This year’s World Championships sees LCK’s three representatives take three spots in the Group stage, following an impressive run in previous tournaments, as well as garnering Championship points. With the initial Group Stage pools set, each LCK team is slated to compete against high-caliber teams from the other regions.
With that in mind, let’s take a quick gander at this year’s LCK representatives for Worlds 2017:
Longzhu Gaming: LCK 1st Seed
Longzhu Gaming’s journey this season, to sum it up, is nothing short of amazing. Coming in at 7th place in this year’s Spring Split, they managed to climb up and beat heavily-favored SK Telecom T1 during the Summer Split and claim top honors during the 2017 LCK Summer Split. Their win also gives them the 1st seed in the 2017 Worlds Group Stage.
This club has come a long way from rebuilding their roster this year to becoming Korea’s LCK Champions, and this year’s Worlds will test how far their miraculous run and cohesion takes them.
Longzhu Gaming Starting Team
Khan fills up the Top Lane for Longzhu Gaming. He is a prolific Top Laner, known for his hyper-aggressive play and tendency to use non-tank champions. His knowledge and skill manning Jayce and Jax are well-known in LCK, and will be something to look forward to when he uses these champions in this year’s Worlds.
Cuzz is Longzhu Gaming’s Jungler. A relatively young player, he replaced Crash as the lead jungler after Crash’s exit from the team. He is proficient at using carry junglers such as Kha’Zix and Elise, but also shown some promise using team-oriented junglers such as Gragas during the LCK Splits.
Bdd started playing competitively back in 2016 under CJ Entus. When they were relegated, he then joing Longzhu Gaming in 2017. Bdd is a highly proficient Mid Laner, often having high Kill Participation marks in games. His use of Taliyah and Galio in the Mid Lane are noteworthy to his professional career.
With a career spanning way back in 2012, Pray is highly considered as one of the best Korean ADCs in the game today. He started his career in Najin Black Sword, carrying them to 1st place in the 2012-2013 OGN World Champions Winter competition. Known for his aggressive playstyle, he is set to challenge the top ADCs in this year’s Worlds.
GorillA rounds up Longzhu Gaming’s team. He is one of the well-known Supports in Korea and in the LCK, especially when he plays Thresh or Janna. GorillA often gives Pray coverage when he plays too aggressively with a well-timed hook or shield. He’ll put his quick thinking and shot-calling to good use for this year’s tournament.
SK Telecom T1: LCK 2nd Seed
SKT’s accolades speak for their outstanding dominance in competitive League of Legends – they are three-time World Champions, two-time Mid-Season Invitational Champions, and three time LCK Champions.
Despite losing to Longzhu Gaming in this year’s Summer Split, SKT still holds the 2nd seed and is part of the Group Stage. They are undoubtedly focused on climbing back and successfully defending their titles, grabbing their 3rd consecutive Championship and prove that they are the best LoL team in the world.
SK Telecom T1 Starting Team
Huni plays Top Lane for SKT this year. He brings a wealth of experience, thanks to his time playing in NA LCS. His first split with SKT saw him winning the 2017 Multi-Split Invitational along with Faker and company. This coming Worlds, he plans to make SKT achieve their fourth consecutive World Title.
Considered as the most aggressive Jungler in Korea, Peanut tendency to carry games for SKT is well-documented, such as his MSI dominance with Lee Sin. He joined SKT this year, after stints in NaJin e-mFire and ROX Tigers. He excels in counter-jungling and ganking lanes to secure kills for his lanes.
Dubbed as the Best League of Legends player, Faker is SKT’s ace Mid Laner. He is one of the most decorated competitive League Players to date – a three-time Worlds champion, as well as acquiring six LCK titles and two Mid-Season Invitational trophies.
His dominance with his LeBlanc in-lane are legendary, and “The Demon King” will display his skills in this year’s tournament.
