【Action Archives】

After many intense matches and Action Archiveshours on the Rift, four teams have emerged as the semifinalists for the 2016 League of Legends World Championship.

It’s little surprise that the South Korea is well-represented in the semifinals. In fact, all three of the LCK squads have made it to the next stage.

Thanks to the quirks of the bracket, the ROX Tigers will be facing off against SK Telecom T1 in the first match. The second one will feature Samsung Galaxy up against the only European team left, H2K.

Here’s what to look forward to with this weekend’s games.

What to expect: SKT vs ROX

Both semifinals turn out to be even match-ups. First up are two of the LCK's heavyweights: ROX Tigers and SK Telecom T1.

ROX Tigers turned in a thorough victory over China’s Edward Gaming in the quarterfinals. The team’s five players are considered some of the world’s best in their roles and they looked strong in their win over EDG.

Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho dominated on four different champions, even pulling out a surprise Fiora pick for extra style. Han "Peanut" Wang-ho essentially clinched the final win to get the team a semifinal berth, and made his case to be considered the world’s best jungler.

Meanwhile, in the bottom lane, both Kim "Pray" Jong-in and Kang "Gorilla" Beom-hyeon had several clutch plays.

SKT also took a 3-1 victory over a Chinese challenger in Edward Gaming, but their roster was less uniformly powerful.

Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, Bae "Bang" Jun-sik and Lee "Wolf" Jae-wan delivered their usual excellent games. However, top-laner Lee "Duke" Ho-Seong made a few unusual plays and the LPL team was able to put some pressure on him.

The team is also still swapping between two jungle players. Bae "Bengi" Seong-ung played on SKT’s only loss, looking very ineffective on a Lee Sin pick (no kills and only four assists). When Kang "Blank" Sun-gu took over, though, the Korean team was able to sweep up three wins in a row.

Given the uncertainties on the SK Telecom quarterfinal match, ROX Tigers may have an edge going into the semifinal. Given the mastery shown by both Smeb and Peanut, ROX should be able to take advantage of even small misplays in their opponents.

What to expect: Samsung vs H2K

On the other side of the bracket, both Samsung and H2K were able to get three straight wins over their quarterfinal opponents, but they were against what many consider easier teams.

Even though they’re still viewed as the weakest Korean squad, Samsung’s players trounced the last remaining North American team, Cloud9. Support player Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in had at least 10 assists in each game.

Lee "CuVee" Seong-jin made Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong look like an amateur in the top lane. In fact, the only player who didn’t seem to be playing to full potential was Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong, who is usually a critical contributor in Samsung wins.

If the other four members can work together so seamlessly even when Ambition is lackluster, that means an uphill battle for H2K when they meet Samsung in the semis.

The EU LCS team squared off against Albus Nox Luna in their own quarterfinal match. Even though the Russian team became instant fan favorites with their gutsy style in the group stages, they were decisively outplayed in the quarters.

Everyone on H2K was able to lane cleanly, and each player had at least one game of outright domination. A look back at the team’s work in the second week of group stages also showed that H2K is on a definite upswing.

We’re not used to seeing this team deliver so well under pressure, so it’s possible that the players and their support crew have worked out some of the long-standing issues in mental game.

Despite that massive win, H2K’s own members do know that they struggle with inconsistency. When they play at their best, they could definitely challenge Samsung and probably even get the best of five victory.

But considering how many variables would need to fall into place both on stage and behind the scenes for H2K to maintain that perfect balance for three games, the odds are in Samsung’s favor.