Gen.G lived up to its legacy and once again completed a run through the Korean Regional Qualifier Gauntlet finals early Sunday morning by defeating a deflated Kingzone DragonX.
History repeated itself. Gen.G, formerly known as Samsung Galaxy, ended Kingzone DragonX's (former Longzhu Gaming) last run through the gauntlet at the end of 2017, after all.
Kingzone's aggression and individual talent were expected to clash with the cold calculation of the defending world champions in a truly remarkable contest of skill and resolve. Unfortunately, the actual series failed to live up to expectations, especially for fans of Kingzone DragonX. If one viewed the series without the nameplates they would be excused for thinking they had seen an easy 3-0 victory from Kingzone, as Gen.G completely supplanted the identity of their opponents. It was not Kingzone's jungler, Han "Peanut" Wang-ho, who was dictating the pace of the game from the jungle, but Park "Haru" Min-seung -- and it wasn't Kingzone's ace Kim "Khan" Dong-ha who was dominating from the top lane, but rather Lee "CuVee" Seong-jin.
Credit must be given to Gen.G, however, whose performance surely surprised Kingzone DragonX as much as it did those viewing. The entire team played at a level it hadn't since the end of the 2017 World Championship for the third time in the past week, cementing themselves the opportunity for another storied Worlds run in the process. This time the team had another member to thank for its easy victory, for there's no doubt that CuVee, the team's top laner, was the player who exceeded expectations. Not only did he contain Kingzone's legendary top laner, Khan, but he managed to put his opposite number in his place. CuVee's Aatrox was responsible for not only thrashing Khan up and down the lane -- no small feat considering Khan spent the balance of the series piloting the premier top laner of the current metagame, Urgot -- but it also carried Gen.G through the majority of its teamfights. Kingzone's ADC, Kim "PraY" Kong-in, fell prey to The Drakin Blade in seemingly every teamfight -- an amazing result for a champion that is typically considered a poor teamfighter.
The other notable personnel choice on the side of Gen.G was the absolute lack of Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong for the entirety of the series. The idea Haru started for an entire series while looking like a dominant jungler throughout was only a step removed from six months ago, so to see that very thing occurring not once for Gen.G but twice is a truly tectonic shift.
The ability to field a talented aggressive jungler such as Haru as well as the master herbivore Ambition is an arrow in Gen.G's quiver that few teams will have the equal of during the World Championship. If the last six days are any indication -- six days during which Haru has won nine games, while Ambition has only lost two -- then Gen.G may well defend its Worlds title, but without Ambition, one of the most successful veterans of the LCK taking to the field. It may just be that its new lineup, which features the best of the old and new generations of the LCK, simply doesn't need him in order to bring home titles.