Afreeca Freecs required three games to take down ROX Tigers, but eventually earned a 2-1 victory during Week 6, Day 2 action at League of Legends Champions Korea action on Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea.
Afreeca Freecs (6-5, 17-14 match record) drafted a composition with strong side-lane pressure with Renekton and Kassadin to split the map for the ROX Tigers (4-7, 12-16 match record). Afreeca started off hot, finding kills and converting them to objectives as it amassed a 6,000-gold lead at the 15-minute mark. ROX showed signs of life, trying to fight for presence so as to not get outpaced, but the map pressure from Afreeca prevented any such thing. A 24-minute Baron kill by Afreeca gave it the power it needed to push into ROX's base without much resistance, until ROX managed to trade 3-for-4 near the 26-minute mark. The trade only prolonged its inevitable defeat, though, as ROX simply couldn't beat Afreeca's mechanics in late teamfights. Surging, Afreeca only needed one more push in the top lane to go up 1-0 in the series in just under a half an hour.
Afreeca and ROX drafted strong teamfighting compositions with side-lane presence for Game 2 (Kennen for Afreeca, Gnar for ROX), and the Freecs showed crisp execution in the first 15 minutes to take an early lead. ROX kept things close, however, by matching Afreeca's movements going into the mid game, creating tension as the game drew even. Both teams danced around the map, looking for opportunities to threaten and eventually take Baron. A fight for a Mountain Drake at the 29-minute mark weakened Afreeca severely, allowing ROX to take the Baron. ROX managed to destroy two inhibitors and take a free Elder Dragon, due to the onslaught of minion waves pouring into Afreeca's base. ROX quickly took down a second Baron before cruising into AF's base and knocking out its Nexus to even the series at 1-1.
In a series-deciding Game 3, Afreeca continued to use the increasingly standard playstyle of drafting plenty of initiation, this time in the form of Jarvan IV and Gragas. The early game didn't see as much fighting in the first 15 minutes as ROX intelligently waited until its mid game spikes came online, but Afreeca still built a 2,500- gold lead through sheer laning. ROX started fighting back and matching every Afreeca move effectively in the mid game, but couldn't match Afreeca as the contest progressed. A 33-minute pick led to a Baron kill for Afreeca, pushing it impossibly ahead of ROX for the latter to comeback. A mid lane push saw ROX quickly get wiped off the map by Afreeca as it destroyed ROX's Nexus, securing the 2-1 victory.
Afreeca Freecs will play its next game against SK Telecom T1 on Saturday, at 7 a.m. ET, while ROX Tigers will look to find its fifth win of the season against MVP on Sunday at 4 a.m. ET.