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The difference in skill between LCK table leaders Griffin and middle-of-the-pack Gen.G is palpable. Yet it was indeed the latter who stopped Griffin’s untouchable 10-game win streak, playing the least expected support ever.

The last time Griffin lost a game was in week 2, a 1-2 loss to SANDBOX Gaming, which remains their only loss in the season so far. Since then, Griffin have 2-0’d all of HANWHA Life, KT Rolster, SK Telecom, Jin Air Green Wings, and Kingzone DragonX. Gen.G were the first in three weeks to wound Griffin and they did it playing Volibear support.

Volibear is not a popular LoL champion; it has never been. According to Leaguepedia and GOL.gg, Volibear has been played a total of 14 times since 2013 in the five major regions (EU, NA, KR, CN, and TW). That’s an average of twice a year. So when Gen.G locked in against Griffin nobody (including Griffin) knew what to expect.

Whether this was a practiced pick or a spur-of-the-moment cheese we don’t know, but Kim “Life” Jeong-min looked very confident on the bear. The support secured the two opening kills for Gen.G and continued to be a nuisance the entire match. When Gen.G started their final push for Griffin’s nexus, Life had contributed to seven of the nine kills for his team and had died just once. Thanks to him, Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk’s Kalista was sitting happily on 4/1/5, shredding everything in her sight.

While game 2 was going well for Griffin, they couldn’t quite close it either. Down two inhibitors at the 44th minute, Gen.G found kills on Chovy’s Morgana and Lehends’ Nautilus. Seizing the now-or-never opportunity, Gen.G rushed to Griffin’s base and with the last points of hp took down the Nexus for a 2-0 victory.

This is the first time this season that Griffin take a 0-2 loss and it’s their second one overall. As for Gen.G, the victory itself is not enough to push them into the top 5, but for a team that has been oscillating around the threshold line, every win counts.

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