If you’re familiar with League of Legends (LoL) then you already know that the OGN Champions Spring 2015 preseason has been going on for 2 weeks now.

Don’t worry though, if you want to catch the final week of the preseason, you have plenty of time as the matches will be played out from 17^th December – 20^th December, 2 matches each day.

The most anticipated matchup is SKT1 vs Samsung, which will be played 17^th December. SKT1’s claim to fame is their dominance in Korean LoL, where they went undefeated in the round robins of LoL Masters 2014, immediately seeding into the finals but losing to Samsung Galaxy 3-0, as well as their undefeated sweep of PANDORA.TV Champions Winter 2013-2014.

Samsung, on the other hand, has been performing at the absolute top this year. Samsung took 1^st and 3^rd at the HOT6iX Champions Spring 2014 (Same tournament series as PANDORA.TV’s but different sponsor) and 2^nd and 3^rd at the Summer 2014 edition of the same competition.

Samsung went on to win League of Legends Worlds 2014, the largest LoL competition officially sponsored by Riot Games (The developers of League of Legends) taking 1^st and 3^rd place.

This season come 2015, Korean E-sports Association (KeSPA) has changed the participation allowances: Only one team is allowed per company (previously each company could field two separate teams, thus allowing Samsung to take two separate winning positions in a single tournament), but they can have up to 10 players per team.

The new mentality towards the teambuilding mirror that of team sports like basketball and soccer, as reserves and substitutes now become an element to the game’s strategy. Will it be a Passive Samsung or a Skirmishing SKT1?

More players afford more flexibility to strategies that each team can execute, beyond the staple strategy that Samsung used to dominate Worlds 2014 – Laning with light skirmishes then a 5 – man roaming team to take objectives.

The preseason team rosters have been released – There might be changes but for now, these look to be the rosters for OGN Champions Spring 2015.

* TOP : Shy
* JUNGLE : Ambition, Trick
* MID : Coco
* ADC : Space, Roar
* SUPPORT : Madlife, Max

* TOP : Smeb
* JUNGLE : Lee
* MID : Kuro
* ADC : Pray
* SUPPORT : Gorilla

* TOP : Lillac
* JUNGLE : Wisdom
* MID : Frozen
* ADC : Sonster
* SUPPORT : Tusin

* TOP : Trace
* JUNGLE : Chaser, Winged
* MID : GankedByMom
* ADC : Cpt Jack, Pilot
* SUPPORT : Chei, XD

* TOP : Ssumday, Iksu
* JUNGLE : Prime
* MID : Nagne, Edge
* ADC : Arrow, Score
* SUPPORT : Hachani,, Pixer

* TOP : Duke
* JUNGLE : Watch
* MID : Ggoong
* ADC : Zefa, OHQ
* SUPPORT : Cain, Pure

* TOP : Marin, Impact
* JUNGLE : Bengi
* MID : Faker, Easyhoon
* ADC : Bang
* SUPPORT : Wolf, Picaboo

* TOP : Cuvee
* JUNGLE : Eve
* MID : BlisS
* ADC : Fury (ZetnJin)
* SUPPORT : Wraith (Casper) 

With such a convincing roster, SKT1 looks to reclaim their dominance in 2015.

Personally, I will be rooting for SKT1. The ADC + SUPPORT combo of Wolf + Bang is too insanely good that they almost always outlane their opponents.

Some spectators have already begun to hype them up for being a “Wolf bang” lane (A slightly rude pun on their names saying that their opponents are doomed to lose.)

Besides, there’s Faker in SKT1. I’m always excited for the “greatest League player” as touted by his peers and casters.

Chen Yiji
The Gaming Ground

More by Chen Yiji:

• MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries PC review – A time-demanding but action-intense Mecha game
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• This is why 2016 was simply amazing for SG eSports
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Tags: Korean, Korean v4.20 patch, League of Legends, LOL, OGN Champions, Samsung, SKT1