After eight-and-a-half weeks of going undefeated, South Korea’s best League of Legends team has lost their first series of the 2016 season.
The 2015 World Championship runner-up ROX Tigers lost 1-2 to fellow top tier Korean squad Samsung Galaxy in the League Champions Korea (LCK) this morning. This is the second time the two teams have faced off this season, with the Tigers winning by a significant margin eight weeks ago.
The upset comes as we approach the end of the LCK regular season and teams prepare for the playoffs. Samsung Galaxy managed the win in part thanks to revitalized jungler Kang “Ambition” Chan-yong on Graves and Kindred in two of the series’ matches. Rookie mid laner Lee “Crown” Min-ho also had stellar performances on Lulu and Cassiopea.
Last season Ambition moved from the mid lane to the jungle, seeming sluggish while on CJ Entus. In the first game of today’s series against the Tigers—which Samsung lost—he also played extremely poorly on Nidalee, but managed to bounce back in game two and three.
The Tigers still hold first place in the league, now with an 11-1 record. Below them are longtime Korean competitors Jin Air Green Wings, KT Rolster, CJ Entus, and Samsung Galaxy. The 2013 and 2015 World Champion, SK Telecom T1, is in quite the slump—currently sitting in sixth place despite winning the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship Katowice tournament last weekend.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr (All rights reserved, used with permission)
