Two teams are left to try and take home the League of Legends Worlds Championship Trophy. Samsung White out of Korea, and Star Horn Royal Club out of China. Let's see how these teams got to this point.
Star Horn Royal Club
SHRC had no easy road to the Championship. In the quarters, SHRC beat fellow China team Edward Gaming 3-2 in the best of 5 series.
For Royal Club, their team relies around InSec in the jungle, and Uzi in the adc slot. Uzi is arguably the best adc in the world and can carry Royal Club. InSec is known for his Lee Sin play and has a ridiculous awareness in games.
In the semi-finals, Royal Club had no walk in the park with another fellow China team OMG in another match that went 5 games.
Royal Club is now in the Championship to take on Samsung White. Club actually made the Championship last season when they got swept 3-0 by SKT T1 Telecom.
Samsung White
Samsung White has arguably had the best tournament run, and is comparable to SKT T1's run. Samsung White is the favorite to win the tournament, and a heavy favorite. Let's see how they got here.
SSW's matchup versus TSM was one of the more dominant performances at that point in the tournament. TSM did take game 3, however, and would eventually be Samsung White's only loss thus far in the tournament. White completely destroyed TSM, in both aspect of mechanics and play-calling. White would then go on to play rival Samsung Blue.
The highlights don't do this match justice, but Samsung White completely obliterated Samsung Blue. White won games of 28 minutes, 32 minutes, and 22 minutes. Looper, White's top laner, had a 52 KDA for the series (19-1-32). White showed brilliance, an immense champion pool, and just complete dominance.
World Championship
Samsung White and Star Horn Royal Club both got here in different ways but are both here. White is the clear favorite but we dive down into a lane-by-lane analysis.
Top Lane: SHRC Cola Vs. SSW Looper
This matchup will be interesting because both top laners are even. Top lane has a few champions in the meta right now where if you pick that certain champion you'll likely win. Ryze is the champion MVP of top lane this tournament so if either top laner gets Ryze (which will likely be banned) then they'll probably win. Looper however, has a distinct champion pool where he can play champions like Kassadin that allow him to be mobile and really flow into what White wants to do as a team.
Jungle: SHRC InSec Vs. SSW DanDy
InSec is known for his god-like plays. But, in the jungle this writer thinks DanDy has the edge. Both junglers are amazing but after Lee Sin, InSec hasn't shown his true capablities on another champion. His Lee Sin plays are so far ahead of his ther champions that it limits his champion pool a tad. DanDy has shown consistency on multiple champions and wins this matchup.
Mid: SHRC Corn Vs. SSW PawN
PawN wins the mid-lane matchup. It's clear. PawN has an immense champion pool and has the most amazing mechanics we have seen since Faker was in the tournament last season. PawN will blind pick mid champions because he doesn't care about counters. When Samsung blue picked Twisted Fate, PawN played Fizz out of nowhere and stomped in Game 3. It's clear PawN is the better mid-laner and has a larger champion pool.
ADC: SHRC Uzi Vs. SSW imp
For Samsung White, imp is their weak-link. Which is an odd thing to say because imp is a great adc. Uzi likely has the better adc mechanics and game-sense. Uzi wins the battle of the adc because uzi is better at adc's that work with the meta. Imp plays champions like Twitch who isn't necessarily in the meta but with White's team compositions Twitch works. Uzi is better at champions who are directly in the meta like Caitlyn and Vayne and Lucian.
Support: SHRC Zero Vs. SSW Mata
Mata wins the support matchup. Mata is a play-maker and if you give him Thresh then he will destroy any bot-lane. The only way SHRC wins the botlane is if you can get a Lucian/Janna botlane for Zero and Uzi and or a Caitlyn/Janna combo. You have to shut imp down in order to win the lane, and by comparison on the other lanes it's clear that Samsung White is the obvious favorite. Bring on the World Championship.
