Kingzone DragonX 2 - Kongdoo Monster 0
In just over an hour of gametime, Kingzone DragonX swept Kongdoo Monster to open up Saturday's competition in the 2018 League of Legends Champions Korea Spring Split.
Kingzone DragonX started off the series hot, immediately being proactive in vision control and macro play compared to Kongdoo Monster. In Game 1, Kingzone was hardly threatened by Kongdoo while effortlessly roaming around around the map and dominating any small skirmish. One facet that kept Kongdoo out of the game was Kingzone jungler Han "Peanut" Wang-Ho's constant counter jungling as Rengar. Game 2 was a slightly closer affair, but still not close enough for Kongdoo to have any chance of winning. While the entire team did well, Kingzone support Kang "GorillA" Beom-hyeon shined brightest, posting a 0/0/11 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) as Alistar.
Simply put, Kingzone looked like the best team in the world and Kongdoo couldn't do anything about it. While this roster has the luxury of being almost identical to last season's roster, it's still worth mentioning that the team chemistry compared to the rest of the spread is off-the-charts. On the other hand, Kongdoo hasn't been as fortunate. After a decent 2-2 start to the split, Kongdoo failed to win a game in Week 3 due to being pitted against top-half teams. The team looks disjointed and simply unable to match the raw talent that many top teams are built on. It's still early in the season, meaning Kongdoo has plenty of time to improve, but at least it can still claim that it's higher than SK Telecom T1 in the standings.
Kongdoo Monster will return to the Rift to play Afreeca Freecs at 6 a.m. ET on Tuesday, while Kingzone DragonX will play KT Rolster in a highly-anticipated match at 6 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
--Dylan Sen
KSV 2 - bbq Olivers 1
In a surprisingly close series, KSV eSports took down bbq Olivers 2-1 on Saturday in League of Legends Champions Korea.
The KSV and bbq Olivers matchup wasn't expected to be nearly as close as it was, but the series nearly went in favor of the Olivers. Game 1 was themed by two late-game team compositions, and bbq took it home thanks to AD carry Yongjun "Ghost" Jang's Kog'Maw and his dominant his 7/0/2 KDA (kills/deaths/assists). Game 2 saw bbq nearly complete sweep, but the team's inability to end the game before KSV nullified the gold difference gave KSV the chance to even the series. By then, KSV had all the momentum it needed to come out on top for the narrow win, as mid laner Lee "Crown" Min-ho's Zoe led the way with a 4/1/2 KDA.
Bbq Olivers easily could have swept KSV, but the team failed to close out the game despite its massive gold lead. While this is certainly an Achilles heel for any League of Legends team, it's an area that if worked on, can help bbq climb the standings. With most of its series going to a Game 3, those losses can potentially be turned into victories. On the other side of the Rift is KSV who, despite its record, is looking extremely labored and slow as a whole. Sure, wins are wins, but eventually the slow starts will catch up to this team as the season progresses and other teams find a rhythm. If the defending World Champions don't shore up its early series play in a hurry, it could start to slowly lose its top spot in the LCK.
KSV will return to the Rift to play ROX Tigers at 3 a.m. ET on Tuesday, while bbq Oliver's will play SK Telecom T1 at 3 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
--Dylan Sen