Recap: IEM LoL Katowice 2014 Grand Finals

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KT Bullets vs Fnatic

Game One

Best Play: Trying to catch InSec is impossible. He was caught out in Fnatic's jungle at 32:30, isolated after Mafa died to a Dark Binding ambush. They even had sight on him – for a while, at least. But with Void Assault and Leap alone, he evaded the entire Fnatic team, keeping Flash ready for the next fight.

MVP: InSec's Kha'zix has been unbearably good all tournament, and especially so in the grand finals. He was constantly flanking Fnatic – every attempt by them to take control was turned aside by a sudden assault into their back lines.

Game Two

Best Play: InSec hasn't stopped being a menace to Fnatic. They attempted to take Dragon at around 27 minutes, but he was lying in wait. He stealthed in, successfully stole the Dragon, and leaped out with his life intact! Fnatic was so disordered in the chaos that the Bullets were able to gun them down for a massive momentum-swinging ace.

MVP: Fnatic had no front line this game. sOAZ had almost no presence, thanks largely to Leopard's efforts as a top lane Ryze. It took the rookie top laner a mere 4 minutes to secure a Tear of the Goddess, and sOAZ found scant few openings afterward.

Game Three

Best Play: A 26 minute mid lane inhibitor turret spelled eventual doom for a beleaguered Fnatic, but they weren't going down without a fight. Mafa got tagged with a Death Sentence, giving Rekkles the opening he needed to carry back the fight – but he was shockingly outgunned! Score charged in with the doublekill, and InSec blows xPeke apart. The Bullets inflicted a lethal injury as the inhibitor follows suite.

MVP: No Ryze, no problem. Leopard's Renekton was even better – as aggressive as his team could possibly wish, and absolutely lethal against sOAZ's Aatrox.

Overall MVP

There isn't a clear weak point in the KT Rolster Bullets roster, with every player, from Score to InSec, making dramatic and game-changing plays all weekend. But there is the matter of consistency to consider. While Ryu was busting chops with Kassadin, and InSec was absolutely dirty with Kha'zix, both players let their grasp slip at times – major errors giving the European teams openings to temporarily claw back in.

There is one man on the team that was indomitable the entire way through. For a total newcomer to the international scene, top laner Leopard's had a ferocious debut. He's successfully continued Korea's famous mastery of his role.

Standings

Summary of the Day

The 3-0 results speak so much, and yet so little. Yes, the Korean dominance is real. The KT Bullets, even as they struggle for relevance back home, are officially undefeated in the highest third-party international stage. Nobody from anywhere in the world could touch them, whether east or west. Over the course of three days, the rest of the world was reminded yet again just have far they have to go to catch up with Seoul.

But it wasn't easy. The western teams weren't pushovers. The Bullets found themselves bruised, even on the edge of defeat, against Gambit and Fnatic. What the 3-0 grand finals record doesn't tell you was that Ryu's LeBlanc struggled against xPeke's Gragas, or that Fnatic often had superior warding, allowing them to make crucial catches near Baron. What that seemingly flawless streak doesn't express was that Rekkles consistently lived up to his much-hyped reputation as Europe's premier bot lane carry. In two of three games, it was possible for Fnatic to win – but in three of three, the Bullets nonetheless proved themselves just a little more relentless, just a little more gutsy, and just a little more wild.

The ecstasy on KT Bullet's faces, and Ryu's rare display of happiness, showed just how hard they struggled, and how much it meant to them. They worked for this victory. They earned it.

Image Credit: ESL, Leaguepedia