Riot Korea recently released the LCK 2019 Summer Promotion schedule. The matches will begin on April 16, 5:00 pm KST / 4:00 am EDT, with the first match featuring KT Rolster. It is still unknown what team KT will play against. They will be able to pick from one of the teams qualified from the Challengers Korea (CK) Spring 2019. KT will reportedly be able to choose their opponent from the two qualified CK teams. Jin Air will play against the other team after KT’s match at 8:00 pm KST / 7:00 am EDT.
The winners of both matches will face each other on April 18, 5:00 pm KST / 4:00 am EDT. The team that wins this match will qualify for LCK Summer. The losing team will still have a chance in the final game.
The losers of the first two matches will face off in the loser’s bracket match on April 19, 5:00 pm KST / 4:00 am EDT. The winning team will advance to the final game on April 21, 5:00 pm KST / 4:00 am EDT, where they will face the loser of the winner’s match. Finally, the victor of this match will be the last team promoted to LCK Summer 2019. Teams that aren’t able to qualify will be relegated to Champions Korea Summer 2019.
Which teams will participate?
The first team from Challengers Korea Spring will be ES Sharks, who qualified after placing first in the regular split. The second team will be VSG, who have qualified for the tournament after beating APK Prince 3-2 in the CK Finals.
The teams competing from the LCK will be KT Rolster and Jin Air Greenwings, after finishing ninth and tenth respectively. KT Rolster, after trying to build a Korean super team in the last two years, completely rebuilt their roster in the offseason. Picking up proven players like Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong, the team wasn’t expected to be so low in the standings. The former LCK champions just weren’t able to find their groove and ended up in the promotion tournament. This is the first time in the organization’s history that they have to face relegations.
Unlike KT, Jin Air Green Wings didn’t have any expectations coming into the spring split. After losing their former best player in Park “Teddy” Jin-seongto SKT, the team wasn’t able to avoid the promotion tournament.
Seeing the recent success of newly promoted teams in the LCK, we can’t wait to see what the promotions bring. Will we get another Griffin, or just another bottom-feeder? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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Published: Apr 11, 2019 05:10 pm