On the 8th of September (KST), kt Rolster (KT) defeated Griffin 3:2 and claimed the 2018 LCK Summer trophy.

This LCK first-year team managed to deliver solid overall performance against one of the most experienced team, KT. However, after losing game 4, which they were almost on the verge of winning, Griffin seemed to have lost momentum.

For KT, this is the first time they’ve won the LCK trophy as a single team; it was 2014 when their sister team kt Arrows won a Summer trophy. Meanwhile, Afreeca Freecs, who lost against Griffin in the semifinals, advanced directly to Worlds. Griffin will perform in the LCK Worlds qualifiers alongside with Gen.G, Kingzone DragonX, and SKT.

Game 1

The first kill of the finals came from bottom lane. KT killed Griffin’s Lehends who seemed to be caught off guard. However, Griffin started to gain momentum from their top laner, Sword. After killing Smeb’s Aatrox from a top dive, he solo-killed Smeb near KT’s tier 2 turret.

Things started to go favorably for Griffin after the top teamfight. KT did seem to be on the advantage, but Viper’s Kai’Sa delivered some exceptional mechanics. In this teamfight, Viper secured 3 kills.

Griffin started to dominate the game by winning small skirmishes and teamfights. They soon slew the Baron and destroyed KT’s turrets. After destroying KT’s mid inhibitor, Griffin slew the Elder Drake. After winning another fight near the Baron pit, Griffin advanced to KT’s Nexus and closed down game 1.

Game 2

KT’s mid laner, Ucal was outstanding in game 2. Everything started from Ucal’s mid solo-kill. He also played a concrete role in the top teamfight; he landed his Irelia’s stun on Viper’s Varus. With killing Viper, Deft freely engaged using his Kai’Sa ult. After winning the teamfight KT secured their first Baron buff.

The highlight of game 2 was the teamfight that occurred after the second Baron spawned. Griffin engaged for a teamfight and seemed to be winning. However, Deft, using his Flash, dodged some of Griffin’s skills and freely dealt damage. KT secured their second Baron and this time they managed to destroy Griffin’s Nexus.

Game 3

On game 3, Griffin used their signature “non-ADC” composition. With picking aggressive champions such as Urgot, Jayce and Yasuo, they added Tahm Kench to support their dealers.

First blood came from bottom lane. With Tarzan going for an early-game bottom gank,  Viper’s Yasuo managed to gain a kill on Mata’s Alistar. Although KT got 2 kills from top, Griffin started to slowly snowball using their bottom lane advantage. They secured the Drake and destroyed the bottom tier 1 turret.

Griffin soon planned for a Baron hunt. After killing Victor and Kai’Sa, they safely secured their first Baron buff. Griffin started to destroy KT’s turrets. Eventually, the gold difference widened to 10,000. With the second Baron spawning, the two teams gathered up near the Baron pit. Griffin, who was on the advantage, placed Sword’s Jayce on bottom lane and engaged for a 4 vs 5 teamfight. They did lose the fight, but Griffin players succeeded to give enough time for Sword to push through KT’s bottom inhibitor. KT’s players did rush back to their base, but it was too late. Sword destroyed KT’s Nexus turrets and closed down game 3.

Game 4

With gaining 5 kills in top early-game, Griffin snowballed quickly throughout game 4. Griffin was clearly on top. They won every fight and started to pressure KT. Griffin soon claimed the Baron and it seemed that this might be the end for KT’s Summer.

However, KT fought back. When Griffin gathered for an Elder Drake hunt, KT succeeded to win a huge teamfight and secured the Elder buff. KT players advanced to Griffin’s Nexus, but they were careless and lost, making Griffin on the advantage once again. This time, Griffin aimed to close down the game. However, KT killed 2 of the Griffin players; Chovy did survive, but Ucal chased him down using his Taliyah ultimate and killed him in a 1 vs 1. The rest of the KT players rushed to Griffin’s Nexus and closed down game 4.

Game 5

In game 5, KT used a completely different composition, With using global ultimate champions such as Nocturne and Galio, they also went with the Xayah-Rakan duo in bottom lane. On the other hand, Griffin picked ranged poking champions.

Griffin, who lost such a competitive game in game 4, seemed to have lost momentum. Although they managed to sustain the early-game, they started to collapse after Nocturne started to use his ultimate. After KT gained the Baron buff, the game started to snowball quickly. They soon destroyed every Griffin turrets and closed down Griffin. The Summer LCK trophy went to KT.

2018 LCK Summer Finals 

kt Rolster vs Griffin

Game 1: Griffin
Game 2: kt Rolster
Game 3: Griffin
Game 4: kt Rolster 
Game 5: kt Rolster (W)