OGN Champions Winter kicks off again on Christmas Day with SKT T1 K vs Samsung Galaxy Blue. What’s better than Christmas? OGN Champions Winter on Christmas Day with the World Champions. Be sure to catch their games at 1:30 AM PST/4:30 AM EST while you are playing with your new Christmas presents.

Note: Editor is on vacation, sorry for the grammar mistakes.

Whoever translated this video. Thanks!

SK Telecom T1 K

From left to right: Piglet (Marksman), Bengi (Jungle), Poohmandu (Support), Impact (Top), and Faker (Mid).

Meet the Team

Impact (Jung Eon-yeong 정언영)

In the top lane we have Impact who is arguably considered the weakest member of SKT. By no means is Impact a weak player but the other players on the team just seem to shine more. His role typically consists of him playing the tank role and be SKT’s front line playing champions like Shen, Singed, Rengar, Dr. Mundo but he is capable of playing assassins and initiators as well like Diana and Kennen. Impact has shown great mechanics as well as decision making with Taunt Flashes on Shen and even level 1 proxy farming on Singed. One of the most impressive features of Impact is his ability to adapt throughout the game. When SKT played against Blaze Impact was able to change the split pushing Rengar style to a roaming one and ultimately helping his team to take a lead in the game.

Player History

While being known for his arrogance in the korean solo q he was also the previous support for team Xenics Storm. Joining SKT he transitioned from being a support to a top laner and showcased his overall talent as a player.

Bengi (Bae Seong-ung 배성웅)

Bengi is probably one of the most versatile junglers in Korea with his diverse champion pool and play style. You can expect Bengi to be able play any champion in the jungle and he is not afraid to bring new things to the competitive scene. Bengi has been able to take control of the game and snowball SKT on aggressive champions like Lee Sin, Elise, and Vi. He is also known for his Nunu play which is completely different in terms of style than the others mentioned. Even when playing an aggressive champion like Lee Sin Bengi knows how to adapt from game to game. In some games you see Bengi rushing double Doran’s Blade and Mobility boots to gain as much presence as he can in the early game. In other games he rushes Spirit of the Ancient Golem to be the front line of the team.

Player History

Before being on SKT Bengi made his first appearance in the pro scene on Team BBT but unfortunately dropped out of NLB Winter 2012-2013. Even though he had little competitive experience SKT chose to pick him up as their jungler. Bengi brought back Vi to popularity during the end of OGN Champions Summer and created the Vi/Ahri and Vi/Zed combination with Faker to defeat KT Rolster Bullets.

Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok 이상혁)

Faker is arguably the best player in the world and he is feared by most if not all mid laners. There is little need to be said about Faker this guy is a walking highlight reel. In nearly every game he plays you can find incredible mechanics and understanding of the game. Faker is unbannable, by that I mean the depth to his champion pool seems to be endless. He is able to play late game carries like Karthus and Ryze to get a great success as well as assassins like Zed and Ahri. Faker tends to be a bit of cocky in many of the games he play. For example he would start Doran’s Ring on Karthus when it was 475g while every other mid laner would start with Flask and potions. In the games he played Kassadin he would purchase an early Mejai’s Soulstealer even when he had only 1 kill. Faker’s showcase of his Leblanc took the world by storm. Not only was Leblanc a rare sight in competitive play, he was able to completely dominate his opponent going 10/0/1 at 18 minutes and forcing a 20 minute surrender.

Player History

Faker has no history in the competitive scene but he was ranked 1 on the Korean ladder and well known for his flashy plays. Unlike most Korean pro players, Faker never played on the NA server and only started to play LoL when the Korean Servers were established. He was referred to as the “Unkillable Demon King” by OMG Cool during Season 3 World Championships. Faker single handled popularized Riven mid by showcasing her at Worlds against Zed. During his time in NA Faker had a 92% win rate in solo q with Riven over 24 games.

