KOO Are You? The Tigers' Summer Streak
It's been a interesting year for the KOO (formerly GE) Tigers. Darlings of SBENU Champions Spring 2015, KOO ran rampant over Champions as the rest of Korea struggled to adapt. Their meteoric rise accompanied an 11 set win streak for their roster of familiar faces before faltering at IEM Katowice and falling to Team WE.
After the loss, the Tigers returned to Korea determined and quickly locked up the highest seed in the 2015 Spring playoffs. However, their final regular season set resulted in an 0-2 loss to SK Telecom T1. SKT would further crush the upstart Tigers in a 3-0 Spring Finals drubbing, one of the most lopsided Champions Finals to date.
Spring has given way to Summer. Gone are the bunny ears, the seemingly bottomless uniform closet, and one set roster of five. Also absent are KOO's traditionally lackluster early game and singular style.
A Rough Start
In their experimental journey to move beyond their one-note playstyle, KOO struggled in early SBENU Champions Summer 2015. Losing three of their four first series, KOO's Summer debut was far less impressive than their dominant Spring sweep.
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"Our schedule had us playing the bigger teams early and facing less difficult opponents as we moved towards the end of the round. We had to secure the victories as we got to the end," said KOO Tigers AD carry Jong-in "PraY" Kim in a post-game interview.
While it's true that KOO faced the tougher opponents of NaJin e-mFire, SK Telecom T1, and CJ Entus, the team as a whole looked shaky. In Spring, KOO was lauded for turning a team of has-beens and former superstars into one of the best teams in Korea. By Summer, these same players again appeared to be past their prime, while other teams of veterans -- CJ Entus and NaJin e-mFire -- were ramping up.
Wisdom In Measure is KOO's Greatest Treasure
Tae-Wan "Wisdom" Kim was yet another player who hadn't worked out on a larger, more established organization. The jungler for Incredible Miracle since May 2014, Wisdom showed off strong mechanical prowess in 2015 Champions Spring -- occasionally suffering from poor decision making -- and was a bright spot on IM's unsuccessful Spring run.
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Meanwhile, KOO's jungler Ho-Jin "Hojin" Lee struggled, like many junglers in the region, to make sense of Cinderhulk post patch 5.5. Once a playmaker on Jarvan IV, Rek'Sai, and his staple Lee Sin, Hojin faltered on the tankier Sejuani and Nunu. Following a dismal Finals performance for Hojin, KOO turned to Wisdom.
Wisdom and Lee's early skirmish styles are a bit similar; however, it's Wisdom who has had more of an impact on solving KOO's early game issues. Where KOO had previously relied on making it into the mid and late game before fighting as five to win, Wisdom granted them much needed early pressure.
How Good Are the KOO Tigers?
According to KOO support Beom-hyeon "GorillA" Kang, Wisdom's addition and newfound synergy is the secret behind KOO's more recent success.
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"We bolstered our roster with another teammate. Our teamwork has not been polished until recently. It feels like our teamwork is getting better as time passes, so I think that improves our results as well."
With KOO joining the rotating roster club, they were able to shrug off their sluggish start by going on an 8-0 tear through the mid-season. Seemingly bolstered by the ability to swap between both Wisdom and Hojin, improved play from both mid laner Seo-haeng "KurO" Lee, and KOO's ability to send resources to top laner Kyung-ho "Smeb" Song, they've found their groove and steadily climbed in the standings.
KurO has been particularly strong. Second only to SK Telecom T1's Sang-hyeok "Faker" Lee in the overall Champions Summer mid lane KDA standings, KurO has crushed his opponents on Varus and Viktor. And now, as we head towards the Playoffs, he'll be looking to step his game even further.
Who's Afraid of SK Telecom?
KOO was handed their final chance to overtake the surging SK Telecom T1 in the regular season this past week, and were unceremoniously swept 0-2. Faker emerged as the undisputedly superior Viktor player over KurO, the kill score was a lopsided 47-15, and KOO was only able to take three turrets off of Korea's top team.
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While SK Telecom T1 rampages through Korea, KOO are also feeling pressure in the Summer standings from KT Rolster, who have also recently been performing well with the recent addition of support player Jung "Fixer" Jae-woo. Still, KOO presents a more consistent image than KT and other close counterparts.
Previously, KOO had been seen as a one-note, five-man teamfighting team who needed specific conditions, champions, and preparation time to play their best. With a bit more diversity in the jungle thanks to Wisdom, and ample time following their recent loss to SKT, KOO now looks to improve further before taking on the SK Telecom T1 titans again. Just make sure you don't miss any of the Playoffs action right here on Lolesports.
