LCS Champions LYON put up a valiant fight but were perhaps their own worst enemies in the 3-1 defeat to JD Gaming (JDG), which felt like a missed opportunity.
After G2 Esports’ shock 3-0 victory over BNK FEARX, Western fans suddenly had hope again and the pressure was on LYON to give North American supporters something to be excited about too.
However, it wasn’t to be as LPL second seeds JDG came out on top and eliminated LYON from the international League of Legends tournament.
LYON vs JDG – a game of throws
The first two matches were rather spectacular and quite surprising in that both featured rapid comebacks where the team with fewer kills won.
The first game started well for LYON as their bot-lane was getting the better of their lane opponents. Chen ‘GALA’ Wei is a fantastic talent, yet LYON’s Kim ‘Berserker’ Min-cheol was outclassing him in lane.
LYON were in firm control with Kacper ‘Inspired’ Słoma dominating the map and eventually had his team on Soul point without dropping a single kill.
But they then threw that fight for Soul, with JDG getting multiple kills, Baron, and swinging the gold 6k back down to even. Inspired had been overeager on his Nocture ultimate without any follow-up and it would cost the team dearly.
Suddenly, with that Baron buff, JDG went up the other end and took LYON’s base to win the game without doing very much. LYON overcommited with Nocturne again to get a pick on Xu ‘Xiaoxu’ Xing-Zu while the other four members of JDG ended bot.
Three minutes was all it took between JDG’s first kill and the end of the game in a remarkable swing. Yet, the same thing happened again in the next game.
LYON Respond
LYON were gapping JDG in the bot lane again, with GALA getting caught by some great Nami bubbles from Isles. Combined, LYON bot lane was 2k gold up nine minutes in.
However, JDG’s Tsai ‘HongQ’ Ming-Hong was showing why teams have been prioritising Annie as he solokilled Kang ‘Saint’ Sung-in twice in the early game.
The game swung in JDG’s favour as LYON got the first mid turret but failed to kill Yu ‘JunJia’ Chun-Chia and GALA before getting collapsed on as JDG found some kills to take a small lead.
LYON just couldn’t find fights as JDG would kite back and then re-engage with Jhin and Rumble ults to dodge while Wukong, Alistar and Annie locked everyone up.
Yet, LYON were on Soul point yet again, but their players seemed to be on completely different pages as they misplayed another fight at Drake. Saint got caught out, Inspired went in on his own again, then had to flash out, it was a mess.
On three Drakes each, JDG looked to siege LYON’s base, but the LCS champions finally played a fight correctly and secured multiple shut-downs.
Suddenly, LYON rushed to the other side of the map for a siege of their own and completed the comeback to tie the series after a 41-minute thriller.
JDG Secure Their Place in The LoL First Stand Knockouts
From there, JDG took control of the series.
Thanks to brilliant Rakan play from support Zhao ‘Vampire’ Zhe-Can, JDG dominated Game 3. LYON couldn’t get into good positions to fight and were steamrolled by JDG’s relentless teamfighting.
In the fourth game, LYON looked to have steadied themselves but once again, silly mistakes and rash decisions cost them.
An attempted Shurima Shuffle by Saint burned three of JDG’s flashes, but without Zhonyas, he was a sitting duck and died.
JDG then went on the charge, and a flash forward by Berserker’s Aphelios was barely enough damage for Niship ‘Dhokla’ Doshi’s Aatrox to get some kills, but it didn’t seem worth it and reeked of desperation.
The game then came down to coin flips, of which LYON lost both.
JDG picked up their fourth Hextech Drake for Dragon Soul as Inspired failed to win the Smite 50/50. Yet, JDG couldn’t end the game just yet.
LYON held on well until the Elder Dragon spawned, but again JDG secured the objective to effectively end the series and eliminate the LCS champions.
LYON were impressive, but it appeared that the team were playing with nerves and weren’t at their best. It’s an encouraging sign for LCS fans that they can compete, but also a frustrating missed opportunity.
Do you think LYON should have won that series? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord.
There is at least some good news for the North American esports ecosystem, as FlyQuest announced its Project: Grassroots initiative.
