With the 2019 LCK season set to start in a little over a week’s time, teams are making final preparations for what will likely be a very competitive season. With a new season and a new year, all the teams will be looking to accomplish their goals and hopefully win it all at the end of it all. So here are some things the following team can do on their path to being crowned best in Korea.

KT Rolster: Avoid a Return to Heartache

If fans of KT Rolster are used to one thing, it’s constant heartache. Their fortunes seemed to turn around for a while as KT won LCK Summer 2018 and represented Korea at Worlds as the number one seed. However, the heartache simply returned as the super team would drop out of the tournaments in the quarterfinals after a heartbreaking 2-3 loss to the eventual champions Invictus Gaming. The heartache wouldn’t stop there as three of the five starting players would move on to other teams. While the team would have a solid rebuild around top laner Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho, it’s still a weaker on roster, causing fans to simply ask themselves: “what if?”.

The new KT Rolster had a decent run at KeSPA Cup, eventually losing 1-3 to Gen.G in the semifinals, and it showed some glaring weaknesses on the team. While the solo lanes and jungle continue to thrive, the bot lane of ADC Byun “Gango” Se-hoon with support Choi “Mia” Sang-in or No “SnowFlower” Hoi-jong looked rough. As a result, if the team wants to contend for titles, it’ll likely be from the play of Smeb and mid laner Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong.

For now, the goal is clear: continue the winning ways the super team set in the end of their run and avoid the heartache the super team had to go through. Whether they’ll be able to do it is yet to be seen, but with a mix of old and new players, KT Rolster will do everything they can to defend the throne.

Griffin: Maintain excellency

As one of the only teams around the world to stick together coming into the new season, Griffin had a nice advantage against other teams at KeSPA Cup due to the lack of practice those teams likely had with a new roster. As a result, Griffin made quick work of any team that faced them on their way to an undefeated run to the title.

A huge reason for their easy run was the spectacular performance by every player on the roster. Jungler Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong dominated everyone in the jungle and looked unstoppable. Mid laner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon and ADC Park “Viper” Do-hyeon both appeared nearly unkillable as they dominated games on a variety of champion. Meanwhile, top laner Choi “Sword” Sung-won and support Son “Lehends” Si-woo played amazing as well, pulling of great plays of their own throughout the tournament.

With their KeSPA Cup win, the team enters the new LCK season will all the momentum in the world. While they’re already a contender for the title, if they’re able to maintain their excellent form from KeSPA Cup, they can easily become the favorites to win it all.

SK Telecom T1: Run the Marathon, not the Sprint

While KeSPA Cup didn’t end how SKT would’ve wanted it to, as they eliminated by DAMWON Gaming by a score of 1-2 in the quarterfinals, it did show everyone what the team still had to work on before they’re able to dominate the region. While the players have already been playing well, with ADC Park “Teddy” Jin-seong being a notable standout with his spectacular performance in wins and loses alike.

However, despite the great individual performances from the players, the team still feels like a solo queue team due to their lack of team cohesion. Luckily, it is something that the team can work on and slowly improve upon. As we’ve seen in the past with other teams, though, this could take time and some hardship. If this becomes the case, the team needs to avoid any rash decisions to fix any problems within the team. The talent is there – as is the potential to become a champion team -, but only if they’re patient and develop the synergy that is currently lacking.

The team is already a contender and a favorite to win it all based on the talent on the team. But once they complete the marathon and develop strong team synergy, they’ll be the only favorites to win it all.

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Featured image courtesy of Riot Games

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