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SK Telecom T1 regained its swagger with a 2-1 victory over KT Rolster in the final iteration of the 2017 Telecom Wars on Thursday in Seoul, South Korea, to open Week 9, Day 3 of League of Legends Champions Korea.
KT (14-4, 31-16 match record) tried its best but, for the fourth time (fifth if you count the Spring Finals) this year, was unable to take a series from SKT (12-5, 24-14 match record). This series followed the formula that most of the Telecom Wars this year have followed: The teams trade lopsided wins before SKT showed off its World Champion might to eventually pick up the win.
It's a testament to the prowess of SKT that after going on an eight-game losing streak a couple weeks back, it can take a convincing win over one of the LCK's best teams.
Speaking of that slump, this was a series that SKT simply had to win to regain any semblance of control over its Summer Split. Sure, it picked up two sweeps last week, but considering its opposition of ROX Tigers (5-12, 15-26 match record) and Ever8 Winners (2-15, 9-30 match record), the wins weren't exactly impressive.
This win was on a different level, however. It wasn't just the fact that SKT won but also about how it got there. After picking up a commanding 32-minute win in Game 1, SKT was absolutely rocked in the second frame. KT managed to pick up its bread-and-butter picks of Gragas, Galio and Kalista, which gave it immense pressure over every lane to the tune of a final kill advantage of 21-to-2 in Game 2. SKT seemed unfazed, however, coming out in the final game to easily push KT around the map with a superior teamfighting composition featuring a Zac for jungler Han "Peanut" Wang-ho in the 32-minute win.
While SKT stabilized going into the playoff gauntlet, KT has squandered a golden opportunity to secure the top seed in the LCK. This loss against SKT means that KT will now finish second in the regular season, which is not bad by any means. Still, it has to be a bit disappointing to have that top seed slip through its fingers. KT will now await the results of the playoff gauntlet to find its opponent for Round 2 of the playoffs.
KT's Summer Split is now complete, while SKT will look forward to one last matchup with the bbq Olivers at 7 a.m. ET on Sunday.