KT Rolster avenged their early season loss to SK Telecom T1 with a 2-1 reverse sweep victory earlier today in what was the second Telecom War of the Summer Split.
With playoffs quickly approaching, this installment of the Telecom War had more than just pride on the line. For SKT especially, who are far from playoff contention in seventh place, any and all match wins are essential in order to overtake the teams ahead of them in the standings.
KT Rolster took today as an opportunity to debut their substitute top laner Hwang “Kingen” Seong-hoon—at least for game one. Although Kingen’s play wasn’t awful, it became quickly apparent that without their captain Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho KT’s macro play and teamfighting lost much of its luster.
Smeb’s absence was best exemplified near the end of game one, when KT was completely at the mercy of SKT mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok’s realm warps as Ryze. Not only were SKT able to sneak the Baron thanks to Faker’s realm warp, but they completely crushed the following teamfight thanks to the mobility gained from the ultimate.
Despite Smeb’s return in game two, KT didn’t immediately dominate the rest of the series. Instead it was SKT who continued to have the edge marcro wise, as they were able to take almost every objective.
SKT’s downfall came during their attempt to sneak yet another Baron. KT, noticing SKT at the Baron pit, were able to steal the objective thanks to an amazing smite from their jungler Go “Score” Dong-bin. With the Baron, KT completely turned not only the game around, but the entire match.
KT rode the momentum from their comeback victory into game three, where they dominated both the mid and bot lane. Unlike the previous two games, KT found countless picks which they used to further their vision. That in-turn let them catch out even more players from SKT.
Now fourth place in the LCK standings after today’s win, KT will return to the LCK on July 21 when they face the league’s first place team, Griffin.
