Although ROX Tigers upset Samsung Galaxy in Game 1, Samsung bounced back in the next two games Saturday to close out the series and remain undefeated through Week 1, Day 4 of the League of Legends Champions Korea in Seoul, South Korea.
The first game of the series started off with ROX support Kim "Key" Han-gi locking in Blitzcrank. He was as terrifying in Game 1 as he was in solo queue, it seemed. The game was mostly ROX (0-2, 1-4 match record) being more proactive and playing around the map better to find multiple picks throughout the first 20 minutes. After slaying Baron at 24 minutes, ROX forced a teamfight in the mid lane to break into the Samsung Galaxy (2-0, 4-1 match record) base. A beautiful flash-hook combo by Key simultaneously ignited the crowd and broke the spirits of of Samsung, and put ROX in the position to effortlessly put away Samsung and go up 1-0 in the series.
Game 2 was a much scrappier affair in the first 20 minutes, with neither team afraid to take dragon trades or skirmishes. Samsung mid laner Lee "Crown" Min-ho's Syndra was the staple for his team early on, with his strong performance keeping the gold even at the 20-minute mark. An odd flank attempt by ROX paved the way for Samsung to force a 3-for-1 teamfight that also netted it free Baron. The game then settled into another lull before it was broken wide open when Samsung took another Baron at the 35-minute mark and destroyed the ROX base to force a Game 3.
The third game of the series was Samsung's best early game of the day, with the team getting a 7,000-gold lead at 20 minutes. A teamfight in the mid lane at the 21-minute mark ended in a 3-for-0 in favor of Samsung, with a Baron to top things off. With its newfound Baron buff, Samsung razed two inhibitors and heavily pressured the ROX base. Samsung gave ROX no chance of coming back after quickly committing to a teamfight, wiping four members of ROX to clear the way to its Nexus to take a 2-1 series victory.
Samsung Galaxy will next take on Afreeca Freecs on Tuesday, June 6 at at 5 a.m ET, and ROX will play next on the same day against KT Rolster at 8 a.m ET.