SK Telecom T1 is advancing to the 2019 League of Legends World Championship semifinals after a 3-1 victory over Splyce.
The LCK champion took a solid victory over an international rival, but it wasn’t the stomp that everyone anticipated. During the series, Splyce managed to get ahead of SKT on multiple occasions and took a game over the tournament’s favorites.
The main problem for Splyce was their inability to transition from the laning phase and snowball off of the early advantages they had. The European team struggled in the mid game and even when they had everything in their favor, couldn’t close out games. Splyce was hesitant and when they committed to a play, it wasn’t always the best choice.
SKT had a good series, showing off the good macro play and strong ability to capitalize on mistakes that they are known for. Still, by SKT standards, this wasn’t a clean victory. They made critical mistakes that they will need to correct before the semifinals.
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, who celebrated his 100th international victory, sacrificed himself for the team and neglected his own lane. As the series progressed, Splyce rookie Marek “Humanoid” Brázda managed to punish him and score kills that he turned into lane control. Even when he was underperforming, Faker still had a big impact on the game.
The two stars of the series were top laner Kim “Khan” Dong-ha and jungler Kim “Clid” Tae-min. Khan proved that the best way to neutralize Splyce is by shutting down Tamás “Vizicsacsi” Kiss. Every time Khan got with a kill in the top lane, SKT took absolute control of the game. Khan made Vizicsacsi look silly and made him irrelevant in three out of the four games.
Clid continues to be the best jungler at LoL Worlds 2019. He played an almost perfect series, even without his Lee Sin pocket pick. Clid was everywhere on the map, ready to counter Andrei “Xerxe” Dragomir and to create opportunities for his laners. SKT’s bottom lane was as effective as expected. The duo had a good read on the enemies and even when they played weak side they looked strong.
SKT is advancing to semifinals where they will face the winner between Damwon Gaming and G2 Esports.
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