Samsung Galaxy upsets KT Rolster, qualifies for Worlds

In the final round of the Korea Regional Finals, Samsung Galaxy has emerged victorious, upsetting KT Rolster three games to one Saturday. Samsung defeated the Afreeca Freecs three games to one in the previous round Thursday, and entered Saturday as significant underdogs to KT, fresh off a finals appearance after beating regional powerhouse SK Telecom T1 in the playoffs.

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Samsung Galaxy won the first game in dominating fashion, winning 20-1 in 34 minutes with 10 kills for Crown’s Viktor. KT Rolster fought back with a Game 2 win thanks to 10 kills from Score’s Nidalee, and took the lead in the series after another strong Game 3 for Score (4/2/10 on Nidalee).

But in Game 4, Samsung fought back with an unexpected twist — Skarner, as Ambition went 4/0/3 on the champion to lead his team to the series-tying win. In the deciding Game 5, Skarner was banned, but Ambition put together another strong performance (6/2/9 on Elise) to secure the win and a spot at Worlds.

Samsung Galaxy joins ROX Tigers and SK Telecom as the three Korean teams that will be represented at Worlds. If KT Rolster had won, it would have been the same three teams as last year.

KT Rolster’s loss also means two of the best players in the world, Ssumday and Score, will not be competing at Worlds. The result also sends former Dignitas AD Carry CoreJJ, only recently named Samsung’s starting support, to Worlds for the first time.

Samsung previously sponsored two Korean League of Legends teams: Samsung Blue and Samsung White. Both teams made Worlds in 2014 — Blue made it to the semifinals while White won the whole thing. No Samsung team had made it to Worlds since.