KT Rolster vs Invictus Gaming

After an incredibly exciting Group Stage, you could argue that we couldn't have gotten better and more spectacular quarter final match-ups. While they’re not all evenly competitive, they should be some of the best, most exciting Best of 5 matches all-year round.

This Worlds has really panned out according to everyone’s hopes - the meta is flexible, layered, engaging. Teams are playing in a plethora of different ways and there isn’t just a single viable way to play the game - it all comes down to preparation and team-specific strategies.

Today, we have a bonkers quarter finals clash between LCK’s KT Rolster and LPL’s second seed Invictus Gaming. Now, if this were the Worlds finals match-up, no one would be complaining - it’s that good.

KT Rolster had a difficult path towards Worlds if you count their 2018 run. It was a run filled with trials and tribulations, but the thing that mattered is the fact that they reached Worlds after failing to do so in 2017 with a star-studded roster.

Their performance in the group stage was pretty darn good - almost spotless. They did drop a game to Edward Gaming, but they were already set as the number one seed so it’s hard to blame them for maybe not tryharding as much as people thought they would.

One thing is for sure though - they’re not happy with the way the Knockout Stage draw developed. While they would have to beat any opposing team if they wanted to win Worlds, it’s still a really hard path towards the finals.

They’re up against the second seed from China, an incredibly strong and layered team that’s quite dangerous and capable in their own right, and if they manage to win they still have to face Royal Never Give Up who are also on their side of the bracket. So they have to fight some of the very best teams in the tournament before even reaching the finals - that’s a tall task no matter how you spin things.

As for Invictus Gaming, they failed to leave a huge mark on the group stage overall. While they were pretty dominant, they couldn’t best EU’s Fnatic when it mattered the most. They were up one game over the perennial EU kings, but they proceeded to lose both the second one and the tiebreaker - and in pretty one-sided fashion.

Their losses to Fnatic shouldn’t hurt their stock too much, but at the very least they did show their cards - and KT could easily capitalize if they try and emulate Fnatic’s style and create their own win conditions.

These are two very fast teams, but unfortunately for IG, they were playing pretty abysmally on an individual level when it mattered the most. Their bottom lane in particular was really inconsistent and at times even bad - JackeyLove in particular made a ton of mistakes in every stage of the game - getting caught out of position, failing flashes, not being as impactful as he needed to be at certain points of the game, etc.

They were outclassed by Rekkles and Hylissang in both games, and they shouldn’t fare any better against the likes of Deft and Mata - two players that belong in the pantheon of League of Legends bottom lanes. Ning was also a complete non-factor and was basically demolished by Broxah, and Baolan’s willingness to go for a play backfired almost every single time.

KT essentially have more tools to win with, and if they contain Rookie in the mid lane they shouldn’t have a lot of trouble in taking IG down. They’re more layered, and they’re better laners all-around.

We’re going with KT Rolster on this one, and even though it might be an insanely competitive series that goes the distance, KT should have the edge in every way, shape, and form. They’re more experienced, they have some of the very best players in each and every position and they should have an answer ready for anything that Invictus Gaming might have in store.