OGN Champions Spring 2014 – Group B Preview
Riot·3/14/2014, 3:27:11 PM·0 votes·478 views
The group stage of Champions has always been the meat of the tournament, where spectators enjoy 48 games of high-quality League of Legends played out between 16 teams. This time around, Group B brings us three veteran teams and one rookie team making their Champions debut. Although admittedly not on the same level of competition as other groups, Group B will be the testing grounds for some of these teams as they get a feel for top-level play.
Heo “PawN” Won-seok
With Samsung officially switching PawN to Ozone for Champions Spring, it's no secret that their performance relative to their second-place finish in Champions Winter will be contingent on PawN's contributions to the team over Dade. While Dade was certainly far from a poor mid laner, his wildly fluctuating performances proved to be a detriment to Ozone's development as a team, and as such, PawN was switched in. Additionally, with jungle superstar DanDy on his side, Ozone's PawN may prove to be the deadliest piece in Group B.
Lim “Violet” Doo-sung
Incredible Miracle #1 have made waves in OnGameNet's auxiliary Masters league, and though they do not hold a winning record, it is clear that IM#1 are no longer the dogged gatekeepers of Champions, but rather a legitimate threat. This is largely due to the influence of AD carry Violet, who has shown incredible mechanical ability and presence of mind during his Masters games. Especially impressive on Caitlyn, Violet and his lane partner BBuing are sure to make waves in Group B.
Baek “Swift” Da-hoon
CJ Entus Frost welcomes their fourth jungler in a year in Swift, which also marks the reunion of the Xenics Storm jungler-mid duo. With the jungler position in Frost being a bleeding wound since CloudTemplar's decline, Frost are thanking their lucky stars that Swift has come in to salvage the ship that has been sinking for over a year. Spectators should watch for his aggressive early ganks on his signature champion Lee Sin, as well as his impressive combination with CoCo, in which both players are seen diving the map to push their team ahead.
Han "Lactea" Gi-hyeon
Pictured on the left, Lactea is Midas FIO's answer to IM#1's Violet – an incredibly talented AD carry who can tear teams apart if given the proper support. As Midas FIO won their way through the Champions Spring qualifiers (even defeating notable teams such as Xenics Storm and Jin Air Greenwings Stealths), Lactea's Draven was especially impressive. Lactea's impressive live debut will remind many of the KT Arrows' Arrow, who is also an admired Draven player.
| Team | Winter Record | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy Ozone | 9-5 - 2nd | ||
| CJ Entus Frost | 4-5 - 5th-8th | ||
| Incredible Miracle #1 | N/A | ||
| Midas FIO | N/A |
What to watch for
Reclaiming Glory Samsung Galaxy Ozone and CJ Entus Frost have one thing in common – they have both come close to being two-time winners of Champions. Frost will remember their loss to sister team Blaze in Champions Spring 2012, in which they bombed out in spectacular fashion with a crushing 3:0 defeat. In more recent history, Ozone walked home with the second-place prize in Champions Winter 2013-14 after a devastating 3:0 loss to SK Telecom T1 K. As the two teams predicted to win Group B, Ozone and Frost will surely come at each other with blades drawn, eager to secure a first-place finish in the group for a more comfortable bracket stage. There's a lot to prove for Ozone and Frost, who watched as T1 K hoisted the Champions trophy last season, being the only team in League of Legends history to do so twice. For these two veteran teams, spring will hopefully bring old glories back. Back In Business For a long time, Incredible Miracle #1 have held the unfortunate mantle of being the gatekeepers of Champions – the team to beat if you wanted to qualify for Korea's most prestigious League of Legends tournament. With a surprisingly solid performance thus far in Masters, IM#1 have finally found a renewed voice in MidKing, who has been performing much better than in previous seasons. A lot of pride is on the line for IM#1, who were ejected from the qualifiers of Champions Winter 2013-14 by the rising Samsung Galaxy Blue. It appears, however, that they have put their season off to good use, training up to become a real threat. A solid performance in Group B against notable teams such as Ozone would likely see IM#1 pass the gatekeeper title to another team.Players to watch
Heo “PawN” Won-seok
With Samsung officially switching PawN to Ozone for Champions Spring, it's no secret that their performance relative to their second-place finish in Champions Winter will be contingent on PawN's contributions to the team over Dade. While Dade was certainly far from a poor mid laner, his wildly fluctuating performances proved to be a detriment to Ozone's development as a team, and as such, PawN was switched in. Additionally, with jungle superstar DanDy on his side, Ozone's PawN may prove to be the deadliest piece in Group B.
Lim “Violet” Doo-sung
Incredible Miracle #1 have made waves in OnGameNet's auxiliary Masters league, and though they do not hold a winning record, it is clear that IM#1 are no longer the dogged gatekeepers of Champions, but rather a legitimate threat. This is largely due to the influence of AD carry Violet, who has shown incredible mechanical ability and presence of mind during his Masters games. Especially impressive on Caitlyn, Violet and his lane partner BBuing are sure to make waves in Group B.
Baek “Swift” Da-hoon
CJ Entus Frost welcomes their fourth jungler in a year in Swift, which also marks the reunion of the Xenics Storm jungler-mid duo. With the jungler position in Frost being a bleeding wound since CloudTemplar's decline, Frost are thanking their lucky stars that Swift has come in to salvage the ship that has been sinking for over a year. Spectators should watch for his aggressive early ganks on his signature champion Lee Sin, as well as his impressive combination with CoCo, in which both players are seen diving the map to push their team ahead.
Han "Lactea" Gi-hyeon
Pictured on the left, Lactea is Midas FIO's answer to IM#1's Violet – an incredibly talented AD carry who can tear teams apart if given the proper support. As Midas FIO won their way through the Champions Spring qualifiers (even defeating notable teams such as Xenics Storm and Jin Air Greenwings Stealths), Lactea's Draven was especially impressive. Lactea's impressive live debut will remind many of the KT Arrows' Arrow, who is also an admired Draven player.