*Courtesy of Riot Games

With this upcoming finals rematch of SK Telecom T1 against Samsung Galaxy, it’s the fight of an immovable object and an unstoppable force. There comes a time when kings must express their power against would-be usurpers. This grudge has spanned a year and there is no denying the legitimacy of these two teams, as they’ve both fought through the muck and mire in order to get to their rightful place at the top. Their win conditions are some of the most dissimilar circumstances and yet in the end, even though on paper we can see one is favored over the other, whether through brain or gut, we must look into how each team can edge out the victory against their foe.

SSG Seek Redemption

* Courtesy of Riot Games

Tear apart the map

As many could see from their semifinals match against WE, SSG did a fantastic job cutting tendon away from muscle, debilitating their opponent until there was nothing more than a mere quadriplegic waiting to be decapitated. This is what they must also do to SKT. SKT’s strengths rely upon turtling and allowing the insurance of the bot lane to cash in if Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok doesn’t escalate the game along with his jungler. Pulling apart SKT allows for Lee ”Cuvee” Seong-jin to match against Seung “Huni” Hoon Heo and, in giving Cuvee a good matchup 1v1, it should allow SSG to capitalize on Huni’s tendencies to do weak teleport plays and Cuvee to then take the objectives on his side of the map.

Contest mid lane vision

This is an obvious one but it cannot be understated. Mid lane vision is important in almost any meta because it’s the central part of the map; this is where everything happens. SSG need to take this series by controlling the vision around Faker. They need to prevent him from going overly aggressive onto Lee “Crown” Min-ho, because if SSG opt into giving Cuvee the better matchup, SSG must suffer elsewhere on the map, which might be mid lane. Along with this, SSG want to control mid especially against Peanut, as they need to control his invade potential.

SKT fear the early game

Everyone knows that SKT have shown their greatest weaknesses during the early game. Several times they have gotten to a gold deficit and rely on their superior turtling strategy in order to come back into the game, along with their scaling compositions. SSG can take advantage of this and it might come from the Xayah pick. The entire Summer Split and Worlds, Bae “Bang” Jun-sik has not picked Xayah, maybe due to his trust in Wolf, along with SKT’s decision to scale for late-game comps. SSG can take advantage of this during the draft and mind-game SKT into banning Xayah and choosing to manipulate the draft through these means. With that said, SKT seem to opt into picking Varus and Twitch into Xayah, so this furthers the predictability that SSG can assume in regards to the draft.

* Courtesy of OGN

Faker is and will always be a threat

With Faker’s showing against Royal Never Give Up, it’s clear that he’s the best player in the world for a reason. I don’t see a way that SSG are able to alleviate this pressure point to non-existence, but they must always keep this in the back of their mind. Maybe this is in the form of being weary of Faker’s Galio pick. Maybe it’s denying global champions from Faker. One thing is for sure, do not assume Faker will be a non-factor.

SKT Must Defend the Title

* Courtesy of Riot Games

Allow some drafts to be tailored around Faker

This may sound obvious to some but within the current meta, tailoring around the mid lane hasn’t been the strategy for many teams. With giving Faker a favorable matchup, especially in a high-pressure game, this could be key into playing into Crown’s inability to play against Faker in the most crucial moments of his past games. Crown is also known for his Taliyah play and SKT are aware of this. We might see Taliyah being used as a bait by SKT. Not all decision should be made with pure statistical analysis, sometimes using psychology can be useful in throwing off your opponent and getting in their head, and betting your chips on Faker is always a smart idea.

Huni has Been a Liability. Cover your Weakness

Huni has been known to be a liability in the past as well as currently. He’s often caught out due to pressure from the enemy team or he simply can’t hang during a bad matchup. Along with this, his teleport plays haven’t been the cleanest. This is where SKT can look to cover their weakness, along with the bot lane falling apart as well. The necessities of globals for this team is a great band-aid to relieve their angsts and give Huni the backup he needs for his aggressive style. SKT need to look at getting a great 2v2 from the top and jungle or allowing Faker to use a global champion such as Taliyah or Galio.

* Courtesy of Riot Games

Peanut Might be Ambition’s Kryptonite

Kang ”Ambition” Chan-yong isn’t known to be an aggressive jungler, nor will he outplay someone with mechanics. He is known for giving up first blood more than getting it for his own team. With Han “Peanut” Wang-ho’s aggressive style, it might be time to unleash him, as he matches up well against Ambition and should be able to counter-jungle with impunity. This could be the series where Peanut is able to take the limelight and show why he’s truly worth being placed on the SKT roster.

Both teams must be wary of the Jarvan/Galio combo as well as Xayah/Rakan. Either side has shown that they’re conscientious of all 4 of these champions, but they also have different priorities on them as well. SSG have demonstrated they can play Xayah to great effectiveness and yet no one will ever forget Lee “Wolf” Jae-wan’s unfathomable engage onto Edward Gaming in the Group Stage.

This game will be just as electrifying as the last time they met in the finals and we should see plenty of wizardry when it comes to draft, mid lane, jungle substitution and top lane priority. There is no room for error from any member of either team. The stakes do not get higher than this.