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3rd at OGN: Samsung Galaxy White Trounces SKT T1 S
SGW put on a convincing show in their bout vs SKT T1 S - one as humbling as it was entertaining.
Samsung Galaxy White
© OGN
This Wednesday, OGN held its third place series featuring SK Telecom T1 S against Samsung Galaxy White. Although it was a best of five, it ended in only three games--displaying Samsung Galaxy White’s strong team coordination and vast individual skill.
In fact, there was no moment during the series in which SK Telecom T1 S seemed to have an advantage. In a word, it was the complete blowout many fans predicted it would be.
Game One: Making a Point
SKT S played champion select well by managing to first pick Kassadin for Easyhoon. Unfortunately, that’s about the only thing that went in their favor for the entire series; Samsung Galaxy White started off hard and never really let up.
Feeling the heat from PawN’s aggressive Orianna, Easyhoon had H0R0 head mid to alleviate some pressure. While heading there, however, he got caught for first blood--giving double buffs to Looper. Seconds later, Wolf was caught out by Mata’s Alistar for a second kill.
At only four minutes in, the game was already out of control. It only got worse as each further play SKT S tried to make failed. When SKT S sent three top to take out Imp on Kog’Maw, an impeccably timed teleport by Looper and a countergank from DanDy turned the fight around—pushing Samsung Galaxy White ahead with a 3K gold advantage.
With such a late game composition, all SK Telecom T1 S had to do was hang in there. But without good wave clear and a subsequent barrage of misplays, a stall became less and less of an option. The game ended quickly with Samsung Galaxy having a 20K gold advantage.
An early dragon is thwarted by SGW's PawN.
© OGN
Game Two: Better Than Before
In the second game, SKT S changed their play style and went for early objectives. After clearing buffs, they went for a surprise dragon at three minutes. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be—Samsung Galaxy White predicted the rush and PawN was able to use Jayce’s abilities to send them recalling. Shortly after, SKT S tried once more, but they were stopped yet again.
For all their effort, the first dragon surprisingly ended up going to SGW when the enemy bot lane recalled at 8 minutes. Samsung followed up by getting the first tower of the game as well, pushing them into a 1.5K gold lead.
PawN made a mistake shortly after, getting caught mid lane when he went to ward by Easyhoon and H0R0 for first blood. A moment later, DanDy forced an awkward tower dive bot lane that ended up going in SKT S’ favor as both Imp and DanDy died without SWG getting a single kill.
Off these two misplays, SKT S stabilized temporarily. Unfortunately they threw back in Samsung’s direction when they caught Looper out and burned both Sivir and Rengar’s ultimates to get on him. However, all SKT S did was waste a lot of cooldowns to barely diminish Maokai’s huge health pool. As such, the fight quickly turned around in Samsung’s favor; it ended up being two back-to-back exchanges where SWG went 5-2 and also got Baron.
After that, the advantage had become too much to surmount—ahead 8K gold, Samsung Galaxy White methodically proceeded to close out the game.
SKT T1 S's sister team won Worlds in 2013.
© OGN
Game Three: The Tilt is Real
Game three was the most lopsided of the series. By this point, SKT S was clearly outmatched and their spirit was crushed. Samsung Galaxy White took a page from the game prior and ended up going for an early dragon. Where SKT S failed, however, SGW succeeded. Knowing the timer now, they proceeded to kill dragon every time without any competition; intelligently rotating bot moments before each dragon spawned to gain objective control and map pressure.
After amassing a lead, Samsung got a pick on Wolf’s Nami then collapsed on Easyhoon after. With Orianna dead, SKT S’ wave clear was dead, and SGW was able to take towers and push their gold lead even higher as they ran away with the game.
Overall
OGN frequently has stomps, but it’s interesting to see how formidable Samsung Galaxy White is. They exhibited an incredible ability to close out a game that’s rarely seen; playing as a five man juggernaut that capitalized on enemy mistakes. It will be interesting to see how other teams do against them.
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