on Rengar alone, by far the most bans on a single champion against a specific team at Worlds.
Star Horn Royal Club Articles SHRC advances to 2014 World Championship Final Familiarity Builds Respect - OMG vs Royal Uzi’s Calm Before the Semifinal Chinese rivals meet one last time in Busan The Stars of Star Horn Royal Club Star Horn Royal Club takes on Samsung White October 19 at 3pm KST/11pm PDT/8 am CEST right here on lolesports.com. Make sure to catch the pre-game show and the opening ceremony, including a special performance by Imagine Dragons. 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.

Related Articles

41 Comments

im Cris18 votes

My heart says Star Horn Royal, but my brain says Samsung White. C'mon China, take down the Korean overlords. <3

TheWannabeKorean3 votes

rofl what doublelift said last year- reason " Im friends with tabe"

im Cris1 votes

lol, at least give us more then 3 games this time. Last year was very disappointing...

Meanie402 votes

Then don't bother watching this year. White will make the whooping they gave Blue look tame in comparison to SHR.

xXOddBallXx1 votes

I feel like there is just world's difference in the caliber of TSM and SHRC. It is just an expected game that TSM took off Royal Club, like Alliance vs Kabum game or C9 vs Blue. a lucky game that will not pan out in the long run. TSM solo lanes are about the same level as SHRC solo lanes but amazing and turtle and miles behind insec and uzi. Is SHRC an early game team? yeah probably. If you can stop their early insane aggression you can probs beat them. But with insec(I'd say the best early game jungler) and Uzi(the best ADC in the game, zero is questionable as the best support), SHRC will definitely give White a run for their money. It will really be all on Insec to see if he can snowball his lanes ahead. While Imp is a great ADC, I feel like Uzi is just a slightly better version of Imp. I still feel like the bot lane will be even because Mata is just so much better compared to zero.

12tales1 votes

But with insec(I'd say the best early game jungler)

insec's decision making is too poor to realistically put him above KaKAO or Dandy, imo.

While Imp is a great ADC, I feel like Uzi is just a slightly better version of Imp.

I disagree. The difference between Imp and Uzi is that Uzi has Zero and potentially Corn holding his hand throughout the entire game - he is the carry of Royal Club, and he's given the peel that he needs to play stupidly aggressively and not get burned for it. Imp's role in his team is significantly less glamorous - he's the one that's splitpushing and initiating teamfights and trying to keep the enemy ADC down.

Especially when you take into account the consistency of performance - Imp has been consistently in the conversation for best ADC world for months, while Uzi was popularly considered the third best ADC in China alone just a few months ago - I think calling Uzi the better player is premature. He's turned up for this specific tournament, sure, but his actual body of work as a player is quite small, and he does what he does with much more support than any other ADC in the Ro8.

College Debts4 votes

The gap between TSM and SHRC is much closer than the gap between SSW and SHRC. Unfortunate for TSM, their journey ends as soon as they meet SSW, if TSM takes 1st in group B and avoids SSW, I can even see them (TSM) in the final. If White doesn't underestimate Royal like they did to TSM, the final should just be 3 one-sided games in favor of SSW. Everyone can beat everyone (including SSB) in the tournament, except SSW, they're heads above everyone.

I personally HATE to see an international tournament becoming a team of gods slaying everyone on their path, but sadly that's how it goes, SKT last year and SSW this year, the scarier part is SSW look even more dangerous.

12tales4 votes

If White doesn't underestimate Royal like they did to TSM, the final should just be 3 one-sided games in favor of SSW.

I disagree. I think that, if Royal Club gets a lucky level one or a fantastic teamfight around dragon, they're more than capable of taking that lead and snowballing it into a victory. What makes White the better team is that they're much more consistent in finding early leads and closing games. If you take Royal Club and give them three chances to make a breakthrough play in the early game, each time with a blank slate, I think they're going to manage it at least once.

