Griffin 2-0 SKT
Griffin continued its unstoppable charge through the League Champions Korea Summer Split as it took down SK Telecom T1 in a convincing 2-0 series Friday morning.
Griffin (5-0) doubled down on its reputation as the most experimental team in the LCK throughout the series and chose to run the misunderstood funnel strategy in both games, with not only a different champion but also a different player taking the lead.
Game 1 featured bottom laner Park "Viper" Do-hyeon's Kai'Sa, which successfully took over the game after more than a few speed bumps were thrown his way. SKT T1 (0-4), to its credit, proved far more adept at countering the funnel strategy than most other teams in the LCK. While Griffin would end up taking the game on the back of some surreal teamfighting from Viper, it did so with no structure remaining save its Nexus.
SKT's relative success in countering the funnel strategy would be short-lived, however, as Griffin happily locked in the Taric and Master Yi combination in Game 2 and proceeded to win in far more convincing fashion. This time it was Lee "Tarzan" Seung-yong who was funneled all of Griffin's resources, but he wasn't the main person would end up carrying the game. Much to SK T1's chagrin, both of its side lanes ended up losing, largely thanks to the heroic efforts of Griffin's support and the series MVP, Son "Lehends" Si-woo. While Tarzan did manage to farm himself up, his team hardly needed him to do so, as both Viper and Griffin's top laner, Choi "Sword" Sung-won, were already game-ending threats by the time the decisive fights unfolded. In the end, Tarzan had but one teamfight to unleash his full power, after which Griffin took the Baron and easily ended the game.
Griffin takes on Kingzone DragonX at 7 a.m. ET next Tuesday. SK Telecom T1 will look to pick up its first win of the season against an equally ill-fated squad, Jin Air Green Wings, at 4 a.m. ET on Sunday.
--James Bates
MVP 2-0 Jin Air
MVP picked up its third victory of the Summer Split on Friday when it pulverized the Jin Air Green Wings in a quick 2-0 victory.
The series showed, if anything, how far Jin Air (0-5) is compared to the rest of the teams in the LCK. There were few things worth commending, as Jin Air lost both games before the half-hour mark could pass. The team's diagnosis in each game was a simple one: it lost every lane. Unfortunately, this has been a hallmark of Jin Air's strategy for the last year, as the team has become famous for sacrificing its other members for the benefit of Park "Teddy" Jin-sung -- a strategy that is clearly not a viable one in the unforgiving 8.11 metagame.
That is not to say, however, that no one on MVP (3-2) deserved praise. An "Ian" Jun-hyeong took full control of Game 1, and his outstanding Zoe play was the primary reason why the game ended in such a one-sided fashion. All it took was for Ian to find a small sliver of a lead and before Jin Air was forced underneath its turrets. Both Kim "Beyond" Kyu-seok's Sejuani and Kang "ADD" Geon-mo's Malphite ensured that Ian needn't wait long for his fishing to bear fruit, as each of them were more than happy to simply dive underneath the turret.
Game 2 was an echo of the first, as once again Ian found himself at the forefront of MVP's efforts. He would not pick away from a distance this time, however, as he found his massive lead on Galio rather than the more team-reliant Zoe, which Lee "Grace" Chanju picked away from him. This made it that much easier for MVP to snowball its lead -- its composition was set up to exploit Galio to its fullest. Beyond's Camille gave Ian a free ride onto whatever target he could ask for thanks to the Hextech Ultimatum synergy with Heroic Entrance. At the same time, Na "Pilot" Woo-hyung's Ezreal laid down even more burst damage, ensuring that no member of Jin Air stood a chance.
Team MVP will go on to face Hanwha-Life Esports on Wednesday at 1 a.m. ET. Jin Air Green Wings will attempt to earn its first win against the only other team in the LCK yet to scrounge up a win, SK Telecom T1, on Sunday at 4 a.m. ET.
--James Bates