Melany M. August 1, 2019
SK Telecom T1 is on an eight-game winning streak.
With the playoffs looming on the horizon, SKT finds itself in a great position after a convincing victory over Kingzone DragonX. The 2019 LCK Spring Split champions moved up to third place with a 9-5 record.
The early stage of game one was all about the junglers. Moon "Cuzz" Woo-chan helped his solo laners while Kim “Clid” Tae-min played through the bottom lane. Both junglers made their presence felt, which kept the game even.
The teams fought around every single objective. In the end, SKT forced their way to the mid lane inhibitor. There, they picked off three Kingzone players and scored the opening victory.
SKT kept the momentum going in game two and dominated the early game. Kingzone would not go down without a fight and found an opportunity to get back in the match around the rift herald.
Kingzone capitalized on multiple mistakes from SKT and punished the over-aggression of Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Unfortunately, Kingzone grew too confident and overestimated their advantage. Top laner Kim "Rascal" Kwang-hee took two one-on-one fights against Kim "Khan" Dong-ha, which saw him get destroyed both times.
Kingzone took a step back and that was more than enough for SKT to take control once again. They secured the baron buff and pushed for the inner turrets.
Kingzone waited for the second baron spawn and went all-in for it. But despite bringing all five players to the pit, Kingzone got kicked out by just three members of SKT. The second baron gave SKT the tools to make the final push and take the series.
This loss results in Kingzone falling down to seventh in the LCK with an 8-6 record, but this could change by the end of the week. Just two wins separate first-place Damwon Gaming from Kingzone, which could make for some big shifts in the standings.