Kingzone 1 -- KT Rolster 0
Kingzone DragonX kicked off Week 2 of the League of Legends Champions Korea Summer Split with a 2-0 win over KT Rolster in Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday.
Kingzone (2-1) might have started the split somewhat awkwardly, looking disorganized as Mid-Season Invitational participants do early on, but recovered in spectacular fashion against KT Rolster (1-2). Returning to its tried and true strategy of early lane pressure and heavy roaming from mid laner Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong, Kingzone smothered KT, taking convincing wins in both games despite drafting differing win conditions. Whether it was a Master Yi/Taric combo in Game 2, which in reality was carried by top laner Kim "Khan" Dong-ha's Dr. Mundo, or Bdd's brilliant Aurelion Sol in Game 1, Kingzone always knew where to funnel resources into, leaving KT unable to respond in kind.
KT Rolster was once considered a superteam, and still might be, but looked far from "super" status on Tuesday. From top laner Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho being practically non-existent throughout the series to an underwhelming performance from AD Carry Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu, who struggled heavily as Vladimir in both games, looking uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the new meta. The coaching staff takes its fair share of blame as well, getting out-drafted in both games, but KT simply lacked a spark of life here. It's telling that the best chance that KT had of winning a game was when a Taliyah-bug induced Chronobreak was triggered in Game 1, threatening to completely remake the game and erase a massive Kingzone gold lead, but once things returned to normal after the Chronobreak, there was nothing KT could do ro prevent being blown away.
Kingzone DragonX takes on Afreeca Freecs in a Spring Split finals rematch at 4 a.m. ET on Thursday, followed by KT Rolster looking for redemption against bbq Olivers at 7 a.m. later that day.
-- Noah Waltzer
Afreeca Freecs 2 -- bbq Olivers 0
The Afreeca Freecs easily dispatched the bbq Olivers in a 2-0 stomp to close out Tuesday's League of Legends Champions Korea slate in Seoul.
In case it wasn't already clear, the Afreeca Freecs (3-0) showed why it's considered the best team in the world, clinically dissecting the bbq Olivers (0-4). Afreeca took control early in both games through strong drafts leading to ironclad objective control, bolstered by the flexibility of mid laner Lee "Kuro" Seo-haeng, who has played seven different champions so far including Swain and Lissandra today. Afreeca doesn't just dominate the mental game, though, as everyone on this lineup is capable of stepping up and carrying fights, like top laner Kim "Kiin" Gi-in's Jax in Game 2, who took over the game after winning an 1-vs-1 in the early game. Great understanding of win conditions, flawless execution of those conditions, and crisp teamfighting have become hallmarks of this team, reigning supreme over the rest of the LCK after coming up short in the Spring.
On the other side of this brutal stomp was bbq Olivers, which might just be the worst team in the league. Sure, it's early on and difficult to accurately rank all the teams in a wild meta, but getting stomped in under 50 minutes of combined game time is simply crushing. It didn't matter if bbq drafted standard or wild Master Yi/Taric compositions, it simply couldn't stack up to Afreeca. That's not to say that bbq didn't have anything going for it, as the bottom lane scrapped out a few kills in Game 2, but a plethora of mistakes from everyone, namely top laner Kim "Crazy" Jae-hee and support Lee "IgNar" Dong-geun, ensured that victory remained elusive. It might be too early to hit the panic button if you're bbq, but something needs to be done and soon, or else bbq will continue to get fried in the standings.
Afreeca now turns its attention to defending LCK champions Kingzone DragonX at 4 a.m. ET on Thursday, followed by bbq Olivers taking on KT Rolster at 7 a.m. later that day.
-- Noah Waltzer