Lee "Crown" Min-Ho, the midlaner for Samsung Galaxy, battled more than Cloud9 in his semifinals matchup in the Chicago Theatre. The Chicago crowd jeered during Samsung’s introduction, which sparked an online debate on whether or not booing should be acceptable in esports, as it is in most traditional sports.

Madison Square Garden was different, though. During introductions, the Western crowd — which generally slanted toward H2K — roared for the Korean favorites.

Crown, who previously told the OGN caster desk, in a translated interview, he used Chicago’s negativity as motivation, channeled the positive energy into a stellar in-lane performance against Yoo "Ryu" Sang-ook.

Crown’s lead in Game 1 kept things in reach, in spite of a promising start from H2K’s bot lane. His performance allowed Samsung’s superior mid-to-late-game shine through, in what would be the closest game in the series.

With the use of a translator in a post-game press conference, Crown told Esports Heaven that he enjoys the North American crowds.

“I think NA fans are really fun, to the extent that it makes me sort of wonder, 'Why was I born in Korea?'” Crown told reporters. “If I was born here, I would have more fun.”

Although Crown expressed delight with NA’s enthusiasm, that didn’t stop him from bluntly responding to a WWG question about Samsung’s undefeated record versus foreign teams in the knockout stage.  

“I think the answer is pretty obvious, if you think about it,” he said. “I think this might sound offensive to the other teams, but it's just because we are a better team and the gap is larger than the teams in other games.”

While Ryu, a Korean native himself, is no slouch, Crown’s ultimate test awaits in the Staples Center Finals. There, he must overcome the demon king himself: Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok.

Crown and Faker are well acquainted. In the start of the spring season of LoL Champions Korea, Crown’s signature champion, Viktor, bursted the two-time World Champion, en-route to a rare solo-kill against Faker. Still, SK Telecom won that game, along with virtually all the other times they met up with Samsung in the regular season.

Still, this Samsung team is on a tear since defeating KT Rolster in the LCK Regional Qualifiers. They already overcame Royal Never Give Up and Team SoloMid, two teams many experts had pegged as contenders for the group.

As for support, the New York crowd favored ROX, chanting for ROX, Peanut and TSM with regularity. For this upcoming series, Crown didn’t seem worried about external factors.

“In the finals, I don't really know what to expect from the fans, against Faker, so we'll have to see,” Crown said.

Faker, meanwhile, told reporters he doesn’t let the crowd affect his play.

“I’m not one to be affected by the crowd,” Faker said. “That’s why I think I do well in these big matches. But today, I heard a loud cheer for Peanut, which disappointed me, a lot.”

Regardless, “the sixth man” will have a minimal impact on both teams. It will be up to the players and staff to be mechanically precise, and strategically unpredictable. For Crown, it will take the performance of his career to overcome Faker’s push for a third World Title.  

Given SKT’s closely contested series with ROX,  Lee "CuVee" Seong-jin was asked if he’d rather it been the other way around.

“No matter who we face, they both would have been scary opponents, and I think the only difference would have been the way to play against them,” CuVee said.

Although Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho entered the tournament considered best top laner, a Samsung world title wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t come in spite of Faker’s last stand.  

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