Feast or Famine — KTA KaKAO
A Biography on The Assassin King of the Jungle
2014 OGN Champions
The era of Samsung. Domestically, Samsung Blue always beat White. After the success of winning the Spring split, they looked to be a contender for the Summer title as well, and yet, they were stopped. In a full 5 game series, Samsung Blue was hunted down. A team that had dominated so much for the entire year was put to a stop by the KT Arrows.
The Blue Standard
The most prevalent meta during 2014 in Korea was oriented around gathering vision control and playing a macro-focused game better than anyone else. Samsung Blue was the king of this style by the time Spring had rolled around, and while most tried to copy that, there were some who marched to their own drums. The KT Arrows marched to the drums sounded by the predator KaKAO.
KaKAO’s Team — KT Arrows
- Top Lane: Kim “ssumday” Chan-ho
- Jungle: Lee “KaKAO” Byung-kwon
- Mid Lane: Song “RooKie” Eui-jin
- AD Carry: No “Arrow” Dong-hyeon
- Support: Ha “Hachani” Seung-chan
Each player had something to fight for whether it was KaKao and ssumday looking for revenge after not making it to Worlds or RooKie and Hachani looking to really break out in their rookie seasons of professional play, or Arrow trying to really surpass the expectations laid down from his time in Xenics.
Ssumday, the top laner that sat on the bench during Choi “inSec” In-seok’s stint as the top laner for the KT Bullets, KTA’s sister team. He was serviceable, but, inSec’s veteran status prompted him to sit on the starting roster while Ssumday spent the split on the bench. When Ssumday and KaKAO went to the Arrows following 2013’s competitive season, they brought with them a hunger and aggression that generally isn’t acted upon in a newly formed team.
KaKAO became the face for this team with his bold declaration to “destroy the SK Telecom organization.” His hyper-aggressive carry oriented jungle style contrasted against his contemporaries, and the only two who could rival him was the similarly aggressive Samsung Blue Spirit, and the King of the Jungle, Samsung White’s DanDy. But paired with RooKie, KaKAO invaded and preyed on his enemies be it enemy laners or even the other jungler in a way that left . If he found his enemy in his territory, he rarely let them go without reminding them who he was. If he clawed out a part of the enemy’s jungle, that was no longer his enemy’s jungle. It was his. From his Elise, to his Lee Sin, to his Kha’ Zix, the enemy team was left scrambling to find a foothold back for control. If he found the other jungler alone, his mechanical skill allowed him to make his mark . His pathing was unexpected to the enemy team even if it was the most standard route due to his affinity for early aggression.
RooKie was thrown into his first professional split with, and by working with KaKAO, RooKie quickly proved himself to be a threat.
Arrow was held on a tight leash by the team. His power as a skirmisher alongside KaKAO and Hachani allowed his team to gain leads over other ADC’s that were better than him mechanically. In the moments that the grip on his leash was loosened, his Twitch and Kog’Maw allowed him to carry the team home to a victory.
Much like KaKAO, Hachani’s play was a bit wild. When under the influence of his team, he would tear apart the enemy jungle with KaKAO and RooKie, make the perfect engages, and remove threats from his carries via Alistar, Nami, or Morgana. On the other hand, there were also moments of embarrassment that left him dead, curious if the ward was really worth it.
OGN Champions Spring 2014
It was here that KaKAO made his declaration.
Having been thrown together just prior to the start of this competition, there was a mix of chaos and disorganization, with bright flashes of brilliance in every game the team played. Despite this, KaKAO wanted to make sure the former World Champions and two-time OGN winner, SK Telecom T1 K, knew that he would be able to win the long-standing Telecom Wars between KT and SKT.
Throughout the groups stage, the KT Arrows lived up to any expectation that was given to them. KaKAO and KTA ripped through every opponent except SKT T1 S. Against the team KaKAO had drawn into the group, KTA looked the disorganized. SKT T1 S met KaKAO and RooKie with every step they took. From the start of their match, ssumday and KaKAO teetered on the brink of death against invades into their own jungle. The top predator of the jungle quickly became prey for this SKT T1 S lineup.
Despite this, when they arrived upon their match with SKT T1 K, RooKie managed to dominate the mid-lane against Season 3’s best player in the world, Faker. In the match itself Faker picked into a slightly unfavored match-up and, while he expected his jungler, bengi, to be able to give him that extra edge against RooKie, KaKAO ensured bengi would not interfere. By the end of this series, RooKie had earned the title of “Little Faker,” and the KT Arrows guaranteed a first place seeding for the bracket stage.
