Samsung White: Redemption

Out of all the teams to have watched from the crowd as SK Telecom T1 K hoisted the Summoner’s Cup at the 2013 World Championship, none took their loss as hard as Samsung White. Jungler and captain Choi “DanDy” In-kyu likened the experience to “[falling] into a bottomless pit”, an apt description given the incredible disappointment that was White’s Worlds performance after a breakout domestic performance. Yet, this year, Samsung White have done one better on last year’s performance, demolishing their opposition on the way to the Grand Final.

Out of the Gates: The Group Stage

Seeded into a relatively easy group against Edward Gaming, ahq eSports Club and Dark Passage, White had a less-than-ideal start. Their first game against Edward Gaming was fraught with positional errors and overextension in side lanes. They may have found victory, but White played with an air of cockiness - the same cockiness that had led them to being aced by 2013’s Southeast Asian second seed Mineski. For the rest of the group stage, however, White would not fall victim to their own mistakes again. It soon became clear that the Samsung White of 2014 was leagues apart from the Samsung White of 2013. As they acclimatized to the world stage, White tightened up their play and pulled out five dominant performances to finish Group A in pole position with a 6-0 record.

Casting Out Demons: The Quarterfinal

White’s quarterfinal matchup against North America’s Team SoloMid was meant to be the most lopsided match of the Round of 8. The match certainly started that way, as White took two fast games in dominating fashion (with Jang “Looper” Hyung-seok’s signature Singed making an appearance in Game 2). However, as White took greater leads, they also took greater risks. Their old demons would catch up with them in Game 3, where TSM found early kills in White’s jungle. White’s decision to draft weak wave-clearing champions would turn against them, as TSM managed to snowball their early lead into their first-ever win against a Korean team. White looked rattled coming into Game 4, and the crisp rotations and flawless vision control of Games 1 and 2 were nowhere to be seen. Despite controlling a gold lead for most of the game, White struggled to cope with TSM’s spirited rotations. Eventually, White rallied to claim a victory off the teamfighting strength of Imp’s Twitch, securing a semifinal berth - one that would likely be a rematch against sister team Samsung Blue.

Victory At Last: The Semifinal

The semifinal round would be White’s third meeting against sister team Samsung Blue in a year, and history was not on their side. In Champions Spring and Summer, White fell to Blue in the semifinal round in two consecutive 3-1 defeats, making this match a particularly important pride point for both teams. As White and Blue were considered the top two teams in the world coming into the semifinal, fans expected a tightly contested affair. White, however, would have none of that. Dominating Blue in every aspect of the game, they found kills all across the map and pushed for three quick wins. Looper even finished the series with a KDA of 54, the highest of any player in a best-of-five in Worlds history. Finally claiming a best-of-five victory over the team that had their number for an entire year, White punched their ticket to the Grand Final. However, as one-sided as the semifinal was, it was unique in that White revealed their hand for the first time in their entire Worlds campaign. Looper’s pocket Akali made an appearance, while DanDy’s feared Rengar came out for the first time at Worlds. The question remains, however: how much more are White hiding from us? Can Looper pull out a tenth champion from his already-massive champion pool? Is there a reason DanDy chose not to play his treasured Rengar earlier? How thick is White’s playbook?

Finishing The Job: The Grand Final

Samsung White certainly have their work cut out for them against Star Horn Royal Club, as the Chinese squad is looking for a first place finish after last year’s loss in the Grand Final. While both teams desire redemption for last year’s failures, it should be noted that White has only had one roster change in the exchange of Bae “Dade” Eo-jin for Heo “PawN” Won-seok, while SHRC’s only Worlds veteran is Jian “Uzi” Zihao. As such, the sting of defeat will be driving White in the Grand Final, while most of SHRC will instead be looking to impress in their first World Championship. Given White’s superior form coming into the Grand Final, the pressure on White will be to perform to their usual standard, and respond to any surprises from SHRC. That being said, however, SHRC is an entirely different beast to any opponent White has ever faced, being an aggressive AD carry-focused team. When White wins, it is almost always due to their ability to convert a strong early game into an increasing gold lead, until they overwhelm their opponents with an item and level advantage. In fact, White finished their first game against Samsung Blue with a 25.4k gold lead, a testament to their ability to snowball a game. To win against SHRC, White will need to exercise their snowball ability, especially when considering SHRC’s tenacity in comeback situations. SHRC have actually claimed a win against OMG with a 9.1k gold deficit, showing that they are a dangerous beast when cornered. Given their performance so far, it is difficult to see White as anything but the favorite heading into the grand final, but this does not mean that they are without flaws. White’s sloppy vision control in Games 3 and 4 against TSM cannot be repeated, or SHRC’s crafty engages will catch them off guard. The key matchup will undoubtedly be the jungle duel between DanDy and former KT Bullet Choi “InSec” In-seok. As DanDy meets InSec in the jungle for the first time in over a year, he will need to draw on past experience in order to get inside the SHRC jungler’s head. DanDy will have to push his counterjungling style to the limit against one of the world’s most unpredictable junglers, as well as prepare for curveball picks such as Fiddlesticks or Pantheon. Having tasted failure on the world stage, White have been able to reverse their fortunes to reach the top once more. Should they win against SHRC, they will achieve the highest accolade in professional League of Legends, and redeem last year’s failures. Samsung White’s quest for the Summoner’s Cup began with their 3-1 defeat of reigning champions SK Telecom T1 K in the Korea Regionals. They now find themselves in the shoes of SKT T1 K, facing SHRC for the biggest match of 2014, carrying the hopes of a region. One way or another, their journey ends here.

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