Samsung White vs. Samsung Blue was so onesided because Blue's laning phase and decision making in the early game are both relatively poor, so White was able to consistently win the early game and they're proficient enough at snowballing games to deny Blue the opportunity to come back.

Even if you discount the styling in picks and bans, TSM vs. White was a much more competitive series than Blue vs. White, because TSM's style of play will always give them the potential to steal games from better teams. And given that Royal Club basically does what TSM does except better, I think we're in for an exciting series, even if White's ultimate victory is very likely. Uzi does not go softly into that good night.

College Debts3 votes

Royal is a late game team, the ADC-centric play-style works well against their Chinese rivals, it will never work on Korean powerhouses, we saw that last year, history is going to repeat itself. No one is stronger than White in this tournament, taking a lead 3 times in a row against White is near impossible. This will be the biggest upset in history if Royal wins this.

"Royal Club basically does what TSM does except better" Completely disagree, the gap between SHRC and TSM is not that big, and their play style contrasts each other. TSM relies on solo laner performance while SHRC relies heavily on bottom lane and jungle. Like I said, if TSM gets 1st in group B, they have the potential to get to the final as well. TSM's solo lanes centric style is way better than SHRC's bottom lane centric style when come against SSW. SSW loves assassins, they ran double assassin comp over and over again, that's why SSW simply don't care how godly fed your ADC is, and Royal simply put too much economy into Uzi.

"I think that, if Royal Club gets a lucky level one or a fantastic teamfight around dragon, they're more than capable of taking that lead and snowballing it into a victory."

So much double standard here, what if the "lucky" one is SSW? If I am lucky enough I can win a $1m lottery too. Yes, Royal Club can win, everyone can win, but face the facts here, SSW is the gigantic favorite here.

12tales1 votes

Completely disagree, the gap between SHRC and TSM is not that big, and their play style contrasts each other. TSM relies on solo laner performance while SHRC relies heavily on bottom lane and jungle.

They're both teams with mediocre shot calling that rely on getting leads in laning phase and mechanical outplay. Royal just has a better laning phase and mechanics.

Like I said, if TSM gets 1st in group B, they have the potential to get to the final as well.

If TPA gets 1st in group B, they have the potential to get to the final as well.

But they didn't, and even if they did, they almost certainly wouldn't.

So much double standard here, what if the "lucky" one is SSW? If I am lucky enough I can win a $1m lottery too. Yes, Royal Club can win, everyone can win, but face the facts here, SSW is the gigantic favorite here.

No shit. I said "I think we're in for an exciting series, even if White's ultimate victory is very likely." Luck can be rather indiscriminate, tho, and I expect to see Royal Club take at least one game off of a fortunate teamfight early on.

Red Buff Trans2 votes

tsm in final??? Edg and OMG will destroy TSM:)

rtbf228347801 votes

you are right, I can see TSM have got the Chaimpin already, TSM TSM

A CONFUSED KID1 votes

its hard to say how well royal will do because of how inconsistent they've been through their games. Their players tilt hard and easily but also really show up at times. In the beginning they were struggling against teams like TSM but managed to win against OMG. Their series tend to go in their favor, the enemy's, then back to them only if they clear their tilt.

12tales1 votes

I don't think that Royal has been terribly inconsistent. Every game, they play insanely aggressively and try to make as many plays as they can right off the bat. The only thing that's been inconsistent is whether or not that strategy's worked, and that's been a product of their opponents as much as anyone else.

Supreme Frog1 votes

yes

CeeJem1 votes

probably a one-sided game

SKT GODV7 votes

OMG我们永远的抗韩勇士Ryze Ahri LeeSin Lucian Thresh

Supreme Frog1 votes

能打中文？

Red Buff Trans1 votes

能打吗？

AvariceLuxuria5 votes

中国必胜，棒子国那堆吃泡菜的算个屁！

404TowersNtFound4 votes

It will be interesting to see the strategies SHRC puts together in order to combat SSW's extremely aggresive early game and fluid map rotations.

