OGN: NLB Finals Recap, LoL Masters Preview
Riot·5/21/2014, 10:53:44 PM·0 votes·1,285 views
NLB is not only the backbone for Korean Amateur teams, but a second chance for pro teams to end the season with a tournament win. Last year, it not only gave Najin Black Sword one final victory, but also gave them the crucial circuit points to qualify for the 2013 World Championship tournament. In recent seasons, Sword has found great success at NLB, making their way into the finals four seasons running and taking the top spot twice.
Najin Black Sword may have managed to qualify for the NLB finals four times in a row, but they’ve struggled to compete during Champions, failing to get out group stages in the past three tournaments. Even though they had a team stacked with highly skilled and experienced players, Sword didn’t had unrefined play-calling had difficulty finding team synergy. As a result, the Najin organization made the decision to rebuild Black Sword nearly from scratch – just days before the NLB finals. Suddenly, the only remaining member of the original squad was Cain, leaving the team visibly unmotivated.
It will be interesting to see if the new roster of Najin Black Sword can bring the former OGN Champion back to its former glory. On paper, the new team looks weaker than the previous lineup, but as we have seen in the past, five great players don’t necessarily make a great team.
The playoff season in OGN Masters started this Monday with CJ Entus going up against Najin e-mFire. The first round may have been taken by Najin, but CJ gets another chance on Thursday evening to keep their spot in the playoffs. For Najin this will be the chance to show their old nemesis that they may have lost the NLB Finals, but remain the superior organization. The key factor will be if one of the CJ teams can take down powerhouse Najin White Shield. On Monday, Shield showed once again that they are one of the best teams in Korea. After the current roster had some time to mature, all members showed excellent results and, under the guidance of an experienced player like Watch, Shield rose to the top of the OGN.
In particular, top laner Save’s Kha’Zix proved to be a nightmare for Frost and Blaze to handle. In addition, Najin showed off some of their new players, who made a convincing splash against Blaze in the Masters match. It won’t be an easy task for the CJ teams, but with enough time to prepare and the confidence coming from their NLB win, they’ll have a chance to advance into the semifinal against Samsung.
After they dropped out of OGN Champions and NLB, it looked that the glory of the SKT T1 dynasty was over, and a new ruler would soon reign over OGN. However, it looks as if the dynasty is still strong, as the organization hasn’t lost a single matchup in Masters so far. Even though they didn’t look as strong in Champions, they dominated All-Stars easily, giving them the motivation to come back and stage a massive comeback into the OGN. Can they return from exile and add another trophy to their collection? We’ll find out after the Masters finals.
NLB Spring 2014 - An Icing Chill
The NLB Spring 2014 final was a matchup between two veteran Korean teams. However, despite dominating the scene during their early days, both teams have struggled recently to get into the top tier level of teams like SKT T1 K, Najin Shield, Samsung Ozone and Blue. But nonetheless CJ Entus Frost vs. Najin Sword will always draw a big audience. Frost showed a surprising and strong performance in the early rounds of NLB, beating not only SKT T1 S but also taking out their brother team SKT T1 K in the semifinals. Jungler Swift in particular showed himself the driving force behind the newfound power of Frost, playing extremely well against both SKT T1 K and Najin Black Sword. His incredible play continued during the final match against Sword, where he helped carry his team to 75 circuit points and their first NLB victory. It may have taken CJ Entus Frost a bit of time to recover from their rebuilding, but after NLB, it seems that they are once again on the rise. However, they will need every bit of momentum they can get to keep their chances alive in Masters, where the they’ll face off against Najin e-mFire on Thursday to decide who will advance to face Samsung in the semifinal.The Dull Sword
Najin Black Sword may have managed to qualify for the NLB finals four times in a row, but they’ve struggled to compete during Champions, failing to get out group stages in the past three tournaments. Even though they had a team stacked with highly skilled and experienced players, Sword didn’t had unrefined play-calling had difficulty finding team synergy. As a result, the Najin organization made the decision to rebuild Black Sword nearly from scratch – just days before the NLB finals. Suddenly, the only remaining member of the original squad was Cain, leaving the team visibly unmotivated.
It will be interesting to see if the new roster of Najin Black Sword can bring the former OGN Champion back to its former glory. On paper, the new team looks weaker than the previous lineup, but as we have seen in the past, five great players don’t necessarily make a great team.
Masters - The Rise to the Top of Korea
The playoff season in OGN Masters started this Monday with CJ Entus going up against Najin e-mFire. The first round may have been taken by Najin, but CJ gets another chance on Thursday evening to keep their spot in the playoffs. For Najin this will be the chance to show their old nemesis that they may have lost the NLB Finals, but remain the superior organization. The key factor will be if one of the CJ teams can take down powerhouse Najin White Shield. On Monday, Shield showed once again that they are one of the best teams in Korea. After the current roster had some time to mature, all members showed excellent results and, under the guidance of an experienced player like Watch, Shield rose to the top of the OGN.
In particular, top laner Save’s Kha’Zix proved to be a nightmare for Frost and Blaze to handle. In addition, Najin showed off some of their new players, who made a convincing splash against Blaze in the Masters match. It won’t be an easy task for the CJ teams, but with enough time to prepare and the confidence coming from their NLB win, they’ll have a chance to advance into the semifinal against Samsung.
Samsung - Birthright
As recently as February 2013, Samsung didn’t even have a League of Legends team, but after acquiring a slew of OGN Club Masters veterans, they’re looking to find turn that into success at SK T LoL Masters. This season, they’ve found it, only dropping one match to SK Telecom and getting seeded into the semifinals. If they manage to reach the finals against SK Telecom T1, expect some pre-game banter and trash talking, as Ozone is more than eager to take down SKT.SK Telecom T1 - The Dynasty is Still Alive
After they dropped out of OGN Champions and NLB, it looked that the glory of the SKT T1 dynasty was over, and a new ruler would soon reign over OGN. However, it looks as if the dynasty is still strong, as the organization hasn’t lost a single matchup in Masters so far. Even though they didn’t look as strong in Champions, they dominated All-Stars easily, giving them the motivation to come back and stage a massive comeback into the OGN. Can they return from exile and add another trophy to their collection? We’ll find out after the Masters finals.
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if he comes back with a buff to W speed, then the world will fear Faker like never before :D SKT T1 K dynasty isn't over, it has barely began :D
OPPPPPP