Champions Summer 2015 continues to progress as SK Telecom T1 face off against the KOO Tigers in the third week of the first round robin. While the stakes are not particularly high this early on in the season, these were two of the top three teams in the Spring split and they had previously met up in the Spring finals. Whereas SK Telecom stuttered a little bit out of the gate in Spring, the Tigers came out sprinting and utterly dominated Korea. As the meta shifted towards the end of the season with the introduction of Cinderhulk, the Tigers lost their grip as the number one team in Korea and SK Telecom regained the throne with an immaculate 3-0 performance to cap off the Spring finals, gaining themselves entrance to the Mid Season Invitational. With a disappointing 3-2 loss in the MSI finals against Chinese participant EDward Gaming, SK Telecom returned to Korea aiming to keep that number one spot.

SK Telecom enters this match with a 2-0 victory over SBENU Sonicboom and an incredibly decisive 2-0 stomp of Najin E-mFire. The Tigers enter this match continuing their rocky fall from the top in Spring, dropping 2-1 to Najin E-mFire and taking a 2-1 victory over Samsung Galaxy.

SK Telecom T1

Marin, Jang Gyeong-hwan (장경환)

Bengi, Bae Seong-ung (배성웅)

T0m, Im Jae-hyeon (임재현)

Faker, Lee Sang-hyeok (이상혁)

Easyhoon, Lee Ji-hoon (이지훈)

Scout, Lee Yae-chan (이예찬)

Bang, Bae Jun-sik (배준식)

Wolf, Lee Jae-wan (이재완)

SK Telecom is fueled by a plethora of versatile talents. They have two of the best “subs” that bring distinct styles which makes preparation a nightmare. Being able to swap on the fly between the tactical, slower gameplay of Easyhoon to the more aggressive gameplay of Faker gives SKT an edge almost every team on the planet doesn’t have: two world class mid laners capable of holding their own, and more, against every other mid in the world. Despite the loss to EDG at MSI, both mids showcased phenomenal play in the final.

Their other sub, T0m, is the pupil to Bengi. Bringing a supportive style Bengi is known for, T0m plays far more aggressively, both to the teams detriment and his own benefit at times. While his decision making and engaging has been less than spectacular in his short time with the team, he’s a near perfect canvas for the staff to build up as an eventual successor to Bengi. Faker and T0m have both played in three of the four matches SKT has participated in. Putting Bengi in when they were down 0-2 to CJ Entus in the Spring playoffs and taking him to MSI, it appears that SKT still relies on Bengi in the high pressure, big time situations, while allowing T0m to gain experience in less stressful situations.

As for the other set positions, Marin has shown to be a reliably strong top laner. His performance at MSI was not incredible and while his overall decision making in the past has led to countless extremely preventable deaths, it appears he’s actually worked on the ability to ward and look at the map. His 1v1 play is world class and he possesses a deep champ pool with arguably the best Rumble in the world. He’s one in a very long line of strong, Korean carry top laners.

Bang is the permanent ADC and he did something last split he had truly failed to do in splits prior: be a stand out player on his team. Bang had been known as one of the most consistent marksmen in Korea even prior to the exodus, yet he was always an afterthought. His laning with Wolf through his career on Najin Shield and SK Telecom S has been notable for being extremely reliable. Last split he finally showcased his mechanical ceiling in an absolutely phenomenal Lucian game that stands as one of the most impressive single game ADC performances.

Rounding out the players is the support Wolf. Together with Bang they have proven to be a very solid bot lane. Wolf has been a premier support in Korea over the past year and this season has showcased phenomenal Alistar and Janna gameplay. While his MSI performance was well below his standards, his domestic play has left little question that he is at the top of his class. His sub, Piccaboo, left the team prior to this split so he could recover from a wrist injury. To me, Piccaboo was a much more interesting player, superior in most aspects.

Their final sub, Scout, has been with the team since the Winter 2014 offseason. He’s a mid laner and to my knowledge he is still underage, unable to play, so there’s nothing to really touch on here.

Finalizing the roster, Coach Kkoma, Kim Jeong-gyun (김정균). Being a veteran of the scene, a former pro, and a coach within the SK Telecom organization since their inception in League, he holds a commanding presence among the team. Over his tenure, the SK Telecom organization is a combined 225-127.

KOO Tigers

Smeb, Song Kyung-ho (송경호)

Hojin, Lee Ho-Jin (이호진)

Wisdom, Kim Tae-wan (김태완)

Kuro, Lee Seo-haeng (이서행)

Pray, Kim Jong-in (김종인)

Gorilla, Kang Beom-hyeon (강범현)

KOO Tigers are a team more known for their strategical gameplay and past meta strengths. Cornering the market on pre-5.5 gameplay, the Tigers appeared to be ahead of everyone else in the meta. Abusing the huge mid game spikes champs such as Viktor, Leblanc, Corki, and Rumble show, they knew exactly when and where to strike on the map, completely dominating Korea pre-IEM Katowice. Although they had a less than stellar finish to the season, they still placed second and went a combined 25-9 over the course of the entire split, including playoffs. To put into perspective their overall dominance, for the first nine weeks of the season, the Tigers went a combined 22-2 and did not drop a single set. The talent on this team is clearly there. Whether they can regain that form is a large question though.

