An explosive 5 game set narrowly decides Grand Finals spot

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End-Game Builds & Quick Stats​

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Coverage

SKT vs. NJS

(click for draft breakown)

Game 1

The All-Korean showdown kicked off with a quick pause after the double red side ward. A double blue steal kicked things off and reset the early game. As early game continued, the results everyone expected were all backwards. SKT T1's bottom lane duo punished Najin Sword early while Faker was punished in the mid lane by Nagne with the help of Watch. SKT T1 was able to grab the first dragon of the game.

At around the 9 minute mark, all the action started taking off. Expession on the hyper-carry Jax managed first blood with the help of Watch while SKT found a bit of revenge diving bottom. NaJin Sword had superior gold distribution, however, with gold on the better champions. The score was 2-2 with SKT in the lead due to the early dragon. With an ill timed blue pill, Faker was able to single handedly take middle turret.

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SKT were not afraid to take a page out of the book of the Chinese and dive when they could.

The dragon control was completely in favor of SKT T1, but NaJin Sword was still able to respond with aggression on the top lane in an attempt to punish and roughly trade against SKT's plays. In one of the most hectic teamfights since the start of worlds, both teams went relatively even with NJS finding the slight edge, still behind in gold due to the 2 dragons. Around 20 minutes, NaJin Sword was able to pick up a dragon and even out the gold.

After two barons and a superior late game, NaJin Sword established a larger and larger lead. Between the two barons, however, SKT T1 was able to push despite the baron and 3k gold lead. Eventually, the lead just became overwhelming and were able to push in and take the first game away from SKT T1 in a brilliant victory.

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Game 2

The second game of the set started far more hectic. Faker nearly got picked off, but didn't panic. He managed to dodge a grasping roots and escape without panicking and blowing his flash early, allowing for an even start from both sides. First blood went to Impact, with a second kill going to Bengi after a greedy flash from Najin's Pray, making both bottom laners utterly crushed early on.

After a nearly escaped death for Nagne, he suffered one of the most embarassing deaths, feeling safe behind the turret and getting assassinated by Bengi's Lee Sin behind tower, resulting in a 3-0 lead for SKT within 5 minutes. Najin Sword would continue falling further and further behind with Impact picking up a kill bottom and continued diving onto top lane. Faker, however, was able to acquire the first kill on the team.

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SKT T1 came back with considerably more control over the game/

The coordination from SKT as the game progressed showed solid proof of how well they adapt, punishing NaJin Sword, who went with the comfort picks that helped them grab their first victory, Impact and ManDu suffered the only deaths on the team and SKT continued their tradition of pulling ahead after an initial loss in a set. Impact was able to split push top while SKT T1 picked up a free dragon.

Considering the deficit, NaJin Sword definitely proved themselves as a world class team by holding out for an incredibly long time. However, by the time SKT T1 acquired baron and were at NaJin Sword's doorstep, Expession only had homeguard boots and a Tri-Force, a complete changearound from game 1. SKT T1 tied the score to 1-1.

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Game 3

The start of the third game started much more calmly with both teams starting out with the usual blue buff level 1 jungle starts. Both duo lanes would meet each other again; this time, in the top lane. First blood nearly erupted after some passive farming, but was stopped with the game continuing to be a farm war. Some action following up within the minute would reshape the game to, once again, be incredibly hectic.

Around 7 minutes, 4 kills went down on the map after a crazy fight up top while Impact found his own kill in the bottom. However, patience was a virtue for Faker, who waited in a bush to take out SKT's jungler, grabbing the dragon. With a dragon and tower advantage, SKT T1 found themselves 1,000 gold in the lead. NJS picked up the aggression with their dives in order to catch up in gold, evening it out around 14 minutes.

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Najin Black Sword were able to bully SKT T1 out of dragons early.

Moving into midgame, Nagne utilized his powerful Gragas play to create plays for his team and remind Faker that he's not the only top AP in the business. While SKT T1 picked up another dragon after the 20 minute mark, NaJin Sword played cleanup, doubling the kill lead and keeping towers even with a slight lead in gold. Despite NJS's lead, SKT T1 showed desperate need to stay in the game; a godly ace with some sick moves and calculations from Faker would pull SKT T1 back in.

Impact really stepped up his play with his engagements to compliment his fellow solo laner to push towers in and continue the pressure. In some incredibly close battles, NaJin Sword were able to keep Pray alive a little better to shred own SKT T1 with Impact disrupting the backline, allowing NaJin Sword to pull the series back to 2-1.

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Game 4

A narrow escape from Watch allowed for him to turn around a first blood onto Bengi, meaning Pray would come to lane with an early advantage. SKT T1 turned it around with a very minute HP difference, allowing for a 2-0 on the kill-up lane. SKT T1 was able to push pressure away from the dragon region, taking the first one in the game and making a massive comeback rooting off their jungle blunder.

While Expession's tower was proxied early, allowing Renekton to pull far ahead of him on Jax, he was able to roam, acquiring a double kill and bringing him back on even grounds. SKT T1 were quick to snowball their bottom lane with Faker assisting the bottom lane for kills as well. NaJin Sword found themselves having trouble holding their towers. SKT T1 pulled further ahead while Najin Sword appeared to have been slumping, pulling ahead 12k gold.

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A level one gone wrong...

As the lead continued, an insurmountable comeback occured with SKT T1 slowly pushing their way to the inhibitors without giving up any objectives to Ozone. SKT T1 were able to keep themselves in the lead without any throws or picks, showing a much more decisive victory over their foes compared to their previous win. The first semi-final set proceeded on to a game five after a short, 20 minute game.

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Game 5

The last game of the night featured Najin Sword pulling out a double global composition, hoping on a snowball onto the bottom lane of Pray and Cain. SKT T1 acquired the early advantage with a delayed invade on NaJin Sword's blue buff, stealing away the blue buff onto Bengi and delaying Watch's Nocturne jungle. Najin Sword recovered from the early steal and stayed very even in gold in the early game with no kill going out.

Around 9 minutes, Expession was able to grab first blood after a quality dive, but gave up a dragon for the trade. With both teams playing careful on their final game to decide the grand finals spot, there was a moment of passivity. However, NaJin Sword were able to pick up the kills, but not without Faker finding revenge. Moving into the midgame, SKT found themselves with a gold lead, despite being down in kills.

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One of Faker's godly shockwaves turns an otherwise terrible fight.

At 24 minutes, Watch engaged with his ultimate, proving to make a fatal mistake as they all dropped low with SKT T1 taking the bottom tier 2 turret. After some incredible uses of map control and summoner cooldowns, SKT T1 found the initiation onto Najin Sword. While NJS put up more of a fight than they did in their last defeat, SKT T1 still looked to be in full control. This allowed SKT T1 to be able to close out the final game and proceed to the World Championships.

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​STANDINGS

Round 1 - Best of 3 Gama Bears 0 SKT T1 2 Najin SWD 2 GBG 1 RC-LoL 2 OMG-LoL 0 C9 1 Fnatic 2 Round 2 - Best of 5 SKT T1 3 Najin SWD 2 RC-LoL 3 Fnatic 1 Round 3 - Best of 5 SKT T1 3 RC-LoL 0

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