By Ozzy Alaba
MANILA - Republic of Korea claimed the first 2-0 lead in the 2018 Asian Games - Esports Demonstration Event (League of Legends) Group Stages after pouncing a dismantled Chinese side in the third game of Group A, Monday afternoon (Philippine time) at the Kelapa Gading Sports Mall in Jakarta, Indonesia.
KOR, who finished the East Asia Qualifiers in first place through its 8-2 card, which was followed up with a tiebreaker win with Chinese Taipei asserted its dominance to its archrivals once again as it solely capitalized on shutting its bottom and top lane down the stretch, which caught CHN off-guard, ultimately to its anticipated 32-minute takeover.
It was evident in the first few minutes as the Koreans backstopped China's jungler Liu (Mlxg) Shi-Yu from getting much advantage and support Tian (Meiko) Ye from putting its immense pressure on Rakan in the laning phase.
And with that simple task being successfully accomplished, KOR didn't look back ever since.
The Koreans surprisingly extended their advantage all across the map with support Jo (CoreJJ) Yong-in's stellar saves on Tahm Kench, not until the waning moments where Park (Ruler) Jae-hyuk scored a Quadra Kill on his Ashe in a CHN base teamfight, which officially sealed its win despite experiencing a 50-minute technical pause.
With that all-around showing, Jo earned the Man of the Match through his 9 Kill-Death-Assist (KDA) Ratio, highlighted with its 75% kill participation in the entirety of the match. Park, meanwhile lead the team in kills as he racked up 4 kills, where all of it came from his sudden triumph in the said teamfight.
Fellow teammates Kim (Kiin) Gi-in, Go (Score) Dong-bin, and Lee (Faker) Sang-hyeok also supported their squad's defenses as they combine for an 8 KDA Ratio (8/3/16 KDA) output, which was translated to its 50% kill participation.
For the Chinese, its best chances of winning came on the mid-game, where their top laner Yan (Letme) Jun-Ze got its surprise Akali on-board, putting Kim, playing as Gangplank, under pressure, but it wasn't enough as the whole squad were fully trounced, causing its downfall.
Yan lead the Chinese squad in kills as he only racked a team-high 2 kills in the process. Superstar bottom laner Jian (Uzi) Zi-Hao was held at only a single kill in the said match.
With the win, KOR moved up in first place in Group A with its 2-0 card. China, on the other hand, will fall to second place with its 1-1 slate.
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