KSV vs. Afreeca
KSV eSports picked up its third win in the 2018 League of Legends Champions Korea Spring Split early Thursday morning when it outlasted the Afreeca Freecs in a grueling 2-1 series win.
While this series ended up being another marathon that the LCK is quickly becoming known for, it didn't start that way. The opening game saw KSV eSports simply fail to do anything to advance their own position and slowly, very slowly, lost the game for it. Jungler Kang "Ambition" Chan-yon reprised his Rengar performance from last week but didn't translate his winning formula of simply sticking to himself in the jungle into a win. The Freecs easily had the tools to combat this and pushed KSV out the game one structure at a time.
Ambition's performance in Game 1 was enough to prompt KSV to make one of their most desperate plays, subbing in their secondary jungler Park "Haru" Min-seung, who would go on to become the MVP of the series. While Haru certainly didn't bring any more aggression in Game 2 than Ambition did in Game 1, he also chose a champion more suited to a passive playstyle, Jax. It was this passive playstyle that resulted in a 71-minute tilt in Game 2 that saw KSV barely win a late teamfight with a sliver of health on its Nexus before storming Afreeca's base for the comeback win. If the series up until this point was a marathon, the final game was the last sprint over the finish line, as KSV dominated Afreeca in less than a half hour, bringing an end to a series that came dangerously close to ruining KSV's undefeated record.
KSV's decision to switch gears to Haru from Ambition was the turning point and shows why it's currently the best team in the LCK. Haru's ability to focus down specific members of Afreeca was unmatched and allowed KSV to rally behind him in a way that we haven't seen during his previous forays onto the stage. While Ambition was content to simply ride out the early game, Haru was only sated once he'd killed off not only the opposing jungler, but the majority of his lanes as well.
KSV eSports will next take to the rift at 3 a.m. ET on Saturday against Kongdoo Monster and will be immediately followed by the Afreeca Freecs taking on the ROX Tigers at 6:00 a.m. ET.
ROX Tigers vs. Kongdoo Monster
The ROX Tigers took down Kongdoo Monster 2-1 in a harrowing three-game series early Thursday morning to earn its first match win in the 2018 LCK 2018 Spring Split.
It was a series that was full of twists and turns from the beginning, as there wasn't a single game that wasn't hotly contested. While that was certainly a joy for the spectators, it was also headache for both teams, as even the victors left the series unsatisfied. The sting of defeat was especially harsh for Kongdoo Monster, who dropped the opening game of the set by playing substitute jungler Na "U Jun" Yoo-joon in place of starter Oh "Raise" Ji-hwan and paid an immense price. While U Jun managed to right the ship in Game 2, it begs the question whether the results would have been the opposite had Kongdoo Monster simply started out the series with their surging jungler, not the untested rookie.
Be that as it may, ROX weren't passive participants in their own victory, and it took more than simple mistakes on the side of Kongdoo to give ROX its eventual win. ROX mid laner Kim "Lava" Tae-hoon showed off a variety of picks to keep his lane opponent Lee "Edge" Ho-sung guessing all series long. He easily dispatched the veteran mid laner with little fanfare to demonstrate his immense potential. Lava's combination of careful positioning and willingness to pull the trigger when required makes him the most valuable arrow in ROX's quiver, and undoubtedly the reason why they took the series, as his Corki in Game 1 and his Karma in Game 3 were both peerless.
Kongdoo's next match is against KSV Esports, the current kings of the LCK, at 3 a.m. ET on Saturday, while the ROX Tigers will face the Afreeca Freecs in the very next series at 6 a.m. ET.