Piglet (Chae Gwang-jin 채광진)

Now to the Hundred Acre Lane featuring Piglet and Poohmandu. Piglet almost has never had a bad game and always plays with a low risk playstyle. Most of the time the spotlight gets taken by Faker but Piglet is always there to clean up the team fights with his amazing mechanics and perfect positioning. Two champions that Piglet has shown the most success on being Vayne and Caitlyn but he is able to adapt to meta changes and pick up new champions like when Corki became a high priority pick. While some players like Samsung Galaxy Ozone Imp was unable to play Corki during Worlds Piglet was able to showcase his ability on that champion. Piglet struggled a little bit with consistency when SKT was first debuted in the OGN but his coach has scolded him so much to the point he wanted to leave SKT to fix his problem. With all of Piglet’s hard work he is able to become one of the most recognized Marksmen in the world. He also wears Winnie the Pooh socks to help him win more games.

Player History

Like Faker, Piglet had no experience in the competitive LoL Scene but was picked up by SKT. Like most Korean families he had problems with his parents while pursuing his career as a pro player. Before OGN Champions Summer Finals Piglet had a 26-2 record on female champions and only a 4-7 record on male champions.

PoohMandu (Lee Jeong-hyeon 이정현)

PoohManDu is the leader of SKT as well as the tallest member of the team. He was one of the only supports in the competitive scene that emphasised so much on Nami. PoohManDu debuted his Nami play earlier in OGN Summer and consistently executed clutch Aqua Prisons on multiple members of the enemy team. He also popularized Fiddlesticks support and force many bans on it. During Worlds PoohManDu has also showed a lot of Zyra play. He is a player who is not afraid to pull out new things in the past he has played both Leblanc support and Mordekaiser support. He always protected Piglet in lane to keep him alive and farmed while played a key part of initiation in the later stages of the game.

Player History

Prior to joining SKT, ManDu was the support for team GSG who was previously played in the OGN. Being on GSG ManDu gained a lot of experience playing in the competitive scene and who can forget his Heimerdinger jungle against the old CJ Entus.

The Coach – kk0ma

Before kk0ma got involved in League of Legends he was a StarCraft 2 pro player. After unable to succeed in the StarCraft 2 scene he pursued his career as a League of Legends player for team StarTale. Kk0ma hand picked the players of SKT and produced a world class team. He is known for his strictness as a coach and almost pushing Piglet to the point where he wanted to leave the team. Kk0ma is also a host on a Korean League of Legends talk show called “I am Carry”.

Notable Achievements

First place – Season 3 World Championships

First place – Season 3 Korean Regional Finals

First place – HOT6iX Champions Summer 2013

Third Place – OLYMPUS Champions Spring 2013

Samsung Galaxy Blue

From left to right: Acorn (Top), Deft (Marksman), Heart (Support), Spirit (Jungle), and PawN (Mid).

Meet the Team:

Acorn (Choi Cheon-ju 최천주)

His name used to be CheonJu but now it’s Acorn. Acorn has a bit of a different champion pool than most top laners in Korean. Even though he can play the strong meta champions sometimes he brings out some unpopular picks. In Champions WInter he brought out a Corki top pick going Trinity Force and Liandry’s Torment. He is also one of the few players that still likes to pick Kennen in the current meta. Most people consider him as the best Rumble player in Korea and teams still often ban him when playing against SG Blue.

Player History

Acorn’s first appearance in the OGN was on team GSG along side some of the other well-known players. GSG broke apart of their not so strong performance in the OGN but he was picked up by MVP Blue shortly after. While in MVP Blue he played with Spirit, Deft, Heart, and Easyhoon.

Spirit (Lee Da-yoon 이다윤)

Spirit’s main junglers are typically Elise and lee Sin. He has shown strong mechanics as well as game sense on Lee Sin against multiple teams like KT Rolster Bullets and LG IM #2. He plays an aggressive style of jungling to give his team control of the early as they like to play siege compositions. Spirit’s goal is to set SG Blue is a good position going into the mid game to allow them to siege and poke effectively. Spirit played the only Nocturne jungle that we saw in OGN Champions Winter.

