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With both teams playing for pride, as neither could qualify for the League of Legends Champions Korea Summer Split Playoffs, Saturday saw Ever8 Winners walk away with a clean 2-0 sweep over MVP to conclude its 2017 Summer Split in Seoul, South Korea.
From mid-game on in Game 1 of the series, Ever8 (3-15, 12-30 match score) had control of the contest. MVP (6-12, 13-29 match score) was content throughout each match to continue laning and playing passively, but Ever8 had other plans. Grouping around the map and creating uneven fights, Ever8 continually kept MVP on its back foot.
Jungler Kim "Malrang" Geun-seung was the team's key to victory. He dominated in both games as Jax, and his play was particularly impressive because he built items rarely seen on the powerful split-pushing champion. Instead of leaning into the common build that centers around an early Trinity Force, Malrang played the champion as utility tank. He was able to display how effective Jax's ground covering and stunning abilities can be even when not itemized into an assassin.
While Malrang was setting the new standard for competitive Jax play, his top laner was putting on a show of his own. Kim "Kiin" Ki-in was solid throughout the series, but he completely took over Game 2 after being unlocked by an early ganking Malrang. The Camille he drafted seemingly came from a pre-nerf patch as he was able to repeatedly solo kill top laner Kang "ADD" Geon-mo's Gnar on his way to a perfect 8/0/8 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) by game's end. The amount of resources expended to kill him (unsuccessfully) meant the Ever8 carries could free fire, and that allowed Ever8 to win every team fight.
Ever8 will try to continue its newfound success in the upcoming relegation tournament against a to-be-determined Challenger league opponent. MVP will not be seen on the Rift again until the 2018 LCK Spring Split.