Kingzone 2, MVP 0
With MVP (4-9) struggling, things seemed especially bleak after news broke that starting top laner Kang "ADD" Geon-mo had suffered from a collapsed lung, forcing bottom laner Oh "MaHa" Hyun-sik to start in the top lane opposite Kingzone's resident top lane monster, Kim "Khan" Dong-ha. Despite this huge setback, MVP fought on, even though its efforts were ultimately fruitless.
There were sparse positives to take away for MVP, such as jungler Kim "Yondu" Kyu-seok's early game effectiveness, helping pick up two first bloods in the bottom lane before five minutes. Unfortunately for MVP, just about everything else about this series ranged from bad to abysmal, from failing to secure a single tower in Game 1 to getting decimated in 24 minutes in Game 2. With ADD out of action, MVP fans have to hope that MaHa can grow from this.
On the other side of this trouncing sits Kingzone DragonX (8-4). Khan's mastery of the top lane was impossible for MVP to match or handle, with his legendary Jayce coming out in Game 2 to devastating effect. Indeed, this entire series was just the Kingzone solo laners taking turns hard-carrying the team, with mid laner Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong earning MVP honors in Game 1 as Zoe, posting a 3/0/8 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 85 percent kill participation along with a whopping 41 percent damage share.
Kingzone will prepare for a huge matchup against league-leaders Griffin at 4 a.m. ET on Tuesday, while MVP takes on Afreeca Freecs at 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
--Noah Waltzer
Gen.G 2, Afreeca 1
Week 5 of League of Legends Champions Korea ended with a bang on Sunday as Gen.G took down the Afreeca Freecs 2-1.
In a battle of top-of-the-table squads, Gen.G (9-3) stuck to its guns, refusing to put bottom lane carry Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk on anything that wasn't a marksman. Preferring to play around late-game power spikes, Gen.G dropped Game 1 after it fell behind early on. When Ruler got ahead in Game 2 as Varus, though, it was lights out for Afreeca (7-6). Ruler's Varus was huge after picking up first blood over a highly volatile lane matchup against Yasuo and Leona, getting the items he needed to post a perfect 5/0/4 KDA (kills/deaths/assists). Ruler wasn't the only person to pop off for Gen.G, though, as mid laner Song "Fly" Yong-jin's Orianna dominated Game 3. With Afreeca going out of its way to try and force fights, Fly was calm and collected, directing traffic en route to a 3/0/9 KDA. While Gen.G's lack of early game firepower remains an issue, Gen.G showed that, if you don't stop it early, you will get run over.
On the other hand, it's been a while since Afreeca has looked like the team that made it to the LCK Spring Split finals. If anything, this series showed that Afreeca is somewhat in freefall, at least from a shotcalling perspective. The Freecs seemed desperate entering Game 3, jumping on every opportunity to brute force a teamfight before getting dispatched. That's not to say that Afreeca is bad, however, as it showed in Game 1 that it can still put wins on the board when it controls the tempo. Afreeca simply needs to buckle down and try to aim for consistency.
Gen.G has a big test in front of it in the form of KT Rolster when the two collide at 7 a.m. ET on Tuesday, while Afreeca gets a chance to reset against a weakened MVP lineup at 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
--Noah Waltzer