SK Telecom T1 took home their fourth Telecom War of the year, sweeping KT Rolster 2-0 today in the 2019 LCK Summer Split. SKT have improved their record to an even 5-5 and seem to be on the rise after a solid showing at Rift Rivals.
Lee “Effort” Sang-ho once again started over Cho “Mata” Se-hyeong at support, and while the young rookie had his fair share of good plays, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok stole the show.
On Corki in game one, Faker kept the lane even into Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong’s Azir while Kim “Clid” Tae-min put pressure on KT’s top lane as Lee Sin. Eventually, Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho cracked and the flood gates opened. After giving over first blood at eight minutes, Smeb was abused in the side lane by all of SKT.
Effectively playing a man down, KT never had a chance to get back in the game. SKT exerted complete objective control across the game, choking KT out of the match. SKT took a measured approach to ending the game by securing Baron, getting inhibs in all three lanes, and acing KT in their base as they stormed home in 30 minutes.
To change things up in game two, Kim “PraY” Jong-in picked up Jinx, but KT still couldn’t get the wheels turning. Bdd’s Zoe never got a chance to lane since Faker destroyed him under tower multiple times in a dominant Azir performance. Smeb also fell behind after Clid focused the top lane to shut down his Camille, and KT were once again left without a win condition.
One teamfight at 17 minutes sealed KT’s fate. Clid landed a perfect Jarvan IV engage at KT’s blue buff, allowing Faker and Park “Teddy” Jin-seong’s Sivir to free hit. After securing Baron, SKT walked into KT’s base and they were helpless to stop the siege.
SKT are now on the road to Worlds and Faker’s end-of-year buff seems to be completely online. Faker has been unstoppable over the last few games, and while wins against Hanwha Life and KT aren’t the best indicators of success, the future is bright for SKT.
Meanwhile, for KT, their 2019 is all but over. The presence of PraY wasn’t enough to bring life back into this bleary squad, and heads will have to roll in the offseason to ensure survival in 2020.
SKT will face Jin Air on July 19, while KT will have a do-or-die series against Afreeca on the same day.
