SK Telecom T1 blanked by Griffin, slip to 9th place in LCK

SK Telecom T1’s slide continues.

The storied organization suffered from a tough week three in the LCK 2019 Summer Split, taking a pair of losses from Griffin. The losses add to the ongoing collapse of the team since winning the LCK 2019 Spring Playoffs.

The day started with a surprise appearance on stage from SKT coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun, who was present during the picks and bans for the first time this year. Alongside the KkOma appearance, SKT jumped into the rift with Kang “Haru” Min-seung as starting jungler.

Game one started slow. Griffin decided to farm and wait for the mid game, a change of pace for the typically fast-paced squad. On SKT’s side, Haru played a passive game but miscommunication between the jungler and laners resulted in a series of unsuccessful ganks.

SKT seemingly grew anxious as a result and tried to force plays. This saw mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok repeatedly overextending, which Griffin punished heavily.

Griffin was better in team fights and there was nothing that SKT could do to keep them from taking the win.

SKT surprised the fans a second time by shaking up much of its lineup for game two. Kim “Clid” Tae-min took over in the jungle and Lee “Effort” Sang-ho stepped in as a support but fans were stunned when SKT benched Faker and subbed in Kim “Gori” Tae-woo as mid laner. The change was justified considering Faker’s poor performance in game one but still left fans around the world shocked.

Though the shuffle was extensive, the end result was the same.

The spring champions looked disconnected, with a chemistry that resembled five solo queue players more than a professional team. Griffin was free to walk around the map and take whatever they wanted with little resistance. When they set their sites on the Nexus, SKT was barely even able to muster up a fight

This loss puts SKT in ninth place in the LCK with a 1-5 record while Griffin stands in first place at 5-1. SKT and Griffin have one more week in the LCK before they go to Rift Rivals. The event will take place in South Korea and is set to start on July 4.