After T1 and JD Gaming swept their opponents in the quarterfinals, the two titans clashed on Saturday night - and with a 3-1 victory T1, T1 booked their tickets for an all-LCK final.
Saturday's first Worlds Semifinal featured Chinese Champions JD Gaming against South Korea's legendary T1 team. With both teams having strong performances in the quarterfinals, eliminating respectively Rogue and EDward Gaming, fans were hyped for a classic LPL vs LCK matchup and they were not disappointed.
First Blood for JDG
The two teams started trading blows practically from the start of the first game and while JD Gaming had a minor advantage, the LCK representatives kept the game close. T1 took the first Baron in exchange for the Cloud Soul, but the purple buff was not enough to put them in the lead. It looked like they would break the game open as they got an advantage near the Elder Dragon, but JDG came back strong to push them away and secure the buff, then used it to take the game after a 3-0 near the Baron. This was not enough to break T1's spirit, however, and while the LPL team had an early advantage in the bottom lane in game 2, T1's Choi "Zeus" Woo-je was a powerhouse in the top lane. The two teams kept the game close until the LCK team secured the Baron and used it to take over the map, eventually tying the series after Gumayusi cleaned house in a close fight 33 minutes in.
T1 Keep Up the Pressure
As the teams returned on the Rift, we saw the top lane showdown that we had been hyped for. JDG's early focus there gave Bai "369" Jia-Hao’s Renekton the initial lead, but a risky tower dive let Zeus come back into the game by feeding him a much-needed kill. With his Gangplank online and the long range ultimates by Ryze and Nocturne, T1 terrorized JDG's bot lane and despite the LPL team's best efforts were soon on match point.
Despite losing the first blood in a 2v2 clash in the bot laner, JDG managed to recover and even open up a small lead in game 4 - and then they were aced in two separate skirmishes 14 minutes in. T1 opened up a big lead and proceeded to outplay and simply outclass the LPL team, smashing them in one teamfight after another for an absolutely decisive 25-minute victory.
Read More:
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- The LCK Is in a Commanding Position after the Worlds Quarterfinals
The Worlds playoffs continue with the second semifinal, starting from 10 PM CEST on October 30th. Will LCK champions Gen.G proceed to face off against T1 or will DRX make the full run from Play-In to finals?