Tonight’s LoL Masters match will be between CJ Entus and SK Telecom! With both teams being on the upper side of the standings in this Masters tournament, it will be a tough battle for first especially for the CJ Entus organization if they want to topple SK Telecom from their first place position and their current perfect record in Masters as an organization.
The match airs at 1:30 AM PST, 4:30 AM EST, 10:30 AM CET, and 6:30 PM KST. Tune in at http://www.twitch.tv/ongamenet to catch all of the action live. If you can’t make it to the live broadcast, there will be re-broadcasts throughout the day.
Game 1 (CJ Frost vs. SKT1 S):
Frost’s debut in Masters did not go particularly well with the Stealths defeating them in CJ Entus’ last match, but it’s not the end of the world for a very new roster with CoCo and Lira recently joining the team as the mid laner and jungler for Frost. Now that they have to face SK Telecom T1 S, Frost will have their work cut out for them.
In order to beat SKT1 S, Frost will need to shutdown HORO by denying some of his preferred jungler picks and then warding up all conceivable ganking paths in order to completely nullify his presence in the early game. SKT1 S loves to hard push their lanes and they need HORO to be moving around the map and making his presence known so it will be on Lira to abuse overextension and make the plays happen for Frost by snowballing Shy and Coco who will carry Frost in the later stages of the game. If Lira cannot get Frost rolling early or keep up with HORO, then it would be best for him to fulfill more of a supportive role by warding and counterganking or by assisting Frost in pushing out a lane. MadLife will also have a lot on his shoulders to maintain vision control for Frost and making plays from the support role.
On the other side, SKT1 S did win their match against IM#1, but it was a very close match that hinged on a baron steal from HORO’s Lee Sin that got them back into the game and the zoning from MaRin and HORO’s Yasuo + Lee Sin combination. I think what SK Telecom T1 S needs to do in order to beat Frost will be shutting down Frost’s solo laners which will be mainly on MaRin and EzHoon’s synergy with HORO to get the lanes going in the early game. Denying MadLife’s supports and Coco’s main mid laners is also a great option to keep the duo lane under control and from allowing MadLife and Coco to carry Frost in the later stages of the game with their playmaking.
This match can honestly go either way and will be interesting to watch, but I am going to predict SKT1 S to win this match because they have been together longer as a team compared to Frost’s new roster and as long as they have learned from some of their mistakes in their game against IM#1, they will definitely have the upper hand against Frost.
Game 2 (CJ Blaze vs. SKT1 K):
In contrast to Frost, Blaze had a very strong showing against the Falcons as a team. They will have a chance tonight to topple SK Telecom T1 K from their perfect winning streak but it will definitely be a formidable challenge. As hard as it is to form a battle plan against SKT1 K (which is why they are so hard to beat and the world champions), there are some things that Blaze can do in order to find a way to defeat SKT1 K. There will be a lot of pressure on DayDream to get crucial ganks off and his best option will probably be in the bottom lane to abuse PoohManDu’s absence in the Hundred Acre Wood Duo Lane. Ambition will also have to play safe against Faker and one misstep from Ambition will instantly be capitalized by Faker. Blaze can opt for superior wave clear to stop SKT1 K’s hard push strategy with a safe mid laner with Ziggs for example and then finding opportunities to flank SKT1 K from the side which will also require establishing superior vision control.
Despite losing PoohManDu temporarily, SK Telecom T1 K is still a terrifying team. With a new support in Casper, they are looking to continue their reign of terror by taking down CJ Entus Blaze who is arguably the strongest team that will put up a fight against SKT1 K this season. In order to beat Blaze, SKT1 K needs to ward out Blaze’s jungle in order to sniff out DayDream’s early ganking patterns and making counterplays accordingly which is what Bengi does best. Faker will definitely be targeted for bans so it will be in K’s best interest to take away Blaze’s go-to picks. If K can force Blaze into their old habits of letting Flame afk farm in top lane, then all SKT1 K has to do is pick off Blaze and take objectives. Shutting down Blaze’s solo laners will also be another option for K to cripple Blaze in this matchup.
In terms of how this match will go, there is definitely a lot of favor for SKT1 K while Blaze will be the underdog in this match despite having a good amount of momentum going into this match. I predict there will be a good fight for the win between both teams, but SKT1 K will win out in the end. However, I won’t be disappointed if Blaze proves me wrong.
Game 3 (CJ Entus vs. SK Telecom)
This match will most likely be a rematch between Blaze and SKT1 K. If Blaze is able to beat SKT1 K in their match, they will need to have something else up their sleeve and pull off more good plays on SKT1 K in order to win once again because of SKT1 K’s uncanny ability to adapt as the series develops. I see SKT winning this one, but Blaze can never be counted out in contention for the win.