Bang holds the reigns as SKT’s ADC. His dedication to his role is truly noteworthy – he is the first player to reach 1400LP in Korean Solo Queue. He also nabbed the highest KDA of all time with 71, a feat he did during a Premier tournament after the Groups Stage during Worlds 2015.
Together with Wolf, he plans to defend SKT’s crown and achieve winning his third consecutive Worlds Championship.
Wolf mans the Support role for SKT. He is the de facto leader of SKT. His shot-calling and communication is top-notch, as well as his synergy with Bang regards them as one of the best Duo Bot Lane in the game today.
Never the one to shy away from the meta, Wolf showcased his prowess with his Rakan plays to reverse sweep kt Rolster in the 2017 LCK Summer Split.
Untara plays as the Sub Top Lane for Huni. He has had experience playing for a slew of teams throughout his career – he began playing for Energy Pacemaker Carries in China back in 2015 before joining Star Horn Royal Club. Afterwards, he joined CJ Entus in December 2015, and finally joining SKT in 2017.
Apart from experience, Untara also possesses good fundamentals and mechanics when he mans the Top Lane. This proves essential to SKT’s chances of defending their title, going into this year’s Worlds with a stacked roster.
Finally, rounding up SKT’s team roster is Blank. He plays as Substitute Jungler for Peanut, following Bengi’s retirement from SKT. In tight situations, he provides backup in cases where Peanut’s hyper-aggressive plays are getting the best of him.
Samsung Galaxy: LCK 3rd Seed
Last but not the least, Samsung Galaxy takes LCK’s third seed in this year’s Worlds. They acquired their third seed by soundly defeating kt Rolster of the LCK Regional Qualifier. Last year saw Samsung Galaxy sit atop their Group pool, and made it to the Finals against SKT. After a 2-0 lead by SKT, Samsung Galaxy managed to take Games 3 and 4. But unfortunately, they lost Game 5.
This year, Samsung plans to bounce back and have another crack at winning the World Championship.
Samsung Galaxy’s Starting Team
CuVee spent his entire professional career playing for Samsung’s latest team iteration. He plays the Top Lane, and has some noteworthy moments during last year’s World Championship. He intends to help his team win this year’s Championship, with his solo carry play.
Originally one of the consistent Mid Laners in Korea, Ambition switched to a Jungler role during his time in CJ Entus. Once he joined Samsung Galaxy in late 2015, he manned the starting jungle role and his performance allowed his team to reach last year’s Finals against SKT. Prior to this, he has never had experience playing at the Worlds stage.
This year, he intends to get back to the Finals and hopefully win the coveted Championship for Samsung Galaxy.
Crown‘s professional career started in Brazil, where he played Mid Lane and was proficient with Zed. Since joining Samsung Galaxy, he shown exceptional knowledge with battle mages such as Azir and Viktor, and most notably holding his own against Faker during the 2016 Worlds Finals.
Ruler is Samsung Galaxy’s ADC. Although a relatively newcomer, he showed his versatility in using various ADCs. He prefers using utility ADCs such as Ashe and Varus, which helped him clinch the 3rd seed for his team in the recent Summer Split.
CoreJJ plays the Support role for Samsung Galaxy. He began his career playing as ADC for Team Dignitas, but after a gaining menial success, he returned to Korea to take his talents to Samsung Galaxy. However, Ruler got the starting ADC role, and CoreJJ was given the Support role. During the recent split, it was apparent that CoreJJ has become comfortable playing his new role with Ruler.
Haru wraps up Samsung Galaxy’s roster for this year’s Worlds. He plays as a Jungle Substitute for Ambition. Haru prefers to play carry junglers such as Rengar and Kha’Zix, showing great mechanical knowledge and execution. In the event that Ambition needs a breather, Haru is ready to step up to the plate during the tournament.
Related Articles
EU LCS Team and Player Profiles
NA LCS Team and Player Profiles
2017 World Championship Group and Play-In Pool
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