SKT vs. KT Rolster: Start time, how to watch, stream

Since the earliest days of Starcraft, Korean esports organizations KT Rolster and SK Telecom T1 have been bitter rivals across multiple titles. The 2017 competitive League of Legends season gives us the newest chapter in esports’ oldest rivalry, as the two best teams in Korea, 7-1 SKT and 7-1 KT, square off twice this week.

After going through the first parts of their seasons almost completely uncontested, both were upset in surprise sweeps — SKT by Afreeca, KT by MVP.

KT Rolster come into the series with a slightly better early game than SKT, preferring to play the offensive and imposing their own pace forcing their opponent to play on the back foot. SKT on the other hand, specializes in responsive play, letting teams come to them before beating them on their own terms.

As far as champions go, there are a couple points where the teams’ styles diverge. In the jungle, KT Rolster’s Dong-bin “Score” Go has proven himself on a wide range of junglers, from more supportive picks like Ivern, to pure damage like Kha’Zix. Meanwhile, SKT’s Wang-ho “Peanut” Yoon has played almost exclusively carry junglers like Kha’Zix, Rengar and Lee Sin — the last of which is a notable blindspot in Score’s champion pool.

The other big difference in the champions we may see from the two teams will come in midlane. Most notable is Won-seok “Pawn” Heo’s Azir. As one of the KT midlaner’s favorite champions this season, Azir is almost sure to make an appearance this week. SKT’s Sang-hyeok “Faker” Lee has never excelled at the champion, but his favored 2017 pick, Katarina, has long been one of Pawn’s favorites.

How to Watch

When: Thursday, March 2 at 3 a.m. Eastern

How: LCK1 on Twitch