Player History

There is not much to his history except that he has been with SG Blue since the Summer season why then were still MVP Blue. His past performances in the Summer Season has not been all that impressive but going into Season 4 he is looking really strong.

PawN (Heo Won-seok 허원석)

When PawN joined SG Blue he had big shoes to fill as the former mid laner was Easyhoon who now is on SKT T1 S. His performance with SG Blue this season has been nothing but impressive. During the WCG Qualifiers SG Blue 2-0ed the korean powerhouse SKT T1 K. Throughout the series PawN was able to get solo kills on Faker which was not an easy feat to accomplish. PawN champion pool mostly consists of Orianna and Nidalee but has brought out a Lucian mid pick to take down Najin Black Sword. When it’s do or die time PawN defaults to his comfort pick, Katarina. He was the first player to bring her out in Champions Winter and showed how strong she can be under the right hands.

Player History

Prior to joining SG Blue PawN played under the name Wonseok in MiG Blitz. When in MiG Blitz he played along side of Apple and Prime who later on joined Quantic to qualify for the NA LCS. Even though MiG Blitz was not able to make it out of the group stages they showed solid play and individual potential.

Deft (Kim Hyuk-kyu 김혁규)

Deft is really an interesting Marksman in the term of his champion pool. Before the Draven changes he was playing him in NLB/OGN before anyone else in Korea. OGN Winter is really the season for Deft to shine and carry the team because he was known for being one of the best Ezreal players in Korea and now with the Trinity Force buffs he has become stronger than before. Deft was also the first player to bring out Lucian along side Nidalee and crushed their way through the WCG qualifiers defeating top Korean teams like SKT T1 K and KT Rolster Bullets. Deft likes to play aggressively in lane alongside his support Heart, It’s no surprise that Deft has become such a good Marksman since he can train with his sister team’s Marksman, Imp. Deft is the only player on SG Blue that does not wear glasses.

Player History

Deft has been with SG Blue since February 2013 and his performance has been increasing each season. Prior being in SG Blue Deft has no experience in the OGN. When Deft and Imp plays Vayne they always put 2 points into Trumble(Level 1 and 4) then max Silver Bolts.

Heart (Lee Gwan-hyung 이관형)

Prior to Champions Winter Heart played under the name Sense. In the past Heart has played a lot of Thresh, Zyra, and even tried support Kayle once. Going into Season 4 Heart has jumped on the Karma train. SG Blue tried the Twitch/Karma duo and it showed great effect for the most part. Karma allows Twitch to be most mobile as it is one of his main problems. Heart and Deft are an aggressive duo that looks for kills in lane and you can definitely expect some early ganks or dives from the Spirit in the duo lane. Even though Heart is not considered a top support in Korea he is surely on his way to be along with SG Blue.

Player History

Heart played in the jungle position in GSG with Mandu and CheonJu but switched to support as he joined MVP Blue. This season is Heart’s 4th appearance in OGN Champions.

Notable Achievements

First Place – OGN Club Masters (With SG Ozone’s roster included)

Second Place – 2013 WCG Korea Qualifiers

9th-12th/9th-16th – Every Season of OGN

Final Thoughts

My prediction for the series is 3-1 SKT T1 K. Judging by past performances SKT T1 K is favored to win by a long shot but during the WCG Qualifiers SG Blue was able to take down SKT 2-0. The defeat did not go to SKT’s heads as they had a perfect score in the Champions WInter group stages going 6-0 with 9 points. On the other side SG Blue went 3-3 in their group and barely making it out with 3 points. SG Blue is not a weak team by any teams so I will give them 1 game, maybe they can pull out something completely new and surprise SKT. I think that SKT wants their revenge and the victory against SG Blue would make a nice Christmas Present. Oh and let’s not forget that SG Blue has like a 2-17 record when they are playing on the purple side.

Happy Holidays, here’s some Kpop!

Leaguepedia was used for the achievements and some player histories.