The Storm Dragon4 votes

Congrats on SHRC for second place.

College Debts3 votes

"If this is not David VS Goliath, I don't know what is. " Quiksh0t

White's average GPM and KDA are heads above every other team in the tournament. On average, White's GPM (1962) is roughly 300 more than Royal's (1696), who has the second highest GPM. White has the fastest game time and win the highest gold lead (28k), where Royal win a game with the largest gold deficit (9k). Royal must not give a lead to White, once White starts rolling, there is no stopping of them.

Stats aside, experience also in favor of White. White stays top 3 in Korea for 5 OGN seasons straight, finish 1st, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd. Currently, White dominates worlds with a 12-1 record. SSW is a team mixed of experienced veterans (Mata, Imp, Dandy) and extremely strong new talents (Looper, Pawn). Additionally, communication issue is a taboo against Samsung White, as Royal members don't speak the same language.

Everyone wants underdogs to win, but when even the Chinese poll voted by Chinese players give SSW 65% votes, that says something. SSW is just too much a monster to overcome, and they're possibly stronger than SKT at worlds last year, SKT's record coming into the final is 12-3, SSW's record is 12-1.

I'm not rooting for Samsung White, in fact, I am not rooting for either teams. However, if Royal Club manage to pull a Bo5 victory against Samsung White, it'll be the greatest upset of all time, an upset that's greater than Kabum beating Alliance or AHQ taking a game off EDG. In a realistic world though, SSW should have about 90% chance winning, and Royal will take one game off at most. I do hope however, this final is more entertaining than the SSB VS SSW series, but not likely.

12tales2 votes

White's average GPM and KDA are heads above every other team in the tournament. On average, White's GPM (1962) is roughly 300 more than Royal's (1696), who has the second highest GPM. White has the fastest game time and win the highest gold lead (28k), where Royal win a game with the largest gold deficit (9k). Royal must not give a lead to White, once White starts rolling, there is no stopping of them.

This is a pretty good example of why stats like KDA can be deceptive. Samsung White has literally lost one game all tournament - of course their GPM is insane, they've been able to free farm the enemy's champions in almost all of their games. It's a testament to how dominant their tournament run has been, sure, but those stats aren't why they're so good. Coo1 holds the record for the highest GPM in the history of competitive league of legends, and he's out of the tournament.

However, if Royal Club manage to pull a Bo5 victory against Samsung White, it'll be the greatest upset of all time.

Discounting single games, cause anything can happen in those, TPA taking the S2 World Championships over CLG.EU, M5 and Frost is still pretty far up there. Also, Shield 3-0ing the team that won Champions Summer was pretty ridiculous. Crazy shit can happen.

I do hope however, this final is more entertaining than the SSB VS SSW series, but not likely.

Given that SSW vs. fuckin' TSM was more entertaining than that series, I think the odds are pretty good. I wouldn't bet on Royal Club rolling over and dying, no matter how strong their opponent.

College Debts2 votes

The difference between S2 TPA and S3/S4 Royal is Royal NEVER dominate China, it was mainly OMG and EDG, especially EDG, sadly they didn't show up this tournament. Royal figure out their Chinese rival teams because they play them regularly, but SSW is a whole different story. TPA in their prime only lost one game in GPL prior to winning worlds, and regions are much closer back then. TPA winning worlds isn't as big an upset and people thought to be, just no one watches GPL at that time. The gap between TSM and SHRC is much closer than the gap between SSW and literally everyone (including SHRC).