As their first seed placement threw them against CJ Blaze. Against KaKAO’s aggression they managed to stall out the games until KTA’s attacks and leads were condensed and caged into irrelevancy. By the time late game team fights became the most important aspect of the game, CJ Blaze found familiarity and comfort where KTA found foreign bars and walls.
In the one game that KTA won and broke CJ’s stall, they controlled every facet of CJ Entus. Every member left alone suffered at the hands of either KaKAO, RooKie or ssumday. Hachani ensured that whoever was found caught out did not escape, and they closed in under 30 minutes. They killed members of CJ 31 times within these 30 minutes.
Regardless of this dominance displayed, they still found themselves caged and within the next few games CJ Blaze put down KaKAO and RooKie.
The KT Arrows were eliminated from the OGN Spring 2014 Playoffs in the Quarterfinals.
OGN Champions Summer 2014
After their disappointing exit from the playoffs during the Spring, it seemed as though the hunger and aggression that had appeared against SKT T1 K became the standard. Nearly every game had that same kind of impactful power to it that KTA hadn’t been able to channel in the finals. Against Jin Air Green Wing Stealths, and CJ Blaze, KaKAO found his foothold.
While the Stealths managed to scatter KTA in one game, the revenge the Arrows found against CJ Blaze was fantastic. Arrow, who had been so severely shut down in the Spring Quarterfinals, carried both games. Though Arrow had been the carry for his team in the Spring from time to time, kills were generally funneled into other members of the team as well. Yet in the second game of their series against CJ Blaze, Arrow held 9 of his team’s 13 kills. This bit of diversity in their play was impressive because it showcased their ability to actually fight as a team. Ssumday’s tank play allowed for Arrow, KaKAO, and RooKie to fight without being punished by their enemies. On top of all this, KaKAO had built upon his craft even further, and CJ Blaze’s jungler, DayDream, couldn’t seem to find a place where KaKAO wasn’t already lying in wait.
The KT Arrows were already able to play a pick composition in the Spring, but in the Summer, the roughness in their style began to be smoothed out. The finesse KaKAO brought into these pick compositions though allowed for KTA to transition into later phases of the game so much better. Even communication had picked up more: pings were constant, and Hachani’s suicide warding missions seemed to minimize. While that primal desire to win was still evident in their play and aggression, the execution felt so much more natural than it had before. The sheer presence of KaKAO in-game created an unease in the play of KTA’s enemies.
Playoffs laid before the members of KTA, and none of them had any desire to repeat last split’s results.
It took 15 games for the king to take his crown.
First NaJin White Shield.
Second up, SKT T1 S.
And finally, they had the opportunity to overcome the lords of the Blue Standard, Samsung Galaxy Blue.
The super clean and organized Samsung Blue faced up against KaKAO’s hyper-aggressive KTA. This is one of the most exciting series that has ever happened in League of Legends. The Arrow’s aggression was so infectious that it seemed like even Spirit, Samsung Blue’s jungler, got more aggressive and relied more on his strong mechanics the more he interacted with KaKAO. The instictual feeling of KaKAO’s aggression and the calculated aggression of Spirit’s gave one of the best give and take dynamics I’ve ever seen. The moments where you could feel KaKAO’s mind games actually affecting Spirit’s play and decision making to a fault. The moments where ssumday showed that he is one of the best top laners in the world. The skirmishes and teamfights that start from one side of the map and end on the other.
There were 5 whole games of this.
I have trouble finding the words to even describe the greatness of this series, because at the end of it all, KaKAO got his title. He and the KT Arrows had found redemption.
The King had finally earned his crown.
2014 Season Korea Regional Finals
Because of their circuit points, KT Arrows was placed into the second round of the Regional Gauntlet. All it would take is surpassing whoever won the round below them, and devouring a slumping SKT T1 K. After that? KaKAO could show his prowess on a world stage. All eyes could be on him.
NaJin White Shield was the team they had to surpass, and yet the KT Arrows fell. The first game against them was strung out so long it seemed to affect the young KT Arrows players, and they didn’t recover afterwards. An over-aggressive KaKAO chased his prey into traps. Arrow caught skillshots like it was his job. RooKie and ssumday’s damage was not enough to make up for the entire team’s mistakes. In the next two games, things only got worse, and KTA did not win a game in the series. With the series, KaKAO was starved of greatness. The crown he held for a mere two weeks was taken from him, and so the king fell.
If you enjoyed this please follow me on Twitter
Thank you for reading!
