KT A, MVP Blue the first eliminated from OGN Spring

Written by: Nydra

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As OGN Spring approaches the end of its group stage, it sees its first casualties. In Group A, MVP Blue and KT Rolster faced each other only to be both eliminated at the end of the day, while Group B enjoyed its ninth draw of the season.

Group A

MVP Blue

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KT Rolster A G1: Do or die for MVP

Although on the very bottom of the table, this match-up meant a whole lot for MVP Blue who, at 1-1-2, were on the thin line between playoffs and elimination. No matter what, MVP needed to beat KT Rolster A and although KT haven’t had a victory all season, the blue roster approached this with all seriousness – it was do well or go home for them. The game was still until the 7th minute mark when nine people converged on top lane. What started as a tower dive initiated by KT A evolved into an 8-kill team fight with both teams standing on 4-4 at the end of it.

The opening fight of the game. Five more people will die before this is over, only EasyHoon's Diana surviving

The explosive beginning made for a very dynamic tempo for the rest of the game. Kills and objectives were falling by the minute but neither team would let the other go into too big a lead. Half an hour into the match, KT were but 2K gold ahead, largely thanks to their dragon control and superior farm in mid and jungle. The first major victory for the game was secure by KT Rolster around the 28th minute mark. A Slingshot/Bounce engagement by Kakao caught four people of MVP Blue just north of the rer and the slaughter began. Providing a slipper meat shield, Kakao protected his back line perfectly while Hiro and Zero cleaned house, taking four kills to one. A tower and baron were immediately secured and KT’s gold lead increased to about 10K.

Kakao's Zac engages onto MVP Blue, a major clean up follows

Not taking any risks, KT Rolster player it cool and waited for the next baron spawn knowing they were in the advantage and it’d be harsh for MVP to contest it. Little did they know there wasn’t going to be any contesting at all: a silly facecheck by EasyHoon gave KT a free kill which they embraced into a 1-0. KT Rolster

MVP Blue G2: The support TF

Being in the lead for the first time in many weeks, KT Rolster A’s determination was tangible. Although already out of OGN Spring with 0-1-3 up to this point, KTA wouldn’t go out alone – they would drag MVP Blue with themselves. KTA’s very first order of business was to secure a support Twister Fate and send him top with Varus. While unorthodox at least for the western scene, it paid huge dividends to KT Rolster, giving them two kills before the 3rd minute mark. This onset Hiro’s snowballing and Varus continued to be a growing threat but this was not MVP Blue’s only nightmare. Vitamin’s Rumble was also accumulating kills while keeping himself alive and the kill advantage for KTA inflated more and more. It was only at the 15th minute mark that MVP Blue got their first kill (as Icathian Surprise blew Hiro up after he had scored a double kill on top lane so not a good trade at all) but shortly thereafter the laning phase was done and MVP had to face KTA’s team fighting potential. Said potential was trampling. The first huge team fight came at the 20th minute mark and gave Hiro enough kills to put him to 6/1/3 and with enough money and swag so he can go back and buy Runaan’s Hurricane for more AoE damage. MVP Blue kept trying to put up a good 5v5 but never could they come ahead in any sort of way: KT Rolster were just too fed for a comeback. The next team fight awarded a triple kill to Vitamin’s Rumble as well as an inhibitor and a final engagement came at the Baron pit, followed by a surrender from MVP Blue.

Kennen's ultimate only affects the tanky Rumble and Diana, while Varus and TF live to clean it all up Group B

NaJin Shield

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SKT T1 G1: Shield take the lead

With eight draws and just four 2-0 series, Group B was way more entangled than Group A and the battle between NaJin Shield and SKT Telecom #1 fought in the middle of the table would give a great boost if any of the teams could come ahead. The game began with a sluggish tempo and not until the 20th minute did the low-action atmosphere changed. A huge team fight broke out north of the dragon pit and SKT were all over it. Reapered’s Riven engaged Save’s Kha’Zix in a 1v1 duel to prevent him from going into the fray and get multiple reset while the rest of his team cleaned house and just like that an ace for one was awarded to SK Telecom. A baron and dragon kills followed immediately and the gold account of SKT grew tremendously.

NoFe is quickly taken out. From here, Reapered will peel off Kha'Zix and with Varus out of position, Shield don't stand a chance

The complete turn around came only four minutes later as Shield engaged perfectly onto SKT traded four for two to somewhat lessen the gold gap. The game remained stable for about ten minutes until another big team fight happened south of the baron pit. NaJin Shield lost Leona almost instantaneously without making use of her Solar Flare but through sheer team fighting coordination they still managed to get ahead. NoFe successfully peeled off Raven and StarLast while Rumble, Kha'Zix and Varus won the 3v3 fight, lowering everybody just enough so that NoFe can come in for a triple kill. Knowing this is their chance to make something happen, Shield went for baron a few minutes later, a move that would decide the outcome of the game. SKT reacted timely and charged in to contest the objective but although they got a full channel on Bullet Time, they engaged one by one in the worst possible way, ultimately giving a triple kill to Kha'Zix and a double kill to Expession's Rumble. Shield took the lead 1-0.

Jarvan holds SKT's bot lane by himself north of the fight, allowing the rest of his team to dish out silly amounts of damage

SKT T1

NaJin Shield G2: Yet another tie

Game two also started fairly slow and expectedly so: SKT had gone for a high-damage late game composition and they did their best to avoid reckless early game engagements that would give Shield an unnecessary advantage. The first big team fight broke out at the 24th minute when SKT found a stranded NoFe and picked him up immediately. Smelling blood, they turned towards the rest of the team but all the cooldowns (including Hecarim’s ultimate) they blew on Nasus came back to bite them in the butt. Kiting through Jayce’s Acceleration Gate and blasting SKT from afar, Shield waited for the perfect time to turn around, get an ace for three and give Diana a triple kill.

Jayce blasts SKT, softening them for Diana

While this was certainly a big win for Shield, the game was very far from over. The clock was ticking and SKT’s high-DPS composition was getting stronger by the second. Around the 30th minute mark, Reapered commanded his crew to assault baron and once Shield engaged in response, heads started rolling. The damage coming from Karthus, Vayne and Kha’Zix was too much for Shield to handle and they lost three people in the process, giving SKT the baron and their mid inhibitor. This made the game practically unwinnable. Although Shield kept the gold difference as small as possible, their kiting composition simply stopped working once Kha’Zix’s damage got big enough to one-shot targets and get a reset on his jump. At the 42nd minute, Shield realized there’s nothing they can do and accepted yet another tie.

Shield can't do anything to stop SKT from taking baron Group standings