Samsung Galaxy claims their first World Championship
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Samsung Galaxy made history earlier today at the Worlds 2017 grand final in the fully packed Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, China. SSG successfully took revenge on SK Telecom T1 in a 3-0 shut down for the world championship.
SKT’s immortal Worlds record has finally been tarnished as they receive their first defeat on the finals stage in four years. SSG now holds the distinction of being the only team to defeat SK Telecom T1 in a best-of-five series at Worlds.
No Lack of Ambition
Samsung Galaxy entered Worlds 2017 with their same exact roster from a year prior. The same five Summoners that lost in a 2-3 series against SKT in 2016 were looking for revenge on the defending world champions.
Yet despite finishing 2nd in Worlds 2016, SSG was still considered underdogs in the tournament after they clinched Korea’s 3rd seed.
Ambition and Crown‘s revenge plan sprang into action at the beginning of the playoffs stage. SSG beat out tournament favorite and Korean first seed Longzhu Gaming in a 3-0 sweep, and went on to face SKT in a Worlds Final rematch.
Samsung Galaxy edged out SK Telecom T1 in another 3-0 sweep to win their first world championship as a team and the second world championship for the Samsung organization.
No Bengi, No Win
This was SKT’s first Worlds appearance without their original Jungler Bengi since their first world championship win in 2013. Peanut and world champion Blank filled in for SKT’s Jungle position this year but there’s just no substitution for the three-time world champion jungler.
Bengi has been present in SKT’s jungle for each of their three world championship wins across the years. He left some time after their 3rd world championship to play for China’s Vici Gaming.
His absence from SKT’s World 2017 run clearly hurt their chances for a fourth world championship win.
Peanut’s Heel Turn
SKT’s new jungler Peanut is an odd case. Peanut transferred to SKT at the beginning of the 2017 season after a long history playing against SKT on ROX Tigers.
Following ROXT’s dissolution after Worlds 2016, which saw their star-studded roster scattered to the wind, Peanut joined their long-time rival. “I joined this team in order to lift the Summoner’s Cup,” Peanut said.
Unfortunately for Peanut, it will be at least one more year until he finally gets to lift the Summoner’s Cup. That’s only if he still manages to stay on the roster for one more year.
Huni’s First Finals
Huni first tried out for SK Telecom T1 in 2015 and failed to make it into the roster. He then moved to Europe’s Fnatic where they managed to finished 3rd/4th in Worlds 2015. Following his modest success with the European squad, he moved to North America to round out the brand new Immortals lineup. After finding no success outside of his home region, Huni returned to the LCK where he finally made it into the SKT lineup.
This was Huni’s first appearance in a world championship final. Considering he played on teams from regions that are considered inferior by many, Huni making it all the way to the Worlds final on one of the strongest teams from Korea is a commendable achievement. However, Huni shares in Peanut’s misfortune as they fell short of the Summoner’s Cup at the hands of a rising Samsung Galaxy.
Bonus: Yasuo is a Death Sentence
SKT is the latest team to pick Yasuo into a losing game. However, they are the first team to use the infamous champion as a counter pick. Huni picked up the Yasuo to counter CuVee‘s Gnar in the 2nd game of the finals series. Huni managed to win his lane but fell through in the late game phase. Yasuo continues to be the signature pick of losing teams at Worlds.
