As the LCK completes its first half of the Split and begins an indefinite suspension of play due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea, the standings of the region will be locked in for a while. If the decision is made to cancel the rest of the regular season and move into the playoffs, which teams would make it and which teams would miss? It’s time to take a look.
Before looking at any possible playoff matchups it’s important to take a look at the whole picture:
With the current standings, the playoffs would begin with a showdown between DAMWON Gaming and Afreeca Freecs while Gen.G would sit at the top of the climb and watch it all unfold.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
The first round of the playoffs of this situation would feature a showdown against DAMWON and Afreeca. In their regular season match, Afreeca would end up taking the series 2-1 off the great play of mid laner Song “Fly” Yong-jun and jungler Lee “Spirit” Da-yoon. For both teams, their struggles have been the same throughout the season. In the case of Afreeca, their inconsistency has been an issue, resulting in losses to KT Rolster, Gen.G, and DragonX. As for DAMWON, their key issue comes in the form of terrible drafts that has often put the team at a disadvantage before the start of the game.
If nothing changes, this series would’ve likely been another easy win for Afreeca as they have been finding their consistency more and more as the first half of the season came to an end. However, both Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon and Heo “ShowMaker” Su have been playing amazing and will make sure Afreeca will need to fight through every match to get their win.
Courtesy of: LCK Flickr
While Gen.G would’ve had the free ticket to the finals had the season ended now, which team would’ve joined them? With some solid options like T1 and Afreeca Freecs, the competition would’ve been strong regardless. While the obvious answer would’ve been T1, DragonX gets the nod in this case. While DragonX was handed their two losses by T1 and Gen.G respectively, DragonX has been consistently improving as a team. With their two extra weeks of play after their week 3 defeats at the hand of the two teams, the rookies of the team have continued improving while the play of the team in general has also improved.
In the case of the potential best of 5 series between Gen.G and DragonX, it could really go either way. While there are small advantages through the roles, the most important matchup in the bot lane feels mostly even. As such, if a winner had to be called, it would have to be based on historic evidence. Through that evidence, while small, it would be calling for a Gen.G victory.
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Featured image courtesy of LCK Flickr.
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