KT Rolster will return to the LCK finals stage for the first time in a year after beating the KOO Tigers in a bloody best-of-three.
KT Rolster were the series favorites. But the team’s start was lackluster. The Tigers drafted with surprising heavy-crowd-control composition which forced KT Rolster into a 27-minute surrender.
But Rolster fought back. A close game two turned for KT Rolster when mid laner Kim “Nagne” Sang-moon backdoored the base with champion Diana.
KOO’s marksman Kim “PraY” Jong-in took KT’s No “Arrow” Dong-hyeon’s Vayne in the draft phase. With the pick, Jong-in demolished the KT Rolsters, ending the game with six kills. The series was tied up and it was headed to a game five.
But unlike in the West, Korea’s game fives use blind pick, allowing each team to pick the same champions without knowing the other’s picks. Both teams ended up picking top lane Lulu—but the rest of the picks were completely different.
In the end, KT Rolster powered through the match on Sang-moon’s Azir, Dong-hyeon’s Ashe, and jungler Go “Score” Dong-bin’s Elise. The final game was a blowout and a well-earned victory for the squad. They’ll meet SK Telecom T1 in the finals on Aug. 29.
This may not be the end of KOO’s season, though. If SK Telecom defeat KT Rolster in the finals, KOO Tigers qualifies via Riot Games Circuit Points system—a new addition to the qualification methods in 2015. Thanks to a second-place finish in the spring and now a third in summer, it’s likely the Tigers will represent Korea at the 2015 World Championships.
If KT Rolster upsets SK Telecom, though, the Tigers’ only hope to make Worlds is via the Regional Gauntlet. In that case, KT Rolster would take the first place qualification and SK Telecom would auto-qualify via the highest amount of circuit points. KOO would automatically place in the final match of the Regional Gauntlet thanks to its circuit points.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr | Remix by Jacob Wolf
