The stage is set for the League of Legends 2017 World Finals and the matchup features two Korean powerhouse teams in a rematch of last year’s finals. The contestants are Samsung Galaxy, Korea’s third seed, and perennial finals attendees SK Telecom T1, this year’s second seed.

The paths into the finals for our two teams are markedly different. Samsung only dropped one game to this point in their semifinal match against China’s Team WE after beating the then favorites, Korea’s Longzhu Gaming, 3-0. SKT on the other hand has seen both their matches go the distance as they beat EU’s Misfits Gaming and China’s Royal Never Give Up 3-2 in nail biting final games.

SKT have looked noticeably off of their usual dominant form, but even in their weaker state they have shown themselves to be the same immortal SKT from Worlds past. SKT have been tested many times in a best of five series at Worlds but have yet to fail that test. Najin Black Sword in 2013, ROX Tigers and Samsung Galaxy last year in 2016, and every match so far this year have tested SKT, but they haven’t broken. The most important piece from previous years that carries on into the current time is none other than Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Out of the many nearly impossible things the world has seen Faker do, one thing has proven to be impossible so far.

Faker has never lost a series at Worlds. A perfect 3 for 3 on securing the title of world’s best team.

While this year’s team is seeming to lack the polish previously had, SKT has shown they can win the dirty games. The out of sorts, sloppy, poorly executed games don’t seem to weigh on them. As most notably seen in their semifinal match after losing game 3 to go down 2-1 and match point to RNG, AD carry Bae "Bang" Jun-sik looked defeated. His face in his hands, he looked crushed after such a disheartening loss and being put on the brink of elimination again. But after the short intermission, Bang and his teammates looked fresh, as if they were entering the first game of the tournament. To double down, coach Kim "kkOma" Jung-gyun even drafted a composition that put the lion’s share of responsibility for dealing damage squarely onto Bang. With his hyper carry Kog’Maw and plenty of peel from his teammates, Bang played well and helped secure SKT’s victory. To put it simply, it seems as if SKT at Worlds are unable to be tilted.

Mentally strong, their lows aren’t too low, and their highs aren’t too high. This level of mental balance allows them to approach each game within a series as a fresh challenge—the perfect amount of confidence. While Faker is notorious for playing loosely—and borderline arrogantly against weaker opponents—he knows every match at Worlds demands a respectful playstyle and peforms accordingly.

SKT have looked the strongest so far when top laner Seung "Huni" Hoon Heo gets to play his preferred lane bully style and has the ability to split push. While Huni pushes in the waves and threatens inner structures of the enemy base, the remaining four members of SKT have been pressuring neutral objectives and baiting the enemy into taking a 4v5 that more often than not SKT comes out on top. A major key to the success of this strategy has been securing the Galio pick for Faker. With the wave clear, tankiness and global pressure of the Galio Faker can respond to effectively anywhere on the map that his team needs him. The utility granted by his ultimate, Hero’s Entrance, can take what would otherwise be a dead teammate and flip the fight in SKT’s favor. While many elements of SKT’s game have been sloppy their ability to use global pressure to win the games has carried them so far and they will most likely look to the same to take down Samsung.

Samsung Galaxy’s ability to out teamfight and control the pace of the game has been the crucial point of success in their run to finals. They have shown an exceptional ability to stall games when they are behind and allow themselves the chance to fight on their own terms in order to turn the game around. This “bend but don’t break” type defense has worked wonders for Samsung. In the one game Samsung has lost so far, Team WE played for picks and was able to avoid getting into many teamfights and came fairly close to a perfect game. Whether this was a one time hiccup or a weakness in the Samsung strategy has yet to be seen; in the following games, it was more of SSG team fighting to victory.

Support Jo "Core JJ" Yong-in has shown his prowess on the Taric pick and has made it possibly a ban target. His Cosmic Radiance timing has been exceptional and Samsung’s ability to layer crowd control with Taric’s Dazzle shows the Taric was a planned pick and something for opposing teams to fear. Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong has greatly improved his early game impact from the group stages and had some great invades against Team WE. Top laner Lee "CuVee" Seong-jin”s Shen pick has been his most impactful by far as he is undefeated with a 31.0 KDA in 3 games. Samsung is looking strong going into the rematch and they have a strong chance of exacting revenge for last year’s final.

This year’s match, on paper, looks like it will be an even closer match than last year and some may even give an edge to Samsung going in. As SSG showed against Team WE, they are capable of beating Galio compositions fairly easily, granted that was not Faker on the Galio. The familiarity between the teams could possibly open the door to some off-meta, surprise picks in order to deviate from the normal styles. Faker’s champion pool is virtually limitless and SKT could look to a pocket pick from him to open up new strategies. The matchup between Faker and Lee "Crown" Min-ho should be as entertaining as ever with the winner in lane allowing their jungler that much more freedom to influence the map.

Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk has been playing strong and alongside CoreJJ they should be tough opponents for Bang and Lee "Wolf" Jae-wan. With the wide array of support choices that have opened so far through Worlds, expect some interesting picks and maybe some not so expected picks as well. Possibly the most influential matchup in the series will be in the top lane with Huni versus Cuvee. Cuvee has shown the ability to play many styles and Samsung were able to shut down Longzhu’s Kim "Khan" Dong-ha, who was performing extremely well up until then. If Samsung is able to do the same to Huni it could put a huge damper on SKT and could prove to be the tipping point of the series. On the flip side, if Huni is able to beat Cuvee and snowball his lead he could be able to split push to victory or draw the attention of Ambition, freeing up the rest of SKT to take objectives almost freely 4 versus 3. With the series seemingly teetering on a knife’s edge, the play of SKT’s jungle duo of Han "Peanut" Wang-ho and Kang "Blank" Sun-gu may be what decides the series. So far this year coach kkOma has subbed each player in and out to fit the flow of the games to near perfection. If SKT are able to use the two junglers effectively it could tip the series in their favor and result in a repeat of last year.

No matter how the series plays out, one thing’s for sure: LCK Winter Worlds finals never disappoints.

Photo Credits: Riot Games

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