It’s the final week of League of Legends Korea regular season action. While all the playoff spots have been determined, there is a relegation fight and more importantly playoff seeding on the line in the final few matches. In Korea, the playoffs are constructed differently than other leagues and sports. Five teams make the playoffs and from there it’s a ladder-style system to determine the champion. In practice, the fifth place team plays the fourth place team with the winner playing the third place team, and that winner playing the second place team, before that winner plays the team that finished the regular season with the best record in the finals. With that in mind, seeding is crucial and will be hard fought in these final matches.
eSports Odds at BookMaker.eu
ROX Tigers -560
Afreeca Freecs +360
ROX is in the driver’s seat for that all-important No. 1 seed in Korea and a win clinches it up for the team. This team has only lost three times in Summer Split play, twice to powerhouse SKT, and once to Samsung Galaxy. GorillA has been one of the best support players in the league with 353 assists on the season, second most in the league, and is a big reason why this team is at the top of the standings.
Afreeca Freecs already did ROX its biggest favor of the season by defeating SKT twice to put ROX in first place. ROX returned the favor a couple days ago, by snuffing out MVP’s hopes of catching the Freecs for the final playoff spot and now this team has nothing to play for. The Freecs have been one of the most wildly inconsistent teams this season. They have shown the ability to play up to any other team in the league, but also suffered mind-numbingly dumb losses to some of the worst teams in Korea. If this team gets hot, it could make a run in the playoffs, but the Freecs will likely peeter out before then.
SK Telecom T1 -1500
Longzhu Gaming +750
SKT is likely stuck in the second spot at this point, but that’s better than where the team finished in the Spring Split and SKT ended up winning the Spring Playoffs and the Mid-Season Invitational shortly after. The team has had some hiccups but has dominated the top level of competition throughout the year, with a 5-1 record against the other three top teams in Korea. Faker has been the top slayer this season with 160 kills overall and is once again the main reason why SKT is so dominant.
Longzhu can save itself from a possible relegation playoff with a win against SKT but if that fails to happen, it will be watching Jin Air take on ESC Ever with great interest. If Jin Air wins that match, then Longzhu escapes relegation, but if ESC Ever can knock off Jin Air, there is a three-way tie between Longzhu, Jin Air, and ESC Ever for the second relegation spot. Fury has been the best player for Longzhu and his play will be the reason it escapes relegation.
KT Rolster -165
Samsung Galaxy +135
KT Rolster will likely be sitting level with Samsung by the time this match happens and the winner will get the No. 3 seed in the playoffs. Rolster has been the steadiest team this season, getting swept by ROX and SKT, but is 11-1 against the rest of Korea. The team beat Samsung earlier in the season 2-0 and will look for the season sweep.
Samsung is finally back in the playoffs after missing out in both Spring and all of 2015. The once world champions still haven’t returned to the same form that propelled them into the limelight after the mass exodus that followed the world title in 2014, but are slowly getting there. A win here and a top three finish would signal a return to the elite sooner rather than later.
eSports Odds:
ROX -560
SKT -1500
KT Rolster -165
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