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Afreeca Freecs managed the impossible and pulled off a 2-0 sweep against SK Telecom T1 to conclude the end of Week 6, Day 5 of League of Legends Champions Korea. The Freecs, long the Achilles heel of the reigning world champions, doubled down on the work Samsung Galaxy started earlier in the week and helped close out the first winless week for SKT in seemingly years by stomping them into the dirt Saturday in Seoul, South Korea.
The man of the hour was none other than Lee "Kuro" Seo-haeng, who seemed to be another man entirely for the duration of the series. Kuro, long considered one of the best mid laners in the LCK, has nevertheless struggled in matchups against Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok. This series was far different, however, and it's safe to say that whatever fear Faker had struck in Kuro's heart in the past is long gone. The former ROX Tigers mid laner earned back to back match MVPs for Afreeca Freecs (7-5, 19-14 match record), no small feat in itself, and did so with two very different styles of champions.
Kuro opted for a very safe matchup in Game 1 with his Corki pick opposite Faker's Taliyah, and while he never managed to bully Faker outright, Kuro made Faker pay for each of his roams in the form of missed experience and turret damage. More importantly, Kuro made the most decisive play of the game, as he answered SKT T1's Baron take with a gutsy teleport play that a lesser man would have called impossible.
Not only did Kuro find himself a free kill on the fleeing Lee "Wolf" Jae-wan with the Teleport, he also led his team to take down two inhibitors in the face of the Baron-empowered minions of SKT (9-3, 18-9 match record). The Baron attempt had been SKT T1's last chance to stay in the game, but instead it gave the Freecs the map control it needed to close out the game.
Kuro's redemption story didn't end there. In Game 2, he went in an entirely different direction when it came to answering Faker's Taliyah, picking Kassadin instead. Once the first set of towers had fallen in favor of the Freecs thanks to the tireless efforts of Lee "Spirit" Da-yoon, who was an absolute fiend on Elise during Game 2, Kuro was unlocked to roam around the map, and roam he did. Nearly every minute seemed to feature a kill or assist for Kuro as he teamed up with either Jang "MaRin" Gyeong-hwan or Spirit to tear SKT T1 apart over the course of the Freecs' 40-minute victory in Game 2.
The road ahead will be an easy one for the Freecs, which should have no trouble riding the momentum from its win against SKT T1 into its match against bbq Olivers on Tuesday at 5 a.m. SKT will look to bounce back from its worst week in recent memory with a game against Jin Air Green Wings that same day.