Korea and Taiwan Meet Again at Rift Rivals
The League Master Series finished the group stage with a poor 2-6 record. On the other side of the rift, the League Champions Korea teams finished at an even 4-4. These results were an early indication of how one-sided the semifinals would be.
KING-ZONE DragonX AD carry Kim “PraY” Jong-in and support Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon showed their dominance from the beginning. A strong pushing bottom lane gave Han “Peanut” Wang-ho the freedom to invade LMS team Machi’s jungle camps without retaliation.
Four minutes into the game, Peanut used a little help from Kim “Khan” Dong-ha to secure an early first blood. Khan would continue to control the top lane with multiple solo kills.
Khan and Peanut became the key to KING-ZONE’s victory with assertive invades and 17 kills across the map. The deadly combination of Khan and Peanut, plus a 20 thousand gold advantage, resulted in the first game going to the LCK squad.
The second match would see the strongest LMS team and the weak link from the LCK, as Flash Wolves jumped into the fray against SK Telecom T1.
Flash Wolves showed an aggressive style with ganks and invades all across the map. This formula had worked for the team to this point, but SKT was prepared.
Jungler Kang “Blank” Sun-gu and mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok surprised with fast rotations that stopped Flash Wolves in their tracks. With meticulous vision control and a lot of patience, SKT wore down Flash Wolves to capture the second game and another point for the LCK.
KT Rolster put the final nail in the coffin in game three against the LMS’ G-Rex. Son “Ucal” Woo-hyeon set the game into motion after a solo kill in the mid lane five minutes into the match.
Ucal’s early advantage allowed him to roam bottom, snowballing KT’s gold lead into objectives. With eight kills and seven assists, Go “Score” Dong-bin opened the game up for KT.
Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu and Cho “Mata” Se-hyeong consistently kept up the pressure in the bottom lane and the G-Rex squad never looked to stand a chance.
The LCK teams will now go on to face the Chinese LPL teams in a rematch of the 2017 Rift Rivals final.
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