When you’re down one game in your first match of 2019, what should you do? You bust out the jungle Karthus, of course.
This was Afreeca Freecs’ thought process as they entered game two of their match against SK Telecom T1. It was only a matter of time before Karthus, a champion that saw a spike in popularity all over the map during the preseason, appeared in professional play this year.
Afreeca Freecs veteran jungler Lee “Spirit” Da-yoon has been a huge proponent of jungle Karthus throughout the preseason meta, so when he was subbed in for game two, SKT knew what was coming. “When we saw Spirit swap in, we knew it would be jungle Karthus, so were able to counter it,” SKT jungler Kim “Clid” Tae-min said in the post-game interview.
SKT forced Afreeca into an awkward laning situation by giving mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok Urgot. In order to have their desired matchup of Gangplank vs. Urgot, Afreeca mid laner Son “Ucal” Woo-hyeon was forced to go top lane as Galio. But being stuck top, Ucal was unable to exert much pressure around the map.
This simple lane swap by SKT disrupted Afreeca’s entire teamfight strategy. And without constant four-man teamfights where he could deal tons of area of effect damage, Spirit’s effectiveness as Karthus was drastically reduced. Afreeca never found themselves in a position where Spirit could get more than one kill with his global ultimate, Requiem.
Although they were unable to overcome the SKT dream team earlier today, Afreeca will look to find their first win of the new year on Jan. 20 when they face off against Hanwha Life Esports.
