The latest entry into Riot Games' admittedly small international tournament arsenal, Rift Rivals gives another opportunity for teams to cross regional lines to face each other mid-split in a series of separate events.
Four South Korean teams from League Champions Korea will face teams from China's League of Legends Pro League and Taiwan's League of Legends Master Series beginning on July 6, with Samsung Galaxy and Taiwan's J Team opening the tournament. Can anyone even touch Korea, though?
Samsung Galaxy
Entering this tournament, Samsung is on a slight downturn. Recently the team unexpectedly dropped a series to the middle-of-the-pack Jin Air Green Wings -- including a perfect Game 1 game (no kills, towers, or major objectives given up) - relinquishing first place in 2017 LCK Summer to SKT.
Last split, Samsung relied on former CJ Entus jungler Kang "Haru" Min-seung, who had a breakout season. This summer, the team has primarily returned to veteran jungler Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong. Ambition has always been a farming jungler first, even on CJ in 2015 when he was first learning the position. He has high Experience Difference (172) and Creep Score Difference (5.5) at 10 minutes statistics when compared to other LCK junglers -- the next closest is KT Rolster's Go "Score" Dong-bin with 74 XPD and 2.8 CSD at 10 minutes. Under him, Samsung seem a bit more stable than they were with Haru, but have exploitable weaknesses.
Mid laner Lee "Crown" Min-ho's recent performances have been far and away from of the expectations he set last year in 2016 LCK Summer and at the World Championship. In step with the meta shift towards more bot lane focus, resources have shifted away from Crown and towards Samsung's side lanes. This includes gold, CS past 15 minutes, and even jungle attention at times. Unused to this new resource deficit, Crown has struggled a bit, and although it has yet to have too adverse of an effect on Samsung's place in the LCK standings, the dip in his play has been noticeable. Due to the nature of the mid lane as a crucial control point on the map, this could be a point of attack for Samsung's adversaries.
That being said, this is an experienced team that knows how to adjust and overcome weaknesses, even on an international stage. Samsung also has had a fairly strong matchup against SKT this year, giving the world champions trouble at times.
SK Telecom T1
There has been a lot of talk whether teams are taking this event seriously, or just using it as a fun diversion. SKT will arrive ready to win. It will also be expected to win.
If you've watched any Riot-run international event since 2015, you've seen some iteration of SK Telecom T1. Earning the runner-up spot after a grueling series against EDward Gaming at the 2015 Mid-Season Invitational is the lowest placement SKT has had at any of these events. Since then, SKT have won two League of Legends World Championships, an IEM world championship, and two MSI titles. In its home region, SKT just recently claimed sole possession of first place in the 2017 LCK regular season standings after another 2-0 victory over MVP. The team has only one series loss on the season for a 90 percent series win rate.
Although SKT has already left a mark and legacy with the international community, SKT is far from perfect. More specifically, the team has often looked disconnected from jungler Han "Peanut" Wang-ho, who has struggled in adapting his aggressive, somewhat high-risk style to fit SKT's needs. An overwhelming early game, smart jungle pathing, and intelligent mid-to-late game decision-making all have the potential to overcome SKT in a game, even if it starts the reliable Kang "Blank" Sun-gu in the jungle, who has a 100 percent win rate this split.
What SKT is the best at, however, is punishing other teams' mistakes. No other team in the world can see and capitalize on opportunity like SKT. The 2015 MSI was the last time that SKT lost a best-of-five at an international Riot event, a testament to SKT's other primary strength: adaptability over a series. It's difficult not to imagine team Korea running the SKT roster come series time. And if all else fails, SKT still has the best player in the world on its roster, Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok.
KT Rolster
Like Samsung Galaxy, KT Rolster enter Rift Rivals at an odd time -- just past the scheduled post-SKT slump. Following back-to-back regular season series losses against SKT in Week 6 of 2017 LCK Spring, KT looked shakier by the week. The downward skid culminated in losses to Samsung Galaxy, MVP, and last-place Kongdoo Monster before KT rallied in the final week to beat Afreeca and Longzhu and qualified for the spring finals in the playoff gauntlet.
More recently in 2017 LCK Summer, KT narrowly lost to SKT again, then promptly lost a messy series to the seventh-place ROX Tigers a few days later.
KT have strong individuals; there's a reason why they were called a superteam when the roster was initially announced. Those individuals have been less consistent as of late, though, and KT still lacks cohesion when it matters. Although mid laner Heo "PawN" Won-seok has boasted some impressive scorelines this season, he hasn't always been effective in communicating with his team, especially when attempting to pressure by splitting. PawN has always been a bit of a wanderer around the map, but when this isn't coordinated with his teammates, or they can't apply map pressure elsewhere, he just looks lost, regardless of strong statistics. Even reliable veteran jungler Score has had his weak games here and there, and his lane communication sometimes appears to have regressed rather than improved.
Against a team like SKT that can punish mistakes quickly, these weaknesses are deadly. Yet, with their strong individual firepower, KT should give many teams trouble, especially if they manage to make the most of how those individuals can draw pressure around the map.
MVP
Despite their flaws and recent losses, both Samsung Galaxy and KT are towards the top of the current LCK standings at second and fourth, respectively. The same cannot be said for Korea's final participant, MVP.
MVP is currently languishing nearly at the bottom of the LCK standings, desperately trying to avoid the promotion tournament rather than vying for playoffs. While the rest of the LCK improved, especially rosters like the Afreeca Freecs and new Longzhu Gaming lineup, MVP seemingly grew worse. Miscommunication between jungler Kim "Beyond" Kyu-seok and his lanes along with abysmal setups around objectives, particularly Baron Nashor, have marred MVP's performance throughout this summer.
Once lauded for unique picks, cohesive teamfighting, and communication that made the whole greater than the individuals themselves, MVP is a shadow of the team's former self. It's difficult to see them doing all that well at Rift Rivals due to their inconsistent nature.
LCK vs. the LPL and LMS
Perhaps the most interesting measurement of Korean regional strength will be MVP, who made it to the playoffs last split on the back of its team synergy against more mechanically-skilled opponents. MVP has a chance to prove the depth of Korea as a region -- and best-of-ones could be in its favor -- but even then the team won't get far against top Chinese teams.
As for how Korean teams on the whole will do at Rift Rivals, it's difficult not to see this as SKT's tournament, regardless of opponent. Team WE managed to give the world champions some trouble in the 2017 MSI group stages, but it's tough to imagine WE overwhelming SKT in a full best-of-five. Flash Wolves were woefully outpaced by SKT once it had to face them in a bracket stage series, resulting in a quick 3-0 sweep.
If team Korea wants to win, all they have to do is run the SKT lineup come best-of-five time.