Last night, the ROX Tigers won the KeSPA Cup after defeating the Kongdoo Monsters 3-1, making this their second domestic tournament win after their triumphant LCK summer victory.
After swiftly defeating SK Telecom T1, thus earning ROX their first ever series win against the world champions, ROX set their eyes on KDM, who was on a hot streak this tournament. Game one in the grand finals saw a great comeback victory for KDM. Being down 6,000 gold at 25 minutes, KDM managed to turn the game around through coordinated team fights.
ROX, who just threw their huge lead in the previous game, came into game two with a message to send. ROX completely dominated this game, not giving KDM a single chance to come back. ROX’s macro play in this game was sensational, and KDM just could not keep up.
Games three and four were much closer than the previous two. Both of these games could aptly be described as “scrappy.” These two games were filled with skirmishes and team fights, resulting in many deaths for both sides. While much smaller than game one and two, ROX maintained a slight gold lead over KDM throughout games three and four, off the back of Han “Peanut” Wang-ho’s spectacular jungling. Peanut’s play allowed all of his lanes to get ahead in every game in this series.
The major factor that allowed ROX to find their stride and end games three and four was Baron. As soon as ROX found the opening to take the buff, they immediately jumped on the opportunity. Once they donned the buff, ROX easily closed out both games. Throughout this series, and even in their over games this tournament, ROX demonstrated their proficiency to close out games when given either the Baron or Elder Drake buff.
Despite falling in the grand finals, KDM showed at this year’s KeSPA Cup that they are not the same team that was relegated out of the LCK earlier this year. KDM look to be strong competitors in the 2017 season. KDM will get a chance to play on the international stage in December at IEM Gyeonggi.
What was your favourite moment of the Kespa Cup? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting us @GAMURScom.
Article by Malcolm Abbas. Follow him @SmashhLoL
Photos courtesy of Fomos/Yong Woo ‘Kenzi’ Kim
