Another exciting week in Korea brought us team comp innovation, a showdown between old rivals and more problems for the bottom three teams.
Despite being an abbreviated week there was plenty of action on the Rift. With each passing game it is becoming increasingly evident which teams are in contention for the title and which will undoubtedly be fighting relegation. Let’s see how the past week shaped the overall power structure in the world’s top league.
S Tier
Rox Tigers (7-0)
(courtesy of OGN)
The Rox Tigers showcased another dominating performance this week. With chaotic team fights, intuitive compositions and superior mechanics, this team is just so fun to watch. Their first comp this week was particularly creative, as they utilized Nocturne’s ultimate to make it near impossible to dodge Ashe’s arrow. This composition was clearly preplanned, as every one of their picks was locked in instantly. We give the players a lot of credit, but certainly this innovation shows the coaching staff is working equally hard. The Tigers did go through a similar phase in 2015 when they were steamrolling teams while they simultaneously tried a myriad of new champions. Yet the Tigers showed an almost nonchalant attitude towards their opponents and the culmination of this was the debacle at IEM. Hopefully they learn from their mistakes and are able to stay focused and take their opposition seriously.
A Tier
SKTelecom T1 (5-2)
(courtesy of OGN)
After a brief run of poor form SKTelecom T1 are finally starting to hit their stride. For the first time in a SKT uniform Lee “Duke” Ho-Seong showed why he is the reigning MVP of the league. In both games against KT Rolster Duke absolutely dominated the Top Lane. Coming into this series Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho had arguably been performing on a higher level than Duke, but that was certainly not the case in these two games. Duke ended both games just above the Flame horizon. It is even more impressive that in Game 1 Ssumday was playing Poppy on which he possessed a 15.5 KDA.
Even though Game 1 took much longer to close out than SKT would have wanted, they more or less manhandled KT. Bae “Bengi” Seong-ung was back to being Bengi as he ran circles around the opposition, gaining deep vision and allowing his teammates to feel safe and free to play aggressive. This was the SKT everyone hoped to see after their triumph at the World Championship. If they continue to play like this it is clear SKT are once again a team to be feared.
B Tier
KT Rolster (4-2)
(courtesy of OGN)
As is tradition, KT Rolster struggled to find their footing against powerhouse SKT. They were simply outclassed in this series. They did show some fighting spirit in Game 1 however. SKT were thoroughly ahead and it looked as if the game had already been won, but KT made some good moves to get back in the match. They hung tough and turned the game into a 48 minute affair before finally falling. However Game 2 was a much different story as KT only managed to take a single tower and net only one kill. Perhaps the players thought “Here we go again” but KT did not look like a real title contender in this game.
This must have been a tough pill to swallow for KT. Before this week there was a lot of hype surrounding this team as a potential threat to the top of the table. Yet KT’s inability to hang with SKT shows they have a lot of work to do. Still they do possess a fantastic roster and have potential in spades. They have another big test this week as they prepare to face the Jin Air Greenwings.
Jin Air Green Wings (5-2)
Despite not playing this week it felt necessary to drop the Jin Air Green Wings down in the rankings after SKT’s fantastic performance against KT. It is becoming clear that if SKT play at the level the exhibited this past week that they are the clear number two team in Korea. Jin Air just does not possess the roster to hang with the likes of SKT in their current form and as such it felt necessary to drop them slightly in the rankings.
C Tier
Longzhu Gaming (4-3)
(courtesy of OGN)
Longzhu Gaming are having quite the tumultuous season thus far. They did pick up a win this week, but it was against the winless Sbenu Sonicboom. Once again Longzhu lost their game with the starting roster, and once again they made three substitutions thereafter. Yet this week the coaches decided to only use the substitutes in Game 2 and let the starting roster close out the series. It seemed to pay off as Longzhu looked much better in the final game of the series.
Who exactly should be starting still remains a mystery. Shin “Coco” Jin-yeong looked particularly awful in his first game as he got caught out on multiple occasions. Yet he looked more like the Coco of old in Game 3, doing 10k more damage than anyone else in the game. Despite the loss both Lee “Chaser” Sang-hyun and Gu “Expession” Bon-taek actually looked fairly solid in each of their matches. The lineup is essentially a game by game decision at this point. This is never a good policy for a player as it most certainly is adding stress to an already stressful situation. The coaches need to decide the starters before playoffs begin or this team will have little chance of progressing late in the postseason. Lustboy and company have a lot of work ahead of them.
CJ Entus (3-3)
(courtesy of OGN)
CJ Entus had another one of their patented 2-1 victories this past week. They can’t ever seem to 2-0 a team, but picking up another series win is really all that matters. Jong “Kramer” Hoon Ha was absolutely massive in their two wins. In each win he amassed more damage the CJ’s solo laners combined. It is starting to seem like his success this season is not solely the cause of Hong “Madlife” Min-gi’s play. He seems to be growing into his role as an AD carry and cementing himself as a real talent in the LCK. It would appear that perhaps Madlife has finally escaped Space prison.
Samsung Galaxy (4-3)
Samsung Galaxy did not play this week. Their upcoming match against CJ will have major implications for potential playoff seeding. This will be a big step forward if Samsung are able to secure a victory.
D Tier
Afreeca Freecs (1-6)
(courtesy of OGN)
The Afreeca Freecs continue to win a single game off of their opponent before ultimately lose the series. This shows that under the right circumstances and given the right champions, they can take a game off of any team. This must actually be encouraging for the players. This gives the struggling team a bit of hope that they have the ability to win a series, and not just against the other two teams at the bottom of the table. The team as a whole seems to have a very positive attitude despite their current predicament. Every game they win produces exuberance and excitement from the players’ faces. Their losses cause them to be disappointed, but not defeated. If they can keep themselves from overextending and getting caught out, they have a real chance to pick up a series in the near future.
E-mFire (1-6)
(courtesy of OGN)
This series against the Rox Tigers went as well as to be expected for e-mFire. They gave Game 1 their best effort and despite the huge gap in skill even gained a gold lead at the 20 minute mark. Yet the Tigers’ team fighting was just too much for e-mFire to handle. The team looked awfully disappointed after their loss, but honestly they had nothing to be ashamed of.
Other than actual mechanical ability the biggest issue with this series was the picks and bans, Game 2 specifically. Giving the Tigers both Nidalee and Alistar as their first two picks is essentially forfeiting the game before it even starts. The coaches need to give their players their best chance to succeed, and this certainly didn’t happen in Game 2. For the players sake hopefully they can bounce back this week as they take on Afreeca.
F Tier
(courtesy of OGN)
Sbenu Sonicboom (0-7)
While Sbenu Sonicboom was able to win a game against Longzhu this week they struggled mightily in the two subsequent games. Their win was solid to be fair. It became quite evident why teams have been banning Lee Sin away from Sung “Flawless” Yeon-jun. He looked fantastic on the champion and was one of the main reasons Sbenu stole a game off of Longzhu. As he is 2-0 on Lee Sin on a team that is really struggling to find wins, don’t expect to see too much more of his Lee Sin mechanics in the near future.
The team overall continues to struggle in most aspects of the game. They lack any sort of vision control and are consistently caught out of position as a result. They are going to have to do some major work in the near future to find themselves their first series win of the season.
