Melany M. March 22, 2019
SK Telecom T1 secured a convincing win over Sandbox Gaming and is looking strong heading to the playoffs.
SKT looks to be back to its former glory. The three-time world champion is heading to the playoffs as a strong contender for the LCK spring title. A victory against Sandbox puts SKT in second place, a position they’re likely to keep through the rest of the regular season.
Games one and two would be defined by plays around the baron pit and SKT’s patience. In the first game, Sandbox grew a significant gold advantage and secured four elemental drakes. Still, SKT waited patiently for the right moment to counter.
That opportunity came 26 minutes into the game when SKT secured four kills in a frantic fight in the mid lane. As the game progressed, Sandbox’s early advantage became irrelevant since SKT’s composition scaled better late.
The final nail in the coffin came from SKT jungler Kim “Clid” Tae-min on his signature Lee Sin. The jungler stole the baron right from Sandbox’s hands and later secured a second baron buff. Powered up by the purple worm, SKT marched victoriously into the enemy base.
Game two went in a similar fashion with Sandbox dominating the early game. This time, SKT went for comfort picks including Fiora for Kim “Khan” Dong-ha and the safe bottom duo of Ezreal and Tahm Kench for Park “Teddy” Jin-seong and Cho “Mata” Se-hyeong. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok prioritized Lissandra, a champion he has frequently gone to in 2019.
Sandbox had an edge with bot laner Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun powering up on Jinx, but it wasn’t enough to stop Teddy and the SKT charge. Clid on Rek’Sai had a strong presence across the map and the jungler proved lethal with his roams. SKT secured an early baron buff and went in for a relatively quick win at 30 minutes.
This result puts SK Telecom T1 comfortably in second place in the top Korean league, while Sandbox Gaming drops to fourth.