/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56265873/SKT_LCK_semi.0.jpg)
8:25 A.M. EST — SKT take down kt Rolster in a reverse sweep winning game 5 in convincing fashion at 37 minutes. SK Telecom T1 will advance to the Finals against Longzhu Gaming.
8:22 A.M. EST — kt are low on gold and with no damage coming out of their team fight, they are running out of ways back into this series.
8:17 A.M. EST — kt manage a strong fight as SKT overextend at the kt blue buff and get Baron as a reward, but Deft gets caught and kt give up an inhibitor.
8:07 A.M. EST — SKT blow the game wide open with a fight in the river that ends in three towers and 4 kills. The path to victory in this game for kt is getting incredibly difficult to imagine.
7:46 A.M. EST — Pick and Ban Game 5
kt are going all in on a zero damage split push composition, while SKT drafted a comp that could team fight effectively and take care of the split push.
kt: Shen, Zac, Kassadin, Sivir, Alistar
Bans: Cassiopeia, Gragas, Tristana, Cho’Gath, Gnar
SKT: Trundle, Jarvan IV, Corki, Xayah, Rakan
Bans: Galio, Kalista, Leblanc, Lucian, Ashe
7:26 A.M. EST — Sure enough, SKT take game 4 at 32 minutes and we are going to game 5.
7:18 A.M. EST — SKT have game 4 essentially in hand with an 8k gold lead with 2 infernal drakes, it looks like we are headed for game 5.
7:02 A.M. EST — With a 5-2 kill lead, SKT are barely hanging onto a 1k gold lead at 14 minutes.
6:45 A.M. EST — Pick and Ban Game 4
kt have finally chosen a solid team fighting composition and are going to go head to head with a similar composition from SKT.
kt: Renekton, Zac, Taliyah, Caitlyn, Thresh
Bans: Cassiopeia, Lucian, Rakan, Cho’Gath, Maokai
SKT: Gnar, Gragas, Corki, Tristana, Blitzcrank
Bans: Shen, Galio, Kalista, Leblanc, Trundle
6:28 A.M. EST — SKT take down kt for their first win of the series at 26 minutes in a quick snowball.
6:22 A.M. EST — 20 minutes in and we have our first real game of the series with SKT only 2k gold lead, though both teams have 2 towers.
5:55 A.M. EST — Pick and Ban Game 3
SK Telecom once again sit behind tank with very little damage, while kt are going to be throwing themselves into the SKT backline with Sivir ultimates.
kt: Jarvan IV, Elise, Leblanc, Sivir, Thresh
Bans: Cassiopeia, Lucian, Zac, Orianna, Cho’Gath
SKT: Maokai, Gragas, Corki, Tristana, Rakan
Bans: Shen, Galio, Kalista, Caitlyn, Renekton
5:41 A.M. EST — kt take game number 2 in 32 minutes dominating even more than game 1.
5:28 A.M. EST — kt’s ultra damage composition has forced SKT to play on their back foot and they can’t seem to find a way into the game at all. At 24 minutes kt sit at a 7k gold lead.
5:13 A.M. EST — A few ganks top lane and the two teams trade kills. keeping things fairly even.
5:01 A.M. EST — Pick and Ban Game 2
SK Telecom have almost no damage whatsoever, so their focus will be strong objective control and attempting to be dodging kt’s incredible damage. A difficult proposition considering kt won last game nearly perfectly.
SKT: Maokai, Jarvan IV, Galio, Tristana, Tahm Kench
Bans: Shen, Rakan, Elise, Trundle, Corki
kt: Cho’Gath, Gragas, Gangplank, Kalista, Thresh
Bans: Zac, Lucian, Cassiopeia, Alistar, Taric
4:47 A.M. EST — kt Take the win in an almost perfect match at about 30 minutes.
4:35 A.M. EST — kt Rolster have played a nearly perfect game at 28 minutes. 8-0 and a 10 kill gold lead, with 7 towers and 3 dragons.
4:23 A.M. EST — A perfectly timed gank from Score earns first blood bottom lane for Deft, and helps kt get a 1.5k gold lead.
4:12 A.M. EST — Pick and Ban Game 1
kt: Shen, Zac, Leblanc, Kalista, Thresh
Bans: Cassiopeia, Lucian, Gragas, Cho’Gath, Orianna
SKT: Gnar, Maokai, Kassadin, Tristana, Alistar
Bans: Elise, Galio, Rakan, Trundle, Jarvan IV
The LCK Summer Split semifinals kick off Saturday morning in a match up between SK Telecom T1 and kt Rolster.
For SKT, the path the semifinals ran through a tumultuous Summer Split that included one of their worst finishes ever. With roster instability at both top and jungle, the line between what works and what doesn’t has been perilously thin and frighteningly inconsistent for SK Telecom so far this Summer.
However, in true SKT fashion, things started to look up as soon as playoffs came around. In the first round, SKT made short work of Afreeca Freecs in a 2-0 sweep. In the quarterfinals, SK Telecom looked even better, taking it to a briefly slumping Samsung Galaxy in SKT’s first impressive series in almost two months.
In the case of kt Rolster, on the other hand, the path to the semifinals has been relatively mundane. An incredibly strong season, with only four losses total on the split. The only downside for kt is that SKT is the only team they lost to twice in a row, which is really the only worrying thing about this series for kt Rolster.
If this were any other team, kt Rolster would be nearly guaranteed to advance to the next round, but over the last four years SK Telecom has always seemed to get the better of them when the two go head to head. But with SK Telecom just barely recovering from a massive slump, and kt Rolster looking better than ever, this could be the perfect opportunity to turn things around.
LINEUPS
SK Telecom T1
- Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon, Park “Untara” Ui-jin
- Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, Kang “Blank” Sungu
- Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
- Bae “Bang” Jun-sik
- Lee “Wolf” Jae-wan
kt Rolster
- Song “Smeb” Kyungho
- Ko “Score” Dong-bin
- Heo “Pawn” Wonseok
- Kim “Deft” Kyeokgyu
- Cho “Mata” Sehyoung
How to watch
The SKT vs. kt series will be a best-of-five and watchable on here or at the LCK Twitch channel. It is scheduled to start at 4 A.M. Eastern.