Who: SK Telecom T1 (South Korea, 5-1) vs. Royal Never Give Up (China, 3-3)
When: Friday, Oct. 14 at 6:00 PM Eastern/3:00 PM Pacific
Where: Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois
What's at stake
Royal Never Give Up's Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao's career is coated in silver. He has eight second-place finishes in his illustrious career and is still searching for the major championship that will break him from his seemingly endless string of silver medals. His latest final, in 2014, was against his current teammate and bottom-lane partner, Cho "Mata" Se-hyeong, from juggernaut Samsung White.
Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok was Uzi's opponent in the 2013 Summoner's Cup Finals on SK Telecom T1. While the team rosters have changed over time and the Royal Uzi plays on now isn't the same club as the one he played back then, it'll once again be Faker and SKT T1 vs. Uzi and Royal at the World Championships.
Faker, unlike Uzi, has a career that is only known for gold. Two Summoner's Cup victories, five domestic championships, and other international accolades fill his expansive trophy case. For every time Uzi has been labeled a disgruntled runner-up, Faker has been considered the golden boy of the game, basking in the glory of crossing the finish line first.
Both times Faker and Uzi have made the World Championships in the past, they've made it to the finals. This time, only one will move onto the semifinals to try and make it three straight trips. Either it will be another chapter in Uzi's career where he comes up just short, or, in the biggest win of his career, he'll overcome his greatest obstacle.
Matchup to Watch: Bae "Bang" Jun-sik and Lee "Wolf" Jae-wan (SKT) vs. Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao and Cho "Mata" Se-hyeong (RNG)
This will certainly be the matchup to watch in this highly-anticipated quarterfinal clash. Royal plays almost exclusively through its world-class bottom lane, and SK Telecom T1 might be performing even better through the first two weeks of the tournament. Bang has been arguably the MVP of the competition through the group stages. His 14 CS differential at 10 minutes is six higher than any other AD carry in the bracket stage, and he's outputting 734 DPM, the second-most out of any player in the competition.
"For enemy teams, if they actually heavily focus on our bottom lane, it'll give us a much harder chance to win," Uzi said.
SK Telecom T1, a team known for its dissection of opponents and exploiting their weaknesses, should not fall to the same shortcomings as North America's champion. Uzi and Mata know they are going to be pressured by the defending world champion, and it'll be up to them and the rest of RNG to make sure their star duo can thrive in even the harshest of conditions.