Much like Marin, Smeb is a carry oriented top laner and for the better part of his career, he was suppressed by the tank meta, overall strength of the Korean scene, and the lack of teammate quality he had on Incredible Miracle. Finally coming onto the Tigers, he has found himself on a team and in a meta that fits his best attributes. He has shown highly aggressive play and one of the Tigers more notable gameplans revolves around Hojin snowballing top, getting Smeb to his power spikes, and grouping to force their advantages.

Formerly known as Lee, Hojin has been one of the bigger problems points for KOO. Summer 2014 being his first split in competitive play, he struggled, but the potential was there and glimpses of what he could be were shown in NLB Semis vs Najin Black Swords’ sister team, Najin White Shield. Leaving Najin E-mfire to join the then-HUYA Tigers, he immediately started seeing more success overall with the exodus of the top Korean junglers. Through his career he has been known as a decent meta champ jungler. Back in Summer he sported good play on Eve, Lee, Elise; Back in Spring he sported good play on Rek’Sai and Jarvan. He has had a rough time adapting to the Cinderhulk changes, showcasing poor Nunu, Sejuani, and Nautilus play.

With the struggles of Hojin, KOO also picked up former Incredible Miracle jungler Wisdom. Wisdom, like Hojin, was a rookie in Summer 2014. Showing off high mechanical prowess with equally disappointing decision making, Wisdom was extremely hot and cold throughout his tenure with IM. Being a very aggressive jungler, Wisdom would win or lose a game on his own and was a coin toss on which side would show up. He sticks strictly to meta champs, like most junglers, and performs well on most. Decision making and engaging improperly has been the bane of his career. If he could rectify those issues, he very well could be a truly great jungler.

In the mid lane stands Kuro. A versatile mid through his career, Kuro was the pioneer of the extremely strong Viktor pick that helped shape the Spring meta. Like Smeb, he spent a large portion of his career on weak Incredible Miracle squads. As with Lee, he joined the Tigers from the dissolution of Najin Black Sword after Summer 2014. A fairly passive, farm oriented laner, Kuro depends on mid-late game team fighting. He’s shown a large champ pool, fitting almost any meta, consisting of strong Lissandra, Kassadin, Leblanc, Viktor, and Syndra play. He also has a very sneaky Banner of Command Sion pocket pick.

Revitalizing his career, Pray has once again proven why he’s one of the greatest marksmen in Korean history. Sporting a massive 12.91 KDA on Corki through 9 total games, Pray was instrumental in the mid game oriented style the Tigers adopted and mastered in Spring. While the Tigers have fallen off a bit as of late, Pray continues strong with Sivir and Lucian play.

His coming out party occurred in Spring 2014, Gorilla helped guide a fairly lackluster Najin White Shield to the finals against Samsung Blue. Despite the 3-1 loss, Gorilla had proven he had overcome a weaker champ pool and became a true playmaker. Carrying on into Summer, he helped push the same lackluster Shield squad to a Worlds spot. In Spring, he and Pray formed the strongest bot lane in Korea. His champ pool continued to expand from his Thresh and Janna mastery and as such, the Tigers saw more and more success. His ability to make proper picks happen at opportune times has been one of his greatest strengths, as exhibited in his performance against Alliance at Season 4 Worlds where he nearly single-handedly dragged Shield back into the game.

Rounding out the roster, Coach Nofe, Jeong No-chul (정노철). A former Champions jungler for Najin White Shield, he was known as one of the brightest minds in the Korean pro scene. Making up for fairly lackluster individual play, he made up for it in great decision making and overall strong vision control. Retiring from play, he moved on to become the coach for the Tigers and, like Kkoma, commands the team to do as he wishes.



Prediction

I fully expect to see a clean, decisive 2-0 victory by SK Telecom. They have looked incredibly strong since the Cinderhulk patch, helping revive Bengi from the dead, going 17-5 with Bengi since Cinderhulk’s release and 29-7 overall. The meta has pushed the Tigers out of favor and they’ve shown little signs of that changing any time soon. Despite being a top three team overall last split, the Tigers look like they’ll be fighting for just a playoff spot here in Summer if things continue the way they have. Recent resurgence of KT Rolster, the continued strength of CJ Entus and SK Telecom, and wild cards Najin e-mFire, Longzhu Incredible Miracle and Jin Air, all place KOO Tigers is an awkward spot in the Korean standings.

Players to watch will be Hojin/Wisdom, Smeb, and Marin. The Tigers best success, as stated previously, came when Smeb was on a strong carry and was snowballed into an unstoppable monster via jungle pressure which allowed the team to take control over the map in the mid game. Both Hojin and Wisdom are junglers that help make their team go and their pressure on the map will make or break their team. How Marin deals with this pressure will be interesting. Throughout his career, Marin has been very susceptible to jungle pressure, but in their last five contests against the Tigers, Marin has recorded a total KDA of 12-6-40 across two champs, Gnar and Rumble, in five consecutive wins.