Korea’s third seed became the region’s second team to clinch a trip to the League of Legends World Championship quarterfinals, after wins against their main Group D competition on Saturday.
Samsung Galaxy knocked off North American top seed Team SoloMid to open play on Saturday, and hours later they thrashed China’s Royal Never Give Up to secure a trip to Chicago.
Mid laner Minho “Crown” Lee set the tempo for Samsung with an aggressive flash to solo kill TSM’s star Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg.
TSM didn’t go down without a fight, but Samsung Galaxy secured the victory with a decisive team fight win around the Baron pit.
Samsung then recorded the fastest win of the tournament, taking just 23:53 to defeat Royal Never Give Up, who was coming off a loss to previously winless Splyce. Crown again carried Samsung with a 7/1/2 performance on Viktor.
Royal Never Give Up essentially lost the game in the pick-ban phase by not banning Crown’s Viktor and allowing SSG support Yongin “CoreJJ” Jo to pick up Zyra.
Samsung’s Saturday dominance sets up a win-or-go-home clash between TSM and Royal Never Give Up for Group D’s second quarterfinals berth.
SSG is the fifth team to qualify for the quarterfinals. Korea’s top seed ROX Tigers and wildcard Albus NoX Luna advanced on Thursday, followed by China’s top seed Edward Gaming and Europe’s H2K on Friday.
The final leg of group stage will play out Sunday with Group B. With 2-1 records during week one, SK Telecom T1 and Cloud9 have an inside track over I May and Flash Wolves, who both sit at 1-2.
