SK Telecom T1 did not get a hero's welcome after winning its second consecutive Mid-Season Invitational, as Samsung Galaxy played spoiler with a commanding 2-0 sweep to close out Week 1, Day 2 of the League of Legends Champions Korea in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday.
Samsung (1-0, 2-0 match record) earned a small gold lead through farming early in Game 1, and that's all it needed to get its pick composition online. After jungler Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong secured a 13-minute Rift Herald as Elise, Samsung rocketed ahead after taking first blood on SKT mid lane ace Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok's Orianna, using the Rift Herald to take first tower gold and taking control of the map. Samsung raced out to a 4,000-gold lead by 18 minutes before successfully baiting two members of the sluggish SKT squad for a 25-minute Baron that all but sealed the deal. Mid laner Lee "Crown" Min-ho's Taliyah was the linchpin in Samsung's high mobility pick comp, using his Weaver's Wall to force favorable fights, such as around 28 minutes, when Samsung simultaneously took down the inhibitors in the top and bottom lanes before closing out a dominant 30-minute win.
SKT fans were coming up with (justifiable) excuses early in Game 2, as Samsung picked up two early kills that began another unstoppable snowball. After a chaotic series of plays at the six-minute mark, Samsung pulled away from SK Telecom T1 (0-1, 0-2 match record) with an 8-to-2 kill lead and 2,000-gold lead at 10 minutes, which only got worse as Samsung methodically rotated around the map. SSG's strong pick composition paid off in spades as SKT simply didn't have an answer to Lee "CuVee" Seong-jin's splitpushing on Camille, giving Samsung free objectives. Faker, playing as Galio, tried to spark a SKT comeback with a gorgeous four-man, flash-Shield of Durand taunt, but Samsung simply kited SKT around before taking a 1-for-0 teamfight and free Baron at just 22 minutes in. With an 11,000-gold lead around 26 minutes, and Ambition in MVP form with a 5/0/9 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) as Gragas, it was only a matter of time before Samsung took a final 5-for-1 ace in SKT's base and closed out the 2-0 sweep in just under 30 minutes.
Samsung will next return to the rift to take on ROX Tigers on Saturday at 7 a.m ET, while SK Telecom will try to forget a poor start when it meets bbq OLIVERS at 7 a.m ET on Sunday.