Despite a solid showing from some of the best European League of Legends teams in recent years, this year’s 2015 LoL World Championship Finals will feature two Korean teams fighting for the Summoner’s Cup.

Season 3 world champions SK Telecom T1 (SKT) will face their fellow Korean squad KOO Tigers (KOO) in the Grand Finals match to be played in Berlin next weekend, October 31.

After failing to qualift for the World Championship last year to defend their 2013 title, SKT struck back hard, logging in an impressive undefeated, 12-win streak on the way to finals. Should they triumph over their compatriots, KOO, SKT will bag the singular honor of completing a flawless record in LoL’s most prestigious tournament.

KOO’s road to the finals on the other hand, featured a more tooth-and-nail affair as the number two squad out of Korea featured in many attrition-battles. The team often trailed in gold and experience before taking the initiative and putting away their semi-finals opponents, Fnatic (FNC), in three hard-fought games.

Sweeping all of Europe

SKT bested Origen (OG), a young LCS team created by European vet Enrique “xPeke” Cedeño Martínez. In two of the three games where they played the Korean juggernauts, OG blazed out of the gates quickly in an effort to stymie SKT’s growth.

The strategy was sound. OG looked to take the early game by storm, no doubt emboldened when SKT announced that Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon, substitute midlaner to SKT’s most decorated player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, would play in the first game.

While OG looked to be on even-footing with SKT in the early game, the noose began to tighten as SKT kicked into high gear in similar ways in both games 1 and 2.

SKT clawed back from gold and experience deficits by taking advantage of OG’s weaker late-game execution. In both games where Easyhoon played midlane for SKT, one misstep near Baron or Dragon was all it took for SKT to take the lead.

When Faker finally came off the bench in Game 3, the tide that had been building up for SKT coalesced into a crescendo that finally crushed OG in a quick 20-8 kill lead game in favor of the Koreans.

Against KOO, FNC would take the similar approach, focusing on an early game plan that looked to stop KOO’s game before it can even begin. In game 1, FNC took aggressive midlane and jungle champions in Rek’Sai and Leblanc in an effort to shutdown and assassinate KOO’s top and middle laners.

Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten and Yeujin “Reignover” Kim, midlane and jungler for FNC, took very early kill streaks on Leblanc and Rek’Sai respectively to place KOO on the back foot. However, a combination of fights-gone-wrong and a unfortunate vision bug swung the gold and experience deficits back to the side of KOO, and the team was able to mount a comeback from that point.

Games 2 and 3 featured a change of plans for FNC as the team decided to take a slower approach and fight KOO on even terms. This proved to have mixed results however, as KOO had the better late-game coordination, putting away FNC in three games and eliminating Europe from the World Championships.

The best in years

Despite the absence of a European team in the finals of Worlds this year, fans have much to be proud of as 2015 marks the best year in terms of performance for the European LCS scene.

Not since Season 2 all the way back in 2012 has a European squad managed to find themselves in the top 8 of the League’s grandest stage. Last year, Europe was completely shut out of the top 8, losing their spots to North American teams and Chinese powerhouses.

Although some fans may be less excited for an all-korean finals, this year’s Worlds tournament has showcased some incredible growth in terms of strategy and skill for all competitors involved.

Don't miss out on the latest news and information.

For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.