2014 League of Legends World Championship Finals Preview
Finally, after a month of pure League of Legends action, we arrive at our destination: The Sangam Stadium in Seoul, Korea. What was once the venue for the 2002 FIFA World Cup will now be host to one of the grandest spectacles in e-Sports today. Who will lift the Summoner’s Cup? Which of the top teams in their respective regions will prevail? We hope to shed some light on that today, with a look at the finals match-up between Samsung Galaxy White and Star Horn Royal Club.
The Kings of Korea
There’s a reason all-star teams exist nigh exclusively in fantasy leagues – if they were real, then they’d have an almost unfair advantage over other teams. Samsung White, however, are the closest thing to a League of Legends all-star team. At this very moment, there is little to deny the reality that Samsung White is comprised of the best 5 players in each role coming out of Korea.
The results are staggering. White did not drop a single game in the Group Stage, and each of their 6 wins were stomps of varying degrees. White looked to be making quick work of Team Solo Mid in the quarterfinals, only to be taken aback – by their own hubris of picking an inferior team composition. Since that one loss, they regrouped to vanquish TSM and utterly destroy their sister team, Samsung Blue, in the semifinals.
The scariest thing about White is that they seemed to save their true strength for the semis, and now that they’ve been unleashed, the team that previously bested them twice couldn’t even get a ward in edgewise, as White mercilessly killed the members of Blue over and over, ending the series with an insane team KDA of 10.1.
The Royalution
For a second year in a row, Royal Club have made the World Championship finals. AD Carry Jian “Uzi” Ji Hao is the only member remaining from last year’s squad, making him the first player in League of Legends history to make back-to-back finals appearances.
While an impressive feat, let’s remember that last year, Royal were coming in as underdogs against SK Telecom T1 K, a team that steamrolled the competition to get to the finals much in the way that White have done this year. The Royal revolution was cut short in a finals stomp by SKT, and while Royal are looking much better this year, the mountain they have to climb is still impossibly high.
Nevertheless, they have shown heart and determination, suffering only 1 loss in their group and thoroughly manhandling the top seed of the GPL and Season 2 champions, the Taipei Assassins.
Their quarterfinal and semifinal bouts were all about Chinese dominance as both their series against Edward Gaming and OMG went the full 5 games. Royal had to bite and claw their way to reach this point, but their relentless aggression, raw talent, and sometimes downright unpredictable shows of brilliance have carried them through.
If there was ever a David and Goliath finals match, it would be this. White’s immaculate, seemingly effortless roll into the finals, up against a battle-hardened Royal that carved a bloody swath to the top. Let’s see how each of these players stack up, going from the top of the map to the bottom.
Top Lane: Looper vs. Cola
This head-to-head is all about Jang “Looper” Hyeongseok. While Jiang “Cola” Nan has done what was required for his team, he’s posting some average numbers. He has an uninspiring 3.3 KDA, and on only 5 champions, with Ryze being picked 6 out of the 16 games he’s played.
Looper on the other hand has played 9 champions, displaying the deepest champion pool that’s actually been utilized at Worlds. Whether it’s standard meta tanks Like Maokai and Alistar, or assassins like Kassadin or Akali, you never know what Looper will play, only that he will be devastating on it.
He is a master of the Teleport summoner spell. It seems that every time he uses it, his team either wins a fight or takes an objective. The scariest thing is that while top laners are usually initiators, sponges, and sacrificial lambs for their team, Looper is 1 of only 3 players in the entire tournament to have a KDA higher than 10 at this point, clocking in at the highest: 12.9. This one is no-brainer, and the edge is clearly with White in the top lane.
Jungle: DanDy vs. inSec
What a road it’s been for Choi “inSec” In-seok. After failing to find success while in the KT organization, he left his country to seek a glory in China. Though he was met with derision for this move by Korean fans, it doesn’t change that his aggressive mindset and wildly unpredictable ganking style fit right in with Royal Club, catapulting the team to top 3 finishes.
Finally proving that he’s on the best team in China, inSec’s deep champion pool is a big asset, producing wins with a surprise Pantheon and Fiddlesticks in the semis. That he gets to play in front of his home crowd while waving a foreign banner is the ultimate statement that he has succeeded against all odds.
His opponent however, is Choi “DanDy” In-kyu, the Prince of Thieves. DanDy’s Rengar was unleashed in the semifinals and he was every bit the animal that his champion appeared to be. He posted an 8.5 KDA, systematically shut down the enemy jungler, and controlled the flow of the game for his team. If there’s someone that can match inSec’s aggression, or rather, make it so the aggression never even happens, it’s DanDy.
What DanDy lacks in wide champion pool, he makes up for in mechanical superiority on the champions he does play, barring Lee Sin as both junglers have signature moves on the champion. His vision control is also unmatched, not just by inSec, but by every jungler he’s faced so far. The Prince of Thieves indeed, as while this is a close match-up, DanDy narrowly steals the advantage for White.
Mid Lane: PawN vs. Corn
Before the semifinals, it would be easy to dismiss Heo “PawN” Wonseok as a passive mid laner that simply knew when to roam and group with his team when necessary. However, the amount of solo kills he has gotten this tournament is suprising, if not overly impressive. Bae “dade” Eojin giving him the General’s jacket means that PawN is now crowned the King of Korean mid laners, and is possibly the best Jayce in the world right now.
On the other side, Lei “Corn” Wen is still rather easy to dismiss. PawN is only second to Looper in terms of KDA. If we take out Corn’s only significant performance in the semifinals, a terrifying Ryze pick in the 5th game against OMG, his overall KDA is an uninspiring 6.1. PawN has been more consistent, and as of his semifinals showing, much more capable of flipping the switch as well. It seems both of White’s solo laners have the significant edge.
Bot Lane: imp and Mata vs. Uzi and Zero
While it’s true that Gu “imp” Seungbin has scored two pentakills in this tournament alone, much of his success can be credited to his faithful support, Cho “Mata” Sehyeong. Mata is the undisputed vision king, knowing exactly what to ward, when to ward it, and how to maintain vision for his team. His lightning quick reactions to dives onto imp have also saved his AD Carry from otherwise certain death.
On the other side we have Uzi and Yoon “Zero” Kyungsup. While it’s often said that an AD carry is only as good as his support, for this particular duo, the opposite is true. Zero has only one job: to make sure Uzi stays alive. If he accomplishes that, the unmatched playmaking ability of Uzi will do the rest.
Uzi still leads the kill board with over 100 kills earned in the tournmanet so far, and this is due to his next level mechanical mastery. He knows exactly where to be, when to dive in for the kill (and still come out alive) and exactly how to escape otherwise insurmountable odds. With this alone, Royal have the edge, even just barely, making this their only viable point of power against White.
The Verdict:
There’s no denying Royal Club are a great team, but the task they face is nearly insurmountable. The fact that they are outclassed at nearly every position certainly doesn’t help their chances in the least. With top, jungle, and mid squarely in White’s favor, the head-to-head player results would likely mirror the outcome of the series.
Samsung White 3 – 1 Star Horn Royal Club
A word of to the wise: while a win for White is highly probable, stranger things have happened at this World Championship. The number of monumental upsets we’ve had proves that nothing is set in stone. Whether or not the miracle happens for Royal Club remains to be seen, but what you can be sure of is that there will be epic League of Legends matches to be played this Sunday.
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