Hanwha Life Esports are now one game win away from securing a spot in the postseason after an important 2-1 victory over Afreeca Freecs earlier today.
Following SK Telecom T1’s loss to Griffin yesterday, the race for the final playoff ticket dropped to just two teams—Hanwha and Afreeca. For Hanwha, who had already beaten Afreeca earlier in the split, a 2-0 win today guaranteed them that final playoff spot.
Unfortunately for Hanwha, although they beat Afreeca today, they dropped game two—which means their place in playoffs still isn’t assured quite yet. But if Hanwha AD carry Gwon “Sangyoon” Sang-yun continues to have stellar performances like he did today, Hanwha will have no problems finding that last game win.
Sangyoon played fearlessly today on Kai’Sa in Hanwha’s two game wins. Sangyoon was unafraid to blink straight into Afreeca’s champions, knowing that his teammates were right behind him. It’s risky to put yourself right in front of the enemy as an AD carry, but Sangyoon’s gamble paid off and he gave Hanwha major teamfight wins.
As the player who received most of the kills from Hanwha’s teamfight victories, Sangyoon became near unstoppable as Kai’Sa. By the 30-minute mark, Sangyoon was able to almost instantly shred through the entirety of Afreeca with the help of his Runaan’s Hurricane.
Hanwha’s only loss today came when Sangyoon was on Jhin instead of Kai’Sa. Although Sangyoon’s individual performance on Jhin was pretty good, the Hanwha AD carry could do little to stop Afreeca since his top and mid lane both lost their lanes. Sangyoon could spit out bullets with his Curtain Call, but he couldn’t jump into fights like he did as a Kai’Sa—and, thus, he had much less impact on the game.
Hanwha will look for that last game win and claim their spot in playoffs on Aug. 7 when they face KT Rolster.
