Melany M. September 3, 2019
Griffin’s jungler Lee "Tarzan" Seung-yong posted a standout performance in the 2019 LCK Summer playoffs finals, but not in a good way.
On August 31, SK Telecom T1 and Griffin competed with the championship on the line, which saw SKT come out on top 3-1. SKT and its players landed in the record books for a variety of reasons ranging from the organization winning its eighth LCK championship, to becoming the first team to win the title in a playoff run that started in the wildcard game.
Tarzan pops up right alongside them, because he posted one of the worst games in professional League of Legends history by dealing just 885 total damage to enemy champions.
That number is surprising for multiple reasons, starting with Tarzan himself.
Griffin is one of the most aggressive teams in the LCK with Tarzan standing as a key part of that strategy. In the regular season, he had 74% kill participation, averaged 6.4 assists per game, and dealt an average of 230 damage per minute.
885 total damage is unheard of for a jungler like Tarzan. His rival, SKT’s Kim “Clid” Tae-min, finished the game with 11,652 total damage, almost 14 times that of Tarzan. To make matters even worse, Tarzan was playing Sejuani, his most-played champion of the regular season, which he enjoyed an 84% win rate on.
Griffin and Tarzan still headed to LoL World Championship
The result is not a reflection of Tarzan’s skills but instead an example of SKT’s preparation for the match. Throughout the game, SKT targeted Tarzan, scouted his pathing, and shut him down. This took the wheels off Griffin and saw them lose convincingly.
As they head into the 2019 World Championship, Griffin will need to figure out how to counter that approach or risk other teams doing the same.
The series wasn't entirely miserable for Tarzan. In game three, he switched over to Elise, kicked the game off with a solo kill over Clid, and bullied him en route to victory. Griffin went on to win the game.
Despite its domestic dominance since becoming an LCK team, Griffin and its players are still considered rookies. They'll have another chance prove themselves and show off how they have developed at Worlds.