Griffin comes out on top versus KT Rolster in a rematch of the 2018 LCK summer split finals. Hanwha Life Esports sweeps Kingzone, moves into fourth place
It was business as usual for Griffin. The LCK powerhouse scored yet another sweep, taking down KT Rolster to get revenge in a rematch of the 2018 summer split finals. The second year team has only dropped a single set in seven series, while KT looks set to battle against relegation. The reigning LCK champions sit on a 2-5 record, tied with Gen.G and Afreeca Freecs.
Hanwha Life Esports and Kingzone DragonX battled for fourth in the standings to close the day. And HLE’s promising run continued with a sweep over the 2018 spring split champions, moving into the top 4 while looking good in the fight for the playoffs.
GRF vs KT
Game 1
Jeon “Zenit” Tae-gwon (Yasuo) and No “SnowFlower” Hoi-jong (Gragas) won a two versus two trade to secure the first kill of the game onto Son “Lehends” Si-woo (Galio). In the top lane, meanwhile, Choi “Sword” Sung-won (Fiora) won the matchup against Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho (Yorick), setting up a crucial win condition for Griffin while also taking one away from KT Rolster.
Sword’s split push quickly opened up a solid lead for GRF. KT tried to make up for it and at least walked away with a consolation prize by taking down Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon (Viktor) for the mid laner’s third death this split. The match slowed down mid game as neither team managed to secure any major objectives. Griffin finally changed that after picking up two kills around the Baron pit in a long skirmish, which gave the team enough space to push for the top and mid lane inhibitors.
Another long skirmish broke out in the top lane. Griffin did a great job splitting KT’s formation apart and picked up three kills. The 2018 KeSPA Cup champions wasted no time and used the momentary advantage in numbers to go for the Nexus, ending the first game of the 2018 summer finals rematch in 36 minutes.
Game 2
The teams featured interesting draft flex drafts, as KT Rolster once again went with a bottom lane Yasuo while Griffin’s response came in the form of Darius.
Chovy (Zoe) showed once again that he might be the best player in the world right now. The Griffin mid laner survived a gank by Eom “UmTi” Seong-hyeon (Jarvan) and secured a solo kill onto Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong (Le Blanc). As UmTi went for the dive to at least make it an even trade, Tarzan (Lee Sin) showed up for the counter-gank and assisted Chovy in securing a second kill.
Griffin dominated the lanes and slowly turned the advantage into objectives around the map. Following a five-men play in the bottom lane which led to three kills for GRF, the team released the Rift Herald and secured the first turret of the game. The snowball effect suddenly turned the match into a massacre. Griffin secured an early Baron at the 22 minute mark following kills onto Bdd and UmTi, pushing into KT’s base.
At the end of the powerplay, Griffin led by almost 15,000 gold and had the mid as well as the bottom lane inhibitors already open. As KT desperately tried to defend its base, GRF secured four kills and went for the game, completing the sweep.
HLE vs KZ
Game 1
Kang “Tempt” Myung-gu (Yauso) opened the score for Hanwha Life with a solo kill on Heo “PawN” Won-seok (Lissandra), exploiting an early advantage as the Kingzone mid laner chose Summon Aery over Aftershock as his rune. While HLE built an early lead in kills, Kingzone did a better job pushing in the lanes, securing the top and bottom lane towers.
KZ however had trouble transitioning into the mid game as Hanwha Life pushed back to take the three outer turrets. At the 29 minute mark, HLE finally found the space it needed to go for the Baron buff and secured the objective. A fight broke out as Kingzone tried to stop their opponents, but Hanwha had little trouble winning the skirmish with four kills to one. In a single push down mid lane, HLE destroyed KZ’s Nexus to take the first game of the series.
Game 2
HLE had an aggressive start as jungler Kim “bonO” Gi-beom (Olaf) and top laner Park “Thal” Kwon-hyuk (Urgot) tried to invade Kingzone’s side of the jungle. KZ collapsed onto the pair with three players and Yoo “Naehyun” Nae-hyun (Yasuo), subbed in after PawN’s poor showing, picked up the first kill onto Thal.
Once again KZ got off to an early lead but struggled to transition the advantage into the mid game as HLE clawed its way back. Kingzone failed to turn a pickoff onto Kim “key” Han-gi (Thresh) into anything significant. Once the Hanwha Life Esports support came back, it was HLE’s time to find a pickoff onto Kim “Rascal” Kwang-hee (Sylas).
Hanwha headed straight to the Baron pit, but KZ showed up in time to contest the execution. Even with bonO going down, HLE still managed to secure the buff with two members. The powerplay gave Hanwha Life its first significant lead of the game, leaving KZ’s base down to the inhibitor turrets. Kingzone managed to stop the push with a good fight in the top lane, picking up three kills and forcing their opponents back.
The decisive fight happened in the mid lane as Naehyun tried to reach HLE’s backline only to get taken down almost instantaneously. Down one of its carries, Kingzone had to retreat. Hanwha Life forced its way into the base and completed the ace, taking down the Nexus soon after that to complete the sweep.
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