The Korean post season differs from its Western counterparts. Whilst the west prefers a standard bracket system, the LCK opts for the gauntlet system. In the gauntlet, the 5th place team must attempt to consecutively defeat every team above them in order to be crowned the champions of the Spring split. However, should they fall their conquerors would take up the mantle and attempt to battle their way to Skt, who await them as the final boss.
The first stage of the post season is technically known as the wildcard match. Fifth and fourth battle it out to determine who will run the gauntlet. As such, Friday saw the Afreeca Freecs (Rank 4) and MVP (Rank 5) face off in the wildcard Bo3 Series. MVP and Afreeca have been more than neck and neck this season. It took a tie breaker game earlier on in the week to separate these two teams where Afreeca put on an empathetic performance to claim the fourth seed of the tournament and this, preferential side selection in games 1 and 3. However, the manner of MVP’s defeat was so lackadaisical, the question begs to be asked, were MVP holding back?
Game 1
Picks and bans began with nothing out of the ordinary. MVP took Lee Sin away from Spirit whom has had plenty of success on the champion as of late. However, any series featuring the LCK’s most creative two teams would always have a twist as MVP lock in Jarvan for ADD up in the top lane.
The game would begin in favor of Afreeca as Spirit’s early visit to the bot lane would pick his team up first blood onto MVP’s Varus. However, although his return visit would claim a second kill onto the ADC, Afreeca would grossly overstay in an attempt to claim first brick, giving up two kills as they were routed on the retreat. Afreeca would later claim first brick on the 18th minute. However, the price would be grievous as once again, they over press the issue and give up two kills as well as a return tower over to the MVP side.
25 minutes of play saw Afreeca attempt to gain an edge by starting up an early Baron. MVP are late to trickle into the fight and as such, Afreeca lose only Marin in exchange for the big purple worm as well as kills onto Syndra and Lee Sin. As the game edges slightly past half an hour, the game look to be all but over as Afreeca make pick after pick to find themselves knocking onto the nexus towers as MVP prepare for their last stand. However, the relatively short death timers would mean that MVP would hold and save a singular nexus tower on a sliver of health as Afreeca, for once, decide to back off. However, perhaps the call came too late as MVP push out and immediately set their sights on the Baron.
With Kuro still being down, Afreeca were forced to fight 4 V 5 as MVP fight their way back into the game with 3 kills as well as the objective. Stabilizing and bringing the gold to only 1 K apart, 41 minutes of game play had MVP once again starting the baron. Spirit would be the hero for Afreeca as he made it into the pit to smite away the Baron, but indecision from the AF team would see them mill about aimlessly around the area as they lost Kuro, Marin and Kramer to the pursuing MVP team. 42 minutes in and with a 3 man advantage, MVP waste no time at all in simply charging up the mid lane. And despite having spent the majority of the game behind, Ian picks up his delayed Penta and guide MVP to a 1-0 lead in this series.
Game 2
MVP abandoned the smoke and mirrors for game 2 as they immediately first pick the Jarvan. However this frees up Lee Sin for Spirit as both sides trade junglers. Afreeca enter the match with, barring junglers, the exact same team comp whilst MVP does so as well after also replacing the banned out Zyra with Thresh. Max and ADD once again stray from the Meta as MVP load into the rift to see if they can close out the series.
Elise would once again secure first blood as a blood thirsty Kuro flashes blind into the MVP jungle in pursuit of Ian only for Beyond to catch him unawares and claim his bounty. However, Afreeca would edge themselves back into the game with back to back skirmish wins up in the top side of the map. However, back to back losses on the bottom side of the map meant that the gold lead would swing back over to MVP albeit, only a minor lead at best. MVP would start to pull away as Afreeca fail to learn from their Game 1 woes and once again, over commit for first brick.
This time, the punishment was sever, they fail to take the tower and lose 3 members to a coordinated MVP collapse. The game would remain largely in the same state until twenty minutes in when Afreeca, surprisingly, over stayed their welcome MVP’s mid lane outer turret. The subsequent chase led to the loss of Tusin’s Lulu and MVP turn immediately onto the Baron. A 4 man AF lineup would make a valiant attempt to contest the objective, however, the big purple worm would be secured by Lee Sin as split focus from the Afreeca lineup meant that MVP would also pick up three more kills as AF are routed. It took Afreeca only 2 minutes from losing the Baron to find a 5 man collapse onto 3 members of the MVP squad. A good fight to take had this been a regular game, however, at this point, the gold lead was rapidly approaching 10K and 3 members of the MVP team are able to hold their own as their team mates soon arrived and AF lose three more members. MVP’s dismantling of AF would soon complete as they initiate a fight onto Marin, of all people, promptly delete him and scour Afreeca off the rift, bringing their nexus tally to 2-0.
Although some might argue that MVP were not necessarily always the better team tonight, they were better where it counted. MVP functioned better together as a team and punished Afreeca’s over aggressive plays with ruthless efficiency. The question is, can they withstand the tide of Kt?
Final score: MVP 2 – 0 Afreeca Freecs
MVP
My series MVP would go to MVP Ian for his performances on Syndra. Outputting the highest damage in game 1 and the second highest in game 2, Ian did far more than simply ‘press R’. Instigating fights with long range E snipes, peeling alongside MVP’s back line and absolutely destroying members of the Afreeca Freecs with unleashed power, Ian was devastating on Syndra. Although falling behind in the 1 v 1 against Kuro, who had the counter pick, Ian did well to fight his way back into the game. Immaculate positioning in team fights meant that he was difficult to pin down and stayed relevant in game 2 despite being bereft of a huge gold lead.
After thoughts
Despite starting the season extremely poorly, Afreeca’s vast improvement over the last few weeks had had many hoping for a deeper run into the gauntlet. As such, although not ending their season the way they might have hoped, Afreeca have developed into a force to be reckoned with and can confidently set their eyes on a Worlds Berth come the Summer. MVP, on the other hand have every right to be jubilant. In a split where many other teams have assembled world shattering ‘Super Teams’, these 5 have stuck together and built up trust and synergy. And it has shown. Where Afreeca have been aimless and uncoordinated, MVP were precise and of a singular mind. They advance to the first stage of the gauntlet as Kt look to pay them back for the humiliating defeat they had suffered at MVP’s hands not a month ago.
Remaining Schedule
Quarter Finals B05: Tuesday 11th of April
Kt Rolster vs. Winner of Wildcard
Semifinals B05: Saturday 15th of April
Samsung Galaxy vs. Winner of Quarterfinals
Grand Finals BO5: Saturday, 22nd of April
SK Telecom T1 vs. Winner of Semifinals
Written by Filbert Goetomo
Image credit: lolesports
