OGN Champions Spring Playoffs Preview
With the Group Stage concluded, Korea heads into the knockout rounds of OGN Champions Spring 2014. SKT attempts to defend it's title, but many traditional powers have returned to the brightest stage to stop Faker's three-peat.
Quarterfinal Preview
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Samsung Galaxy Ozone vs. SK Telecom T1 K
A rematch of last season's finals, SK Telecom T1 K are back to try and complete a three-peat of Champions titles, but Ozone stand in their way once more in the quarterfinals. SK Telecom T1 K struggled in the group stages, losing 0-2 to the Arrows and tying sister team SK Telecom T1 S PoohMandu is back for the reigning kings of Korea and he looked sharp in the elimination tiebreaker, but Ozone look to be the stronger of the two teams heading into this clash with a perfect record the opening round.
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Samsung Galaxy Blue vs. CJ Entus Frost
Samsung Blue have always been a team that does well in online tournaments and special events, but have never been able to do well when the lights are on brightest. CJ Entus Frost, once a dynasty in Korea, have fallen on hard times, going through multiple Junglers and Mid laners before finally deciding on the former Xenics Storm duo of Swift and Coco. Samsung Blue has never been in a better position to succeed, having topped a Champions group for the first time.
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KT Rolster Arrows vs. CJ Entus Blaze
Inconsistency has been an issue for both these teams. The KT Arrows had the highlight win of the opening round by 2-0'ing the defending champions and putting them on the brink of elimination, but also got dropped 0-2 by their sister team SKT T1 S and lost to Prime Optimus in the Champions qualifiers. CJ Entus Blaze had the same problem, winning WCG over OMG, and NLB against NaJin Black Sword, but dropping two out of three to White Shield in the group stage and a comeback loss to IM #1 in Masters. Expect superb team fighting from both, but it'll depend on which team can bring their A-game on game night to see who advances.
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NaJin White Shield vs. KT Rolster Bullets
In the last match, we have two tales of rebuilding projects. White Shield has been nearly perfect. After never getting past the quarterfinal hump, NaJin decided to go for a full rebuild, bringing in three new players and moving their middling Mid laner Save to the top lane. After going through growing pains in their first season together, they kept the line-up together and finally broke the semifinals barrier last season before getting knocked out by Samsung Ozone in the semifinals. The KT Rolster Bullets, sick of losing to SK Telecom T1 K at the final roadblock, decided to move KaKAO back to the Arrows, give inSec his old position of Jungle back, and bring in Leopard as a rookie to take over the Top lane. Unlike White Shield, they're still going through the growing pain process, losing all five of their games in Masters and squeaking by in second place of Group B to make another return to the playoffs.
Players to Watch
Bengi
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As one of the premiere Junglers in Korea, Bengi has had his worst season in his professional career during this Spring. Up against KaKAO in a series that could have sent them through into the playoffs, Bengi was soundly defeated by his opponent and had a disaster of a series. While he bounced back in the tiebreaker to get them into the playoffs, Bengi's match-up against Dandy could be the deciding factor in if SK Telecom T1 K can keep their dreams of a three-peat alive.
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Dade
Last Spring's MVP, you never know what you're going to get from Dade. Switched from Ozone to Blue in the offseason, everything has worked perfectly for both teams so far, both topping their groups in the opening round. Praised for his work on AD champions in the Mid lane such as Ezreal, Zed, and Jayce, Dade has added Yasuo to his list of champions this season, becoming Korea's most fearsome Yasuo player. If Dade can continue his stellar play then a Grand Finals could be in Blue's future, but it's impossible to tell which Dade you'll be getting on a given night -- the MVP or the one that left the World Championships in despair.
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DayDream
Signed by CJ Entus Blaze to give them a shot of pressure in the early game, DayDream has transformed himself from a one note player that could only spam Aatrox in his early days, to one of the best Junglers in all of Korea. With his relentless aggression across the map, the games against KaKAO will be a duel between Korea's two most aggressive Junglers. With 300 MVP points in the group stages, DayDream was a main reason why a semi-slumping Blaze squad was able to make it out of Group D.
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Save
Save has had the biggest breakout season of any player in Champions. Moved from the Mid to Top lane two seasons ago, Save has turned himself from a reliable player to one of the strongest Top laners in all of Korea. Standing toe-to-toe with Flame in three matches during the group stages and winning two of them, he's been able to push around his opponents in lane and even get a rare one-on-one kill against Flame in one of their games. His stats might not be the prettiest, but his presence across the map is why White Shield are on the doorstep of being a championship contender.
You can catch the action Wednesday at 3:00 AM PST / 12:00 CEST on lolesports.com or OnGameNet's twitch channel.