The reason why the stats are so good on SSW's side because they humiliated their enemies in every way possible. SSW VS TSM is not even close, not sure what you're watching, SSW VS TSM is juts as much as a stomp as SSW VS SSB except the third game. SSW gave TSM a win by overestimating themselves, but then they came back just to humiliate TSM with a second pentakill, SSW just that good. Royal struggles against TPA (a SEA team), and a crippled SK (3rd place EU team), no way they're anywhere close to SSW. SHRC beat EDG and OMG because they knew those teams inside out, and they played each other the entire year in LPL. Even against them Royal struggles to the fifth game before closing it out. Like I said, the skill gap between SHRC and TSM is much closer than the skill gap between SHRC and SSW, in fact, SSW is so far above everyone else and it's so ridiculous.

Esports betting sites even give SSW a 13:1 odd of winning over SHRC for a reason. I am not saying Royal can't win, 10% chance is still a chance. I said it already, I want a good final instead of a stomp, but it'll most likely be a 3-0 or 3-1 stomp.

fergdaddy1 votes

yeah i agree. i think they're definitely stronger than sktt1k last year in proportion to the average strength of the teams at worlds. omg looked strong enough to potentially challenge skt had they made it to finals, whereas white really hasn't had any real challenge moving through the ranks. i personally am gonna root for white on this one since i'm kind of sick of brute force winning games over communication and strategy (not to say royal has none, but there's a clear discrepancy). i just hope the series ends up at 4 or even 5 games

Pure Sexiness3 votes

pls surprise us shrc, worlds need more miracle

SamsungWhite41 votes

SHRC couldn't, ROX/KOO couldn't, SSG couldn't do it in the opposite postition.

TONIUS2 votes

99%WIN - SAMSUNG WHITE

Sisters100862 votes

OMG 上感觉还有戏啊。。。。Ryze LeeSin Ahri Lucian Thresh

BurgerKing431 votes

samsung white!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! imp go Twitch mata goJanna pawn goTalon dandy goLeeSin looper go Rumble GOD team

xXOddBallXx2 votes

with nothing protecting twitch when he opens up, that sounds like a really bad team comp.

Theghostbadger1 votes

SSW IN 4

AdoboBacon1 votes

with riot deciding to remove the league of legends and summoners from the lore what is the point of the summoner cup as the trophy

Drugz2 votes

It comes with $1million.

blasterphantom1 votes

samsung white 4the win

vastodo1 votes

The fact that two members of Star Horn Royal are Korean lol. I wanna see Insec on leesin tho XD

fergdaddy1 votes

i really dont think royal has much of a chance. i they made some plays early and got ahead they could probably snowball a victory similar to tsm's. royal is a strong team, but i just don't think their communication and shotcalling will compare. in the past, they've been able to avoid this issue by facing weaker teams and brute forcing their way through. we saw it almost fail against both edg and omg, especially the latter, who seemed poised to take them down before insec got that early pantheon lead. that's the only kind of victory i think royal can hope for against ssw. hopefully at least 3-1 to keep us all interested, eh?

xXOddBallXx1 votes

the play style of royal club is pretty much let Uzi carry you. The strength of White is actually very questionable as they faced no real challengers. Their group was easy because EDG just did not show up(namei defs didn't do anything). The games against tsm were well, expected. The only challenge they had was Samsung Blue which was just winning from Macro instead of micro against white. Looking at quality of the enemies Royal Club had to face, both EDG and OMG(who swept white shield 3-0) are far stronger teams compared to likes of TSM. We must not forget this is (almost) the same team that did not make it out of the group stage last year when going against other similarly strong teams. The scores of White are severely inflated due to the opponents they had to play.

Verita and Falso1 votes

Royal is never gonna win they are going to get slaved by Korean team again like last year. Only thing that matter is is it 3:0 win or 3:1win

More from Esports

Is this investigation and explanation enough for an 'unauthorized member' joining the tournament
Esports30 comments
538
votes
Champs Seen at Words: A List
Esports230 comments
470
votes
NA Fans, I'm Embarassed
Esports501 comments
333
votes
Champs seen at worlds: A list
Esports262 comments
305
votes
third year in a row, C9 the last hope of NA
Esports152 comments
249
votes
Help me get Riot's attention
Esports101 comments
244
votes