Top 5 Plays from LCK Week 2
Any follower of professional League of Legends knows, it’s difficult to keep up with all the games around the world. For fans living in the United States, trying to watch League Champions Korea is strenuous on the sleep schedule, and catching up with all the VoDs takes too long for students. Don’t worry, we have you covered with Slingshot’s LCK Highlights, featuring the Top 5 Plays from Week 2.
What makes a top play? The most important thing is the context of a play. Flashy moves and styling on the enemy are fun to watch, but making a clutch play to save the game are the best plays. Additionally, teammates executing in coordination outshine individual plays since they demonstrate a professional team’s cohesion. So in our rankings, we work up to the most impressive team play in the clutch.
#5. Crown vs Faker
Samsung’s Mid laner Lee “Crown” Min-ho showed up last week with his Viktor play and achieved an honor few mid laners do: solo killing SK Telecom’s Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Samsung’s vision control around the mid lane in Game 1 let Crown poke down Faker’s Gangplank. When Faker tries to return harass, Crown bursts him down, weaving in an auto attack to delete a Gangplank barrel so Faker can’t respond. They trade flashes, but a laser from Crown secures the deal. It’s a good outplay, but it ultimately has minimal impact on the game itself as SKT eventually comes back, and Viktor is a comfort pick for Crown while Faker looks awkward with Gangplank in lane. Still, Crown’s achievement deserves a shout out.
#4. Jugger Fiora
In Week 2 Day 4, ROX Tigers soundly defeated Longzhu Gaming, but that’s not to say the Tigers didn’t have fumbles. In Game 1, Kim “PraY” Jong-in was caught out by Kim “Pure” Jin-sun’s Bard, and Longzhu looked to siege down the middle towers with a numbers advantage. Pure laid down his ultimate, catching ROX Tigers’ members, Longzhu went ahead with the dive, and was met by Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho’s Fiora. Buffed with Lulu’s Whimsy, Smeb decimated chaser before zip-lining to Longzhu’s backline, soloing out its carries. Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon’s Trundle pillar cut off Lee “Duke” Ho-seong’s Tahm Kench, preventing him from saving his backline from Smeb. It’s a great play that reminds us how dangerous Smeb is.
#3. Ssumday the Herald Slayer
KT Rolster and ROX Tigers played an excellent series on Day 2, and we have Kim “ssumday” Chan-ho to thank. After losing Game 1 to the Tigers’ superior rotations, KT Rolster punished the Tigers’ over-extensions to keep things even in the early. When the Tigers attempted to take Rift Herald, KT contested and ssumday was a raid boss. He attacks the Herald’s open eye, stealing the kill from the ROX Tigers, picks up the buff, and transforms into Mega-Gnar. He jumps onto the Tigers’ carries and throws all of them into a wall, letting his Mid laner Song “Fly” Yong-jun follow up with Lissandra’s engage. KT wins the fight and takes control for the majority of the game based off this one play.
As an aside, this series as a whole is filled with excellent plays and strategy, and if you can only watch a single series from LCK Week 2, this is it.
#2. One Barrel
Returning to Samsung vs SK Telecom, we have a Faker and Bae “Bang” Jun-sik retaliating. SKT at this point has lost a duel in Mid lane and Top, and Samsung are trying to press their advantages further. Crown overextends just the slightest, and that’s all it takes. Faker hits him with a barrel, chunking and slowing Crown. Bang capitalizes with Lucian’s Culling to damage Crown enough for Gangplank’s ultimate to finish him off. Suddenly, SKT are back in the game and push through Samsung’s inner middle tower, inhibitor, and take a single nexus tower before backing off. This pick and follow up completely reverse the game for SKT, and it’s thank to Faker and Bang’s opportunistic move.
#1. Samsung’s Last Stand
This is the quintessential example of a top play. A game up and bearing down on Samsung’s base, Longzhu is on the cusp of closing out their Day 1 Series. Samsung’s Wraith went down in a failed engage attempt, and now Samsung defend their mid inhibitor 4v5. Crown gets chunked right at the start, forcing him to retreat and leave Kang “Ambition” Chan-yong, Lee “CuVee” Seong-jin, and Lee “Stitch” Seung-ju to defend. It’s do or die time for Samsung, and do they show up. Ambition and CuVee engage, holding down Longzhu while Stitch attacks from the edge. CuVee barely kills Shin “CoCo” Jin-yeong while Stitch almost kills Kang “Cpt Jack” Hyung-woo. With Koo “Expession” Bon-taek teleporting in, CuVee quickly channels Poppy’s ultimate and snipes Cpt Jack, blasting him into the stratosphere.
After the clip, CuVee escapes with a flash. Ambition and healed Crown protect the inhibitor, and Samsung slowly fight their way back to not only winning Game 2, but the series with a clean Game 3. That wouldn’t have been possible without this epic defense, and that’s why it is the best play from LCK.
