LPL W1D2 -- The showcasing of Korean influence in China

If you're simply interested in spoiler-free VODs

SHRC vs. LGD Game 1
SHRC vs. LGD Game 2
WE vs. WEa Game 1
WE vs. WEa Game 2

English Rebroadcast

MVP Scores

MVP Score / Kills / Assists / Deaths / KDA / Gold / CS

**MVP scores include players from the spring split.

Coverage

Match context: Both of these players receive help from Korean talent, although LGD's influence only derives from coaching. Royal Club's influence comes from both coaching and their brand new players inSec and Zero. While LGD hovered around 5th place and Royal Club was usually bottom three, both of them looked to change their pace with Worlds on the line.

With Rengar banned, Quan and InSec both received opportunities to showcase their Lee Sin play while Uzi continued to see if he could keep up with new Chinese talent in the bottom lane. LGD received a new star of their own though -- We1less formerly of Vici Gaming, a team contending in the LPL.

How well does this heavily praised mid laner for LGD face off against Royal Club's new pick Corn? We see a short glimpse of it in this matchup.

Key Points:

Diana picked from LGD's new mid-laner We1less.

Corn has a rough LPL debut due to an early roam by Pyl making him the victim of FB. He dies a second time almost immediately.
In terms of early objective play, SHRC dominates. They get the first tower as well as sneaking an early first dragon.
LGD take a commanding lead transitioning into mid-game with a second dragon and strong roam play.
LGD's new mid and ADC both have strong opening LPL games and both become fed.
Poor positioning at around 15 minutes allows for a comeback from Starhorn Royal Club.
LGD acquires a free baron, despite vision from RC, by nuking it immediately and Uzi being bottom.
A pick on Zero, Uzi, and Cola all but closes the game out for LGD. In a matter of time, LGD took the first game of the set.

VOD (Click for Full-Screen)

Key Points:

LGD's Star played his trademarked Riven to help pick with the rest of the team. SHRC's Uzi takes flight with Corki to offset the lack of magical damage on the team. With Rengar banned against InSec, he opts for his Lee Sin.
?? and Pyl almost immediately send Uzi back through heavy harass, putting him in an uncomfortable behind position.
Star's strength on Riven shows by nearly doubling Cola's CS.
Early help from InSec and overaggressive warding from Pyl results in Uzi coming back with 2 early kills and a Sheen up on ??.
Insec helps snowball winning lanes and turns lanes around for the losing ones. 100% kill participation at 16 minutes.
SHC push advantage by taking control of LGD's jungle, finding picks, clearing vision, taking baron, and closing shortly after.

VOD (Click for Full-Screen)

Match context: For months, fans have created quite a commonly followed rumor that World Elite Academy may be stronger than it's main team, World Elite, and even a top contender in China. While Academy's performance didn't exactly show it's "full merit" at IET, Demacia Cup and now LPL allow World Elite Academy to show their alleged power against top teams. Their first match is against the main team.

World Elite is a team that manages to stay strong while playing in a rather obscure fashion, whether Smlz is playing a support-y style Ashe or Xiye is bringing back Annie mid. Some changes have occurred to World Elite too, as they've brought in Ninja and Actscene from Korea to replace suk1M and Ruo respectively. Consequently to being in the same organization, both teams are ran under a Korean coach, Hiro.

Key Points:

WE academy runs with a very bursty composition with Xiye on his popular Annie mid pick and xr on the very highly contested Lulu pick.
World Elite's composition has heavy mobility and split pushing capabilities, while capable of setting up ganks against poor warding and awareness.
A bit of sloppiness in their red side jungle allows WE.a to establish early control with a first blood.
While World Elite had the better fights, World Elite Academy actually held an early lead in towers, despite World Elite grabbing the first one.
Xiye finds himself a star in this game, opening many battles for Academy and having particularly high kill participation.
A poor engage top lane around 22 minutes in allowed World Elite to swing back and acquire a baron.
Near the end of the game, World Elite baits a baron dance and allows Caomei to solo kill an inhibitor.
Weixiao's excellent positioning helps World Elite close out the game despite continued excellent engages from Xiye.

VOD (Click for Full-Screen)

Key Points:

A dive from World Elite Academy goes horribly wrong early on and gives Caomei's Jax FB.
World Elite pushes their lead by hunting down xr and putting him further behind in the 1v2 lane with Conan roaming
WE had free reign over all objectives, having acquired first turret, first dragon, and first blood.
WE individually play a bit sloppy in the mid-game, allowing World Elite to pull ahead in gold for a short while
Much of the gold was funneled onto the carries for World Elite Academy, especially S1mlz, who was acquiring late-game Kog'Maw status only 25 minutes into the game.
World Elite break the stalemate by sneaking a baron near the 26 minute mark
World Elite pretty much maintains full late-game control, snowballing off the first inhibitor going down from a fight with Caomei diving in and locking down crucial targets with GA.

VOD (Click for Full-Screen)

STANDINGS

Author

DreXxiN