The South Korean LoL national team for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games secured a dominant 3-0 victory against Team USA on Day 1 of the 'LoL National Team Evaluation Matches' held at the Busan Cinema Center on September 19. They closed out Game 1 in 20 minutes, Game 2 in 19 minutes, and Game 3 in the 20-minute mark.
South Korea was overwhelming right from Game 1. Kim 'Zeka' Geon-woo's Ryze secured a solo kill against 'Aojune''s Anivia right at the start, and soon after, Kim 'Canyon' Geon-bu's Qiyana ganked top lane to score a solo kill on opposing top laner 'Denathor'. Qiyana also dropped by mid lane, where Ryze held firm lane priority, to claim an extra kill.
While 'Scary Jerry' and 'Zyko', who were anchoring Team USA's bottom lane, put up a fight, South Korea's hyper-scaled topside outperformed them in every aspect—from skirmishes to macro play—widening the gap rapidly. Qiyana eventually became Legendary, leading the team in damage dealt and driving the victory in Game 1.
Game 2 also started with early impact from 'Canyon''s Pantheon. After stealing the opponent's Gromp, Pantheon rotated to a bottom lane where trades had gone favorably, cleanly picking up a double kill. Lee 'Gumayusi' Min-hyeong's Caitlyn and Ryu 'Keria' Min-seok's Bard also turned the tables on opposing jungler 'Perry''s Jarvan IV during a gank, while Pantheon visited bot lane once again to pick up two more kills.
With Bard untethered to his lane, he roamed all over the map, exerting a presence like a second jungler. The global gold gap widened rapidly. A flank Teleport targeting Caitlyn was thwarted by a clutch save from a well-timed Bard. Expanding their lead to a 10,000 gold difference by the 12-minute mark, the South Korean team took Game 2 with a dominant kill score of 34-5.
In Game 3, Team USA finally managed to score some early points. In a 2v2 top-jungle skirmish, 'Denathor''s Gnar secured a double kill. However, having already suffered losses during the early invade skirmish, Team USA's bot side continued to bleed out, and once 'Zeka''s Twisted Fate and 'Zeus''s Shen stepped in to help, the balance completely collapsed.
With complete control, the South Korean national team played aggressively and at a rapid pace. Team USA did manage to punish South Korea when they overextended into the Nexus towers. However, after regrouping and pushing once again, the South Korean team scored an Ace and destroyed the Nexus.
