On the 31st, League of Legends will crown their Season 5 champion, and with the potential for the first repeat champions, this finals has a great story line. There is a lot more than that, and for those of us that may not heavily follow the LCK, we have a great article to give you a deeper look at SKT and the Koo Tigers. Over on goldper10.com, Xmeik gives us some back story and heasd to head match ups:
Going into the matchup, it should be an alluring final with an even more compelling storyline. These two teams have been the most dominant Korean sides this season, with the then-GE Tigers coming out of nowhere to dominate the LCK Spring Split until the final against, of all teams, SKT T1. This changing of the guard marked yet another era of SKT T1 dominance over Korea. Although KT Rolster temporarily gained a foothold over the re-branded Koo Tigers as Piccaboo revolutionized the way KT used vision, Smeb and his Koo Tigers squashed this notion in the Worlds Quarterfinals. Not to mention, the formation of these teams adds another ripple to their storylines.
The Koo Tigers are the band of outcasts, thrown away from their former teams. Smeb was discarded from the Incredible Miracle organization, while Pray, Hojin, Gorilla, and Kuro were all no longer part of the new Najin team after the removal of sister teams. Bonding together as a group of friends, they decided to form their own team. Dominating the spring split, this gang of rejects introduced new strategies and picks, most notably the “Juggermaw” strategy that they developed. The Tigers are also responsible for the popularization of the mid Viktor pick, with it becoming nearly synonymous with Kuro.
On the other side of the rift, SKT T1 consists of six impact players (yes, Easyhoon counts), four of which were part of SKT T1 S, the lesser of SKT’s two sister teams last year. In the 2014 Summer Split, SKT T1 S, much to the anguish of fans, only was able to master one style of play, using Easyhoon’s Ziggs to drag games out for what seemed like an eternity. Marin, who was heralded as the next great Korean top lane talent, never even scratched at his potential. Although they ended up finishing 4th in the summer split, their placement was largely due to a lucky bracket draw. This season, they kept nearly the same roster, bringing over Bengi and Faker from their other team and adding T0M as a sub. The infusion of Faker’s aggression and Bengi’s intelligent jungle pathing took pressure away from the rest of the team, allowing for them to develop as players and become major threats on the SKT T1 lineup.
A rematch of the Spring split has been a long time coming, and on paper, it looks like the results might be the same. Check out Xmeik’s head to head match up and the full article here. Get to know these teams and watch the finals coming up on Saturday!
