[Weekly LCK: Hot and Cold] Griffin Plays Pyke-Yuumi Bot, SK Telecom T1 Changes Unsuccessful

Week 3 of the 2019 LCK Summer Split has gone by. The standings now have a top-mid-bottom group. The LCS and LEC have gone into the Rift Rivals break but the LCK has yet a week to play. Let’s have a look at how the third week of LCK went.

HotGriffin

Griffin is back up at the top with strong performances in the bot lane. They defeated kt Rolster and SK Telecom T1, avenging the two teams that they lost to in the two previous finals. The loss they suffered in week 2 was medicine for them to rise back to their old selves; the monster in the regular season.

This week, their golden ticket was Yuumi. Griffin played four games and won them all this week. Yuumi was picked three times among those four games, once with the famous(?) Pyke-Yuumi bot lane. Against KT, Griffin picked Pyke and Yuumi in bot lane and demonstrated how the comp should work.

Against SKT, Griffin proved why they were considered as one of the strongest teams in the world. From picks and bans, their intentions were clear and they carried out their intentions from picks and bans throughout the games. With the two wins, Griffin topped the board with a 5-1 (+8) record.

Cold SK Telecom T1

SK Telecom T1 is having trouble escaping from their slump. With another two losses, they’ve tied their record for consecutive losses (5-game losing streak) in the history of the organization. SKT attempted some changes by taking out Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Kim “Clid” Tae-min, and Cho “Mata” Se-hyeong in the second game against Griffin. They even had Kim “kkOma” Jeong-kyun on stage for the first time in LoL Park as the on-stage coach during picks and bans. However, their drastic measures did not work out for them.

SKT lacked precision and in decision making during their games, losing games that they had the upper hand. In their match against DAMWON Gaming, SKT headed for the dragon when DAMWON was hitting Baron. When they realized Baron was being raided, it was already too late. This turned the game around and they ended up giving up the win.

Head coach kkOma was on stage for the picks and bans against Griffin, trying to drive SKT out of their losing streak. They pulled close alongside Griffin in Game 1 but wasn’t able to win. In the following match, SKT made even more changes by substituting in Kim “Gori” Tae-woo, Kang “Haru” Min-seung, and Lee “Effect” Sang-ho in places of Faker, Clid, and Mata. They attempted the Sona-Tahm Kench bot duo which was again unsuccessful. Seeing Teddy finish the Spellthief quest at 25 minutes may mean that it’s time for SKT to lay down the Sona card. After week 3, SKT is at an underwhelming 9th place with a 1-5 (-6) record.

Player of the Week Griffin Support Lehends

“It seems that Lehends’ Yuumi is always extremely busy, doing stuff here and there.” - Kim Dong-jun, LCK Caster

Son “Lehends” Si-woo is undefeated with Yuumi. This season, he was given the Yuumi pick 4 times (3 games this week) and won all of them. In Game 2 against SK Telecom T1, Lehends was given Yuumi again, and he managed to deal the most damage in the game.

Although he was selected as MVP only once this week, it could be said that his performance contributed the most to the team’s victories overall.

Picks and Bans New face: Karma

Even with the 9.12 patch applied to the LCK, Sejuani maintained her 100% pick or ban. Along with the new patch, a new face rose to the top of the list: Karma. It seems that all LCK teams agreed that Karma does more than she should, because she has been banned in 24 games out of 25. However, she did not win the one game she was picked in.

Aatrox and Irelia also remained high in the meta, each being picked or banned in 89.5% and 75% of the matches, respectively. Yuumi’s win rate improved to 50%, but Lehends has a 60% share of the wins, winning 3 games among the 5 games (out of 10) Yuumi won.

Tahm Kench finally appeared in top lane, steered by Lee “CuVee” Sung-jin, which was said to be a good pick from a while ago. He was still strong in the support position as well, having been picked or banned in 88% of the games.

The happy Xayah-Rakan couple shared a high win rate with 87.5% and 83.3% while Ezreal and Lux stumbled down to 11.1% and 25%, and Kalista won 5 out of 5 games.