For , the story has been very different. The rookie team is having a successful first split in the LCK, only comparable to the early years of SK Telecom T1. Griffin showed a strong performance and found convincing victories against strong teams like Afreeca Freecs and Gen G, but couldn’t take a victory from Jin Air Green Wings in week seven.
In game one, Griffin opted for Teemo and Soraka in the bottom lane. The strategy took Jin Air by surprise and the team couldn’t adapt quickly enough.
The rookies snowballed early thanks to the presence of jungler Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong on the map. The combination of Tarzan’s Sejuani and Shin “Rather” Hyeong-seop’s Oriana gave Griffin the victory.
Jin Air’s coach decided to sub in Eom “UmTi” Seong-hyeon for game two, and it proved to be the right decision early in the game after multiple successful ganks. UmTi was assertive in the jungle and quick to respond to Tarzan’s initiations.
Lee “Grace” Chan-ju was the hero of the game after stealing a baron buff from Griffin. That play allowed Jin Air to win the next team fight and destroy the enemy nexus in the same push.
Game three would decide the winner of the day. Griffin pressured in the bottom lane with help from Tarzan. Jin Air answered by applying pressure in the mid lane and killing Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, but Chovy was able to recover with assistance from Tarzan and Griffin started to snowball again.
It seemed like everything was said and done until Jin Air got back in the game with a baron buff. Park “Teddy” Jin-seong caught Son “Lehends” Si-woo were out of position, and the action kicked off a final team fight that Griffin couldn’t win without its support. Jin Air took the final game and got the points required to avoid relegations.
