It all comes down to this. On Saturday, October 29, 2016, the Staples Center will host the sixth League of Legends World Championship. For the second year in a row, we will see an all-Korean final as defending champion SK Telecom T1 looks to make it their third title in four years when they take on Samsung Galaxy. SKT are the heavy favorites, but SSG has shifted into a different gear lately. Who will win this clash of Korean titans?
eSports League of Legends World Championships at BookMaker.eu
Samsung Galaxy +1.5 +130 ML -370
SK Telecom T1 -1.5 -160 ML +280
HOW THEY GOT HERE
SKT cruised through group stage with a 5-1 mark, but then fell on the much tougher side of the bracket. They faced Royal Never Give Up in the Quarterfinals who ended up taking a game from them and looked solid throughout, but that paled in comparison to their semi-final showdown with ROX Tigers. ROX and SKT faced off for the title last year and were again the two best teams in Korea this year. These two sides gave us a semi-finals for the ages with ROX jumping out to a 2-1 lead on the strength of two surprise Miss Fortune picks, but SKT rallied to win the series 3-2 and proved that they were still the team to beat.
It’s been a much easier trip to the Finals for SSG. Although they had to play through the ladder in Korea to make the World Championship and then survive the Group of Death, things have been much easier since they dominated the group. SSG has now won 10 straight matches and trounced Cloud9 in the quarterfinals before setting their sights on H2K in the semi-finals. H2K gave SSG a tough battle and took control of the early game in the first two matches, but after SSG rallied to win both with superior team play, H2K collapsed in the third game for another SSG sweep.
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Let’s not get cute here. The most important match-up will be in the mid-lane between Faker and Crown. Faker has retaken his title as the best player in the world after a challenge from ROX’s Smeb and although he had some difficulty with Peanut and Kuro teaming up to gank him in the mid-lane last week, he emerged victorious. There is no denying Faker’s incredible talent but perhaps the biggest nod to his greatness was ROX deciding to use not one, but two champion bans against him in their series.
Like SSG, Crown has been playing at an entirely different level since coming to Worlds. He has the highest KDA of any mid-laner in the tournament and has been a large part of SSG’s success. His play on Viktor has been absolutely exquisite and you can expect SKT to ban it accordingly in every game of the series.
THE PICK
SSG and SKT have showed that Korea still reigns supreme in LoL. The fact that SSG, a team that many considered to be the fourth-best in Korea, can make it all the way to the Finals speaks volumes about how far behind the other regions are at this point.
These two sides met four times in Korea during the Spring and Summer Splits with SKT winning all four match-ups. SSG might be a better team, but have played much weaker competition and it’s hard to see a way they can outplay SKT. Only Crown and CuVee are world-class players and SKT will be too much to overcome.
ESports League of Legends Odds: SK Telecom T1 -1.5